In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd on Wednesday, billionaire tech giant Peter Thiel defended his support of President-Elect Donald Trump and offered some characteristically esoteric opinions on everything from Meryl Streep to “Star Wars.”
To a question noting that “President Obama had eight years without any ethical shadiness,” Thiel replied, “But there’s a point where no corruption can be a bad thing. It can mean that things are too boring.”
And in a rapid-fire sidebar, he also agreed with the president-elect that Meryl Streep is “probably very overrated, especially by all the people who are vociferously saying that she’s overrated.”
And he stated a clear preference for “Star Wars” over “Star Trek” in a way that generated much comment on social media.
“I’m a capitalist. ‘Star Wars’ is the capitalist show. ‘Star Trek’ is the communist one,” he told Dowd.
“There is no money in ‘Star Trek’ because you just have the transporter machine that can make anything you need,” he added. “The whole plot of ‘Star’Wars” starts with Han Solo having this debt that he owes and so the plot in ‘Star Wars’ is driven by money.”
The rationale for Thiel’s preference for “Star Wars” sparked an immediate online response, particularly from those who concluded that Jabba the Hutt — the guy to whom Han Solo owed that debt — would emerge in his thinking as one of the franchise’s heroes.
https://twitter.com/squarelyrooted/status/819382301117349888
https://twitter.com/felixgilman/status/819377101673558020
https://twitter.com/felixgilman/status/819378639879995393
This is AMAZING bc it means Peter Thiel thinks the ultimate hero in STAR WARS is Jabba the Hutt, who has given Han motivation for success. pic.twitter.com/D03rcDsrOa
— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) January 12, 2017
Someone tell Peter Thiel about the Ferengi.
— Jay | ✊ (@xeromachine) January 12, 2017