Simon Pegg ‘Respectfully Disagrees’ With George Takei Over Sulu’s Sexuality With a great Takai video

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(Note: A very pro Takei take in the article)

The "Star Trek Beyond" writer responded to Takei's criticism over the decision to make his former character gay

On Thursday, the Herald Sun announced that the character Hikaru Sulu will be revealed to be gay in Star Trek Beyond, which hits theaters July 22. It was welcome news for many who have criticized the otherwise progressive franchise’s lack of LGBT representation since the initial show went on the air in 1966.

But one person disappointed with the news is the person it was perhaps most aimed to please, or at least to honor. George Takei, who played Sulu in the original show and who has been a prominent LGBT activist since coming out as gay just over a decade ago, told the Hollywood Reporter that he has been against revealing the character as gay since he first heard it was under consideration last year.

“I’m delighted that there’s a gay character,” Takei told THR. “Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate.” Takei is referring here to Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, whom he says was painstakingly thorough in his character development, which included a vision for Sulu as heterosexual.

Takei has been a proponent of LGBT representation in the franchise from early on, when, though he was still in the closet himself, he discussed the idea with Roddenberry. The latter, who had seen the show take a ratings hit after a 1968 episode featuring an interracial kiss, feared that too much boundary-breaking too soon might spell the end of the show.

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http://time.com/4398071/george-takei-simon-pegg-sulu-gay-star-trek-beyond/?xid=time_socialflow_facebook

[Meldread]

1. I think Peggg and others are missing the point.

It's great that they want to include LGBTQ characters in Star Trek, and I think everyone is on board--including Takei. The issue is rewriting the character Takei played to be gay when he was always written and envisioned to be straight.

I can't get into Takei's mind. He could simply be a purist and want things to remain as true to the original as possible. However, I think the more likely issue is type casting. One of the big issues gay actors face in coming out is the fear that they won't be cast in straight roles. Keep in mind, actors pretend to be other people, and thus a gay actor can pretend to be straight in a movie or TV Show.

So, I imagine it feels like to Takei that they are retroactively making the character he played gay because he happens to be gay in real life. Okay, he isn't imagining that--that's what they said. They simply said they were doing it to honor him. However, if the person you are trying to honor is telling you, 'No, please don't do it' and then you do it anyway... you aren't honoring them. You are disrespecting them.

I think in a straight person's mind they think they are doing good. However, in reality, what they are actually doing is narrowing the possibilities for gay actors. ...and of course, its made worse by the fact that a straight actor can play a gay character just fine. So, even when there IS a role or a gay character, a straight person is likely to take it.

I imagine that Takei is feeling retroactively type cast, 'because you're gay we are going to make your character gay too. Hey, why are you upset? This is a great honor.'

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2. +100