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Star Trek Beyond
- Thread starter Gorn
- Start date
Some are calling it a homage to George Takei:
http://www.vulture.com/2016/07/john-cho-george-takei-sulu-gay-star-trek-beyond.html
"The move is a clear homage to Takei, who publicly came out in 2005 after then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in California. Takei had been in a relationship with his partner, Brad Altman, then for 18 years"
Brad is a really nice guy, and he's got a cool name.
It talked with Brad while George was talking to a Japanese family that came to meet him in Washington D.C. at Awesome Con.
Maybe they could shave the top of Chris Pine's head and have him wear a toupe. Or chop off one of Simon Pegg's fingers.
Inconsistent with the "prime" Sulu, but this is for most intents and purposes a reboot. Also, it's a nod to the actor who portrayed the "prime" character. No biggie, and generally speaking a long-overdue step, in my book. I fully expect not to like the movie for several, entirely different reasons. Self-fulfilling prophecy, I wonder myself? Maybe, but I did like some aspects of the first JJ-Trek after all, even if I thought I wasn't gonna. Not nearly enough though.
It's not a biggie for me either and they can make whatever changes they want because it's a different timeline, but I still think it's silly.
Eh. Could have been the random redshirt du jour, and it would have sent a less than great message. Kind of like lesbians in the average, non-specialised drama series episode: either victims or dark ladies, never just minding their own lesbian business.
EDIT: on second thoughts, I do find it the most relatively painless way to introduce an LGBT character in the franchise. Making Scotty gay (no, I don't remember if he does or speaks straight stuff in the first movie and haven't seen the second) would have been harder to do. In this case, some people will mix up character and actor as KbD said, and shrug and say "I already knew that".
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I don't know. I have nothing against gay characters in Star Trek. I have nothing against a bridge officer being gay.
But none of the bridge officers of the 23rd century Enterprise were gay. They just weren't. So if Hikaru Sulu wwe born gay in the universe where Nero and Spock prime went back in time and Vulcan was destroyed, okay, I guess.
Well, since that time trip had so many consequences, for Vulcans but most of all fashion and interior design, I guess anything goes.
Alkali Ike
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Reboot #2 committed a far more egregious sin: Messing with the "heroic officer gives own life to save the ship" sequence. That is sacred and Abrams made a huge mistake going there.
But Sulu is gay now? Fine with me.
Although it might be more credible to make him bi. They could have Sulu have a humorous line like "Well as I get older I'm a little more open minded now about sex". 
But Sulu is gay now? Fine with me.
Although it might be more credible to make him bi. They could have Sulu have a humorous line like "Well as I get older I'm a little more open minded now about sex".
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They also have portable transporters capable of transporting from Earth to Kronos, and handheld communicators capable of working over the same distance, oh yeah, Kahn's magic blood cures death.Reboot #2 committed a far more egregious sin: Messing with the "heroic officer gives own life to save the ship" sequence. That is sacred and Abrams made a huge mistake going there.
But Sulu is gay now? Fine with me.
I'm fine with gay Sulu. But it's shoehorned in.
George isn't exactly happy either:
George Takei Reacts to Gay Sulu News: "I Think It's Really Unfortunate"
"Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate."
Alkali Ike
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I love George Takei. In a brotherly kind of way. He's a really smart guy. For him to speak out negatively about Reboot Sulu suddenly being gay speaks volumes.
George is my fave of the surviving cast members. I never got to meet Leonard & haven't read a biography about him yet. I do have Shatner's memoirs, but I'm almost afraid to read it.
The reports that The Shat wasn't such a nice guy were pretty prevalent at the Awesome Con.
One gal even wanted to change her VIP ticket to another star.
The fact that George sat almost on the opposite side of the coliseum from Shatner says a lot IMHO.
Alkali Ike
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I have no doubt that Shatner was an a-hat. He may still be one. But he was the perfect casting choice for Captain Kirk. I mean, Kirk was kind of an a-hat too. A benevolent a-hat.
Shatner knows all this and has kind of admitted to his past bad behavior.
I have a similar brotherly love for all the ST:TOS actors. Even if the whole thing was an accidental success in reruns, they made a huge impact on pop culture. I can't not like anyone who was involved with making it.
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Alkali Ike
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Simon Pegg ‘Respectfully Disagrees’ With George Takei About Sulu Being Gay In ‘Star Trek Beyond’
Excerpt:
According to Takei, Star Trek mastermind Gene Roddenberry told him Sulu was canonically straight, and changing the character’s sexuality is a “twisting of his creation.” Takei also felt he wasn’t heard when he expressed his concerns to Star Trek Beyond writer Simon Pegg and director Justin Lin. Considering the original Sulu isn’t thrilled by his own “tribute,” you’d think the makers of Star Trek Beyond would just put their heads down and move onto another subject, but Simon Pegg has instead decided to publicly butt heads with Takei on the issue. Simon, buddy, this might not go well for you.
Excerpt:
According to Takei, Star Trek mastermind Gene Roddenberry told him Sulu was canonically straight, and changing the character’s sexuality is a “twisting of his creation.” Takei also felt he wasn’t heard when he expressed his concerns to Star Trek Beyond writer Simon Pegg and director Justin Lin. Considering the original Sulu isn’t thrilled by his own “tribute,” you’d think the makers of Star Trek Beyond would just put their heads down and move onto another subject, but Simon Pegg has instead decided to publicly butt heads with Takei on the issue. Simon, buddy, this might not go well for you.
In an interview with The Guardian, Pegg explained why they didn’t just introduce a new gay character, as Takei has suggested…
“I have huge love and respect for George Takei, his heart, courage and humor are an inspiration However, with regards to his thoughts on our Sulu, I must respectfully disagree with him. We could have introduced a new gay character, but he or she would have been primarily defined by their sexuality, seen as the ‘gay character,’ rather than simply for who they are, and isn’t that tokenism?”
So a new character that happens to be gay would've been defined by his sexual orientation. He would be the gay character.
So instead he's taking Sulu, a character with previously defined traits, and making him gay as an homage to the actor who played him.
And the actor doesn't like it. That alone should nix the whole thing.
“I have huge love and respect for George Takei, his heart, courage and humor are an inspiration However, with regards to his thoughts on our Sulu, I must respectfully disagree with him. We could have introduced a new gay character, but he or she would have been primarily defined by their sexuality, seen as the ‘gay character,’ rather than simply for who they are, and isn’t that tokenism?”
So a new character that happens to be gay would've been defined by his sexual orientation. He would be the gay character.
So instead he's taking Sulu, a character with previously defined traits, and making him gay as an homage to the actor who played him.
And the actor doesn't like it. That alone should nix the whole thing.
I'm all for the new Star Trek movie. I'm not a purist, never was, saw the original season live back in the 60's and liked it ever since. If the Sulu part is the biggest "problem" with the movie, I'm just fine with it.
It's a movie, it's not Shakespeare. (And much worse things have been done to Shakespeare.) Bring it on!!
It's a movie, it's not Shakespeare. (And much worse things have been done to Shakespeare.) Bring it on!!
