I can’t think of a more hotly contested, embittered, and contentious rivalry in the entirety of the auto industry than that of the Ford Edge and the Nissan Murano. When you look at the 2020 Ford Edge vs 2020 Nissan Murano, specifically, you can really see how this conflict has informed the decisions of their respective engineers in designing and manufacturing these vehicles. Now, more than ever before, this contest rages as Ford and Nissan each struggle to set themselves apart, while hoping to gain an advantage with each year that they missed the year before.
Today, I’m going to settle this debate once and for all and clearly, unequivocally, and scientifically establish the winner in this conflict. We’ll dive deep into the issues, look at all the specs and figures, and see which one of these amazing compact sedans is superior (are they compact sedans? Drake, check on that and let me know – may need to update this!). Disagree all you want; you’re free to flounder in the murky waters of ignorance but know this: there is no disputing my findings and the thorough investigation on which they are based.
But first, before we settle this whole Edge vs Murano thing, let’s settle a few other debates…
Superman vs Batman
Let’s see, a freakish alien with incredible superpowers and nigh invulnerability, or a tactical genius with near-limitless resources and an analytical mind that could shame Sherlock Holmes? Oh, I don’t know…
Batman is the clear winner here. He looks cooler – sure this can vary somewhat depending on the comic artist or film, but just in general, he has a better costume. As a character, he’s more refined and fully developed, particularly when you look at how he’s been reinvented over the years and fleshed out. He’s born from tragedy, which many of us can understand, and yet he overcomes that to dish out the kind of justice that many people wish those that deserved it would face in the world around us.
With Superman, you just get Mr. Perfect with his perfect life, perfect childhood, and perfect powers. Superman’s fundamental problem is that if you try to change any of this, to make him less perfect or give him character flaws, it’s incredibly easy to ruin his character or end up with someone who is no longer Superman. And there’s the rub: Batman’s humanity lets him be flawed so we can identify with him, while Superman’s lack of humanity is the basis of his character and why we can never fully connect with him as an audience.
Luke Skywalker vs Han Solo
This is a tough decision, so let’s work through it. Luke Skywalker is the prototypical hero – he goes through The Hero’s Journey and is an iconic, archetypal character that we can relate to and emulate. Han Solo might not have the Hero’s Journey on his side, but he’s no less archetypal: he’s the ultimate “bad boy” scoundrel who seems selfish and arrogant, but deep down he has a heart of gold.
And he comes through. In the end, Han Solo does return to rescue Luke at the Battle of Yavin and remains an important figure within the Rebellion, ultimately being instrumental in the victorious Battle of Endor that brings the Empire to its crushing end. But, I still have to say Luke has a more satisfying character arc, and the difficulties that he goes through and overcomes to ultimately save his friends, his father, and the galaxy, are simply more impressive.
So, yeah, Luke Skywalker comes out on top here.
Cake vs Pie
In my youth, I would’ve answered “cake” without hesitation, nor given it another thought as I moved on to the next debate. But, now that I’m older, perhaps wiser, perhaps endowed with the turgid wisdom of experience, I’m not so certain. I still love cake, don’t get me wrong, but it seems to me that it’s too-often little more than a frosting delivery vehicle. The cake itself can be overlooked or overwhelmed by a rich, delicious frosting – and while I love frosting, it’s typically a bit one-note.
Whereas pie, on the other hand, is much more of a complete meal: a total package. When done well, a pie gives you a flaky, buttery crust that, on its own, would be plenty delicious, but it comes paired with some kind of filling that elevates the entire experience. This can be sumptuous fruits and jam, luxurious chocolate, or even savory delights made to tantalize. There’s a part of me that still clings greedily to cake, but I can’t help but think pies might actually be superior.
Sarah Connor vs Lt. Ellen Ripley
This might be the most difficult of all of these debates, honestly, simply because it is such an impressive pairing. We also have to look at how we define these characters – only by their first movies? By all of their movies? Some are not, shall we say, at the same level as others. Let’s keep it fair and look at these characters with just their first two movies as reference.
Sarah Connor is about as awesome as it gets. We get to see her go through this journey in the first Terminator movie in which she is confronted with this impossible idea, accepts it as reality, and ultimately overcomes it. She’s presented with this situation in which her fate is supposedly already sealed – we’re dealing with time travel here, so her actions should be set in stone. Yet she defies that in both the first and second movie, she creates her own fate, her own future.
With Lt. Ripley, we have a different sort of character. The stakes are never as grand as they are for Sarah Connor with the fate of the entire future resting on her shoulders. Instead, the battle is much more personal, which matches the more confined and claustrophobic environment of her films. The alien she’s fighting against doesn’t know her name or care about her future, it’s an animal – a force of nature that she has to struggle against and overcome. Her strength is in her ability to overcome this creature, to rise above her fear, and fight for herself and the people around her.
This is a close one, but I give it to Ripley.
Muffins vs Scones
The deciding factor here is 100% based on the recipe used to make these delicious baked goods. When done properly, a good muffin is pretty hard to beat. Personally, a really great blueberry muffin is just about the perfect thing on a sleepy Sunday morning. That being said, if you’ve ever had a buttermilk scone, fresh from the oven, with some chocolate chips in it, or maybe some dried strawberries in it, that’s pretty impossible to surpass.
I do believe that muffins hold up better over a day or two than scones do, but I lost the data I had to support that in a freak muffin fire (the kitchen is fine, only the muffin burst into flames). In lieu of any other hard facts or specs, I polled a small group of about 147 cats that I found in a series of alleys behind the apartment you used to live in, and they all said the same thing:
Meow. Oh, and the Murano is better, or maybe the Edge. I don’t know – make up your own damn mind!
Editor’s Note: We’d like to thank you, dear reader, for fighting your way through this rambling collection of opinions masquerading as an article about the auto industry. We’re not entirely sure what happened, or who “Drake” is – we’ve met with Mr. Von Gourdboddum’s personal assistant: his name is Mr. Pilkington, and he’s best described as a small guinea pig that lives in the writer’s coat pocket, fed on a steady stream of bourbon and meatloaf crumbs. Still, we hope this helped you pick the right vehicle. Thank you.
