There’s a bit of squabble between the old and the new Star Trek generations. Entertainment Weekly reports Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg have responded to George Takei’s criticism of Star Trek: Beyond.
Earlier, star John Cho revealed his character Sulu is gay in the new movie. George Takei, who played Sulu in the original Star Trek series and is openly gay, called the decision “really unfortunate.”
Pegg, who plays Scotty and co-wrote the film’s script, said he “respectfully disagrees” with Takei. Meanwhile, Quinto added he was “disappointed” with Takei’s criticism, saying there should be “normalized and positive portrayals of members of our community in Hollywood and in mainstream blockbuster cinema.”
He added:
I find as a member of the LGBT community myself, I was disappointed by the fact that George was disappointed. I get it that he’s had his own personal relationship with this character, but, you know, as we established in the first Star Trek film in 2009, we’ve created an alternate universe. And my hope is that eventually George can be strengthened by the enormously positive response from especially young people, who are heartened by and inspired by this really tasteful and beautiful portrayal of something that I think is gaining acceptance and inclusion in our societies across the world — and should be.”
Star Trek: Beyond comes out in theaters on July 22nd.
What do you think? Are you a Star Trek fan? Do you agree or disagree with Takei’s response?
There’s a lot to see here but ultimately because an actor is a gay (Takei) doesn’t mean that his/her character (Sulu) ought to have been or will now be gay. I tend to agree with Takei. Using the alternative universe as permission to create issues that do not organically emerge has caused me to question this new universe and timeline. It seems that change for change sake its feature and not a bug. What is and what was great about Star Trek has been the way stories, themes, and universes emerged organically. They stretched at times but did so with… Read more »