Last week’s news that John Cho’s version of Sulu will be portrayed as a gay man in STAR TREK BEYOND hit the Trek universe with great impact, generating a whole lot of conversation – civil and otherwise – about the character’s new status.
After comments by Simon Pegg and Zachary Quinto were made public – reacting to George Takei’s disapproval of the change – the debate only increased between those who felt that a new gay character should be introduced, rather than “changing” one already established.
Pegg expanded upon his stance in a new blog post released today on his official site, and here are some relevant excerpts:
The fact is, we chose Sulu because of George, there was something sweet and poetic about it. Introducing a new gay character had its own set of problems, as I mentioned before, the sexuality of that character would have to be addressed immediately and pointedly and the new characters in ‘Star Trek Beyond’ have enough on their plate, without stopping to give us the intimate details of their personal lives.
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So why persist when George Takei wasn’t keen? The thinking behind embracing an existing character was that it felt as though it retroactively put right something that had long been wrong. By the time, we mentioned it to GT, the idea had taken shape, it felt good, interesting and worthy of thought and conversation.
We were disappointed that George didn’t see it that way but, truth be told, Sulu Prime seemed to be missing a very important point. With galaxies of respect to the great man, this is not his Sulu. John Cho does not play a young George Takei, nor does he play the same character George Takei played in the original series.
He is a different Sulu.
With the Kelvin timeline, we are not entirely beholden to existing canon, this is an alternate reality and, as such is full of new and alternate possibilities.
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Well, the explanation comes down to something very Star Trek-y; theoretical, quantum physics and the less than simple fact that time is not linear. Sure, we experience time as a contiguous series of cascading events but perception and reality aren’t always the same thing. Spock’s incursion from the Prime Universe created a multidimensional reality shift.
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The Kelvin universe can evolve and change in ways that don’t necessarily have to follow the Prime Universe at any point in history, before or after the events of Star Trek ‘09, it can mutate and subvert, it is a playground for the new and the progressive and I know in my heart, that Gene Roddenberry would be proud of us for keeping his ideals alive.
Infinite diversity in infinite combinations, this was his dream, that is our dream, it should be everybody’s.
Ultimately, if we love Star Trek, we are all on the same page, we all want Gene’s idea of a tolerant inclusive, diplomatic and loving Universe to become a reality. For those who have joined this debate in the spirit of discussion and forward momentum, it’s been a pleasure to see your reactions.
For those who have seen it has an opportunity to sling abuse, or be rude and presumptuous, please take a long hard look in the mirror and remember we are discussing the personal details of a fictional spaceman.
In the words of Martin Blank, who are you mad at? Because it’s not me.
You can read Pegg’s full comments here – and let us know your thoughts on his stance in the comments below.