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villager

(26,001 posts)
Fri Jul 8, 2016, 05:30 PM Jul 2016

Simon Pegg ‘Respectfully Disagrees’ With George Takei Over Sulu’s Sexuality


<snip>

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.

But Takei didn’t envision it would be his own character who would end the franchise’s streak of LGBT invisibility, and he said as much to John Cho, who plays Sulu in the new trilogy, when they discussed the idea last year. He believed it made more sense to create a new character who has always been gay, rather than bringing Sulu out of a presumed closet. He hoped Star Trek Beyond writer Simon Pegg and director Justin Lin would take this direction and expressed disappointment upon learning that they had not.

Pegg responded to Takei’s criticism Friday morning, telling the Guardian that he respectfully disagrees with the actor’s position. He said that he comes from a place of utmost respect for Takei, and agrees that it’s disappointing that “the screen version of the most inclusive, tolerant universe in science fiction hasn’t featured an LGBT character until now.” But he also expressed a concern, which he discussed with Lin and co-writer Doug Jung, that a new gay character may have been perceived by the audience as a token gay character, “primarily defined by their sexuality.”

Pegg believes Roddenberry’s decision not to develop a gay character earlier was a product of his time, not of his vision. He continued that he, Lin and Jung “loved the idea of it being someone we already knew because the audience have a pre-existing opinion of that character as a human being, unaffected by any prejudice. Their sexual orientation is just one of many personal aspects, not the defining characteristic.” Based on the movie’s timeline, the decision to make Sulu gay does not necessitate his having been in the closet, Pegg explains, and it presumes that there has been an LGBT presence since the beginning of the franchise’s universe.

<snip>

http://time.com/4398071/george-takei-simon-pegg-sulu-gay-star-trek-beyond/?xid=time_socialflow_facebook
17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Simon Pegg ‘Respectfully Disagrees’ With George Takei Over Sulu’s Sexuality (Original Post) villager Jul 2016 OP
I disagree with Takei on this as well... Firebrand Gary Jul 2016 #1
Sulu's sexuality notwithstandig, the whole Abrams Trek reboot is a twisting of Gene's creation (nt) LongtimeAZDem Jul 2016 #2
well, there's that. nt villager Jul 2016 #3
This message was self-deleted by its author Mosby Jul 2016 #5
Roddenberry's show had something the new ones do not: Crash2Parties Jul 2016 #12
That's a good point. Hollywood these days generates so much garbage closeupready Jul 2016 #15
George should stick to selling diabetes in a wrap Mosby Jul 2016 #4
Purism! Loki Liesmith Jul 2016 #7
I wouldn't care if he was selling cars like MM Mosby Jul 2016 #9
Yes, cars are super good for the planet and do no harm to any person ever!!!!! Bluenorthwest Jul 2016 #10
type II diabetes is no joke Mosby Jul 2016 #11
Hey! Look at you! Iggo Jul 2016 #16
I know, right? Mosby Jul 2016 #17
I like George MFM008 Jul 2016 #6
Good for George. Loki Liesmith Jul 2016 #8
Thanks for straightsplaining your decision, Simon Pegg... Crash2Parties Jul 2016 #13
So only gay writers should write gay characters? Straight writers should only write straight ones? villager Jul 2016 #14

Response to LongtimeAZDem (Reply #2)

Crash2Parties

(6,017 posts)
12. Roddenberry's show had something the new ones do not:
Sat Jul 9, 2016, 10:47 PM
Jul 2016

Optimism.

Ever since the Bush Jr. years, and especially after 9/11, entertainment has fully embraced a dystopic future. There is an entire generation that has known nothing else. Remember Superman? He was supposed to give hope - now he's a dark, dangerous figure. Same for the Enterprise - it now looks like a war machine. The current Star Trek reboots seem to be about war, or impending war, always a threat. Star Trek was supposed to be about exploration. Exploring boundaries, especially, of what it meant to be human. Was someone with blue skin human? And if so, what did that say about people with black skin in the real world?

So while I think it's interesting that they have a gay character and it's not a focal point, just an attribute, they aren't really exploring the current issues of our embedded cultural assumption of a 100% pure gender binary.

 

closeupready

(29,503 posts)
15. That's a good point. Hollywood these days generates so much garbage
Mon Jul 11, 2016, 03:07 PM
Jul 2016

in the form of films. I could barely get through Guardians of the Galaxy, and yet, it was one of the biggest-grossing films ever. Big budget, but no real story. Modern Hollywood does explosions, action scenes, fighting, bloodletting in excess...

But real stories? Puh-lease.

Mosby

(16,168 posts)
4. George should stick to selling diabetes in a wrap
Fri Jul 8, 2016, 06:10 PM
Jul 2016

Quesalupa, oh my!

You sold out George, why should I care about anything you say?

Mosby

(16,168 posts)
9. I wouldn't care if he was selling cars like MM
Fri Jul 8, 2016, 06:42 PM
Jul 2016

But he's pimping food that is literally killing people.

Fuck him.

 

Bluenorthwest

(45,319 posts)
10. Yes, cars are super good for the planet and do no harm to any person ever!!!!!
Fri Jul 8, 2016, 07:34 PM
Jul 2016

Also, who is MM? Because cars, as we all know, literally kill people. If that's the point here.
"NHTSA’s Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) figures for 2014 show 32,675 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2014"
What's the total Chalupa death rate so far?

Mosby

(16,168 posts)
11. type II diabetes is no joke
Fri Jul 8, 2016, 08:05 PM
Jul 2016

Regular people don't understand that food has been weaponized with sugar, salt and fat and that many will die as a result, it's not really about self-control for the most part.

Who is the MM in a car commercial? I'll give you another clue. Don't really expect you to get it though.


MFM008

(19,782 posts)
6. I like George
Fri Jul 8, 2016, 06:16 PM
Jul 2016

and understand because he talked to Rodenberry about the character
BUT I think any of them could be LBGT today and no one would really give a rats fuzzy....
I mean the sane among us....

Loki Liesmith

(4,602 posts)
8. Good for George.
Fri Jul 8, 2016, 06:41 PM
Jul 2016

It demeans the craft he put into playing Sulu as a straight man. Takei invested time and energy into shaping the inner life of this character and reinventing a core characteristic of Sulu denies the interior work Takei put into Sulu over the years.

It's not a huge deal but I get why George is upset.

 

villager

(26,001 posts)
14. So only gay writers should write gay characters? Straight writers should only write straight ones?
Sun Jul 10, 2016, 01:10 PM
Jul 2016

Men, I guess, should only write male characters, and let's leave female characters strictly to women authors?

Etc.?

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