Before I begin this
rant, I just want to say one thing; I dislike Star Trek 2009.
It’s not that it’s a bad movie to be sure – it and its sequel
Star Trek Into Darkness were
rollicking good times at the movies during which I thoroughly enjoyed
myself. That being said, however, in my opinion they didn’t feel
like Star Trek. For a series
which has always been so focused on exploration, pushing boundaries,
seeking new life and new civilizations, and understanding the human
condition, the new movies felt so very action-y. Because of this, I
was overjoyed to see that, just in time for Star Trek’s 50th
anniversary, the team behind the upcoming Star Trek Beyond
had chosen to embrace the true
spirit of Star Trek in a very important way. The writers of the new
movie, in a move meant to honour both Gene Roddenberry’s vision of
equality for all and actor/LGBT
activist George Takei, made
U.S.S. Enterprise helmsman Hikaru Sulu gay. And I for one couldn’t
be happier!
Strangely,
the loudest opposition to this has come not from the homophobes and
their apologists, but from an unlikely source; George Takei himself!
In a press release, he said that, while he is totally in favour of an
LGBT character being introduced on Star Trek, he felt that making it
one of the main cast threatens to undermine the thought Roddenberry
put into each of his characters. Indeed, the debate got so intense
that Simon Pegg, who both wrote the new movie and stars in it as
Scotty, wrote his own rebuttal, in which he states that, for one,
this is an alternate universe, and for two, it had to be an existing
character so as not to embrace tokenism and reduce a new character to
their sexuality. In essence, Pegg wanted to mirror on the big screen
what is a common occurance for many in the real world; finding out a
close friend or family member is gay, and not having it change one’s
opinion of another in any way.
Frankly,
I’m a big fan of Simon Pegg’s justification for choosing Sulu
since it serves as an example of just how important it is to not
reduce any human down to a label. In fact, this is an important
message not just for the LGBT community but also for the
Neurodiversity community as well. Mental health and neurological
difference are both still so stigmatized in our world that, for every
person who is evidently and obviously different,
there are so many others of us who manage to fly beneath the radar.
For those of us able to pass as neurotypical and, as Elsa says in
Disney’s Frozen,
“conceal, don’t feel,” there can be just as much of a feeling
of living in the closet as for anyone who is gay. People come to know
us a certain way, accept us a certain way, and may
not be aware that there is
anything different about us. This all, of course, comes crashing to a
halt in many cases when the truth is revealed. All of a sudden, the
label becomes all that many people can see, and
they neglect any of the other strengths of character that may define
us far more than a single diagnostic word. For this reason, I have to
disagree with George Takei; Sulu is absolutely the perfect choice for
an LGBT crew member, and Simon Pegg’s portrayal of it in script –
that it’s no big deal and no one bats an eye or cares – is so
critically important. It does what Star Trek does best; it shows us
the best of humanity and what is possible when we embrace love and
reject hate. This is why it
is so important that this not simply be an aspect of the Kelvin
Timeline Sulu and not also
his prime originator; after
all, it’s much more poignant for the audience to have gotten to
know this character for 50 years before
finding out about his sexual orientation,
since it allows people to
judge him on his merits as a character, not strictly on his
sexuality. It does a great
deal to enhance the character and convey an important point about
labels not defining us as humans.
While I’ve been lucky to have many accepting friends and family, I
dream of the day when this is true for those of us who are
neurodivergent as well.
Mr.
Takei, don’t take this the wrong way; I have been, and always shall
be, a big fan of yours. You defined the character of Hikaru Sulu and
bravely stood against racism in the process at a time when the
Japanese were still freshly coming off of being one of the United
States’ biggest enemies. Your presence on the bridge of the
starship Enterprise normalized people of all different races and
ethnicities working together. With your hard work, Hikaru Sulu was
able to boldly go where no one had gone before, and this is work you
have continued in your real life struggle for LGBT equality. In many
ways, sexual orientation is the new racism (even though the old
racism has hardly gone away), and your former character is the
perfect ambassador for not just those who are gay, but for all of us
striving for greater acceptance and equality for who we truly are.
Let Star Trek continue the work that you began all those years ago,
and let Hikaru Sulu continue to point the way ahead both in terms of
human rights and from the navigation console of the Enterprise’
bridge.
After
all, to quote an ancient Vulcan proverb; infinite diversity in
infinite combinations.
As always, yours in said infinite diversity,
Adam Michael
As always, yours in said infinite diversity,
Adam Michael
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