The rebooted Star Trek movie mythology attempted to boldly go where no Star Trek story has gone before, yet that direction wasn’t quite as accepted as might have been presumed. On Thursday, news circulated that the character Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman of the famed starship USS Enterprise, was being established as gay in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond film.
Actor John Cho, who plays Sulu in the updated Star Trek films, shared the revelation in an interview with Australia’s Herald Sun, mentioning that a scene in Beyond shows the character in a same-sex relationship with another man and the two are raising a daughter. What Cho especially liked was that the information wasn’t being revealed in a heavy-handed or obvious way. It was being treated in an understated fashion. (Well, other than talking about it with an international news outlet.)
“I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thing out it, which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicise one’s personal orientations,” Cho told reporter James Wigney.
The Sulu character was portrayed as heterosexual in the original Star Trek TV series and subsequent film franchise. But actor George Takei has been open about his sexuality in recent years, coming out in 2005 in response to then-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoing a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in the state. At the time, Takei was in a relationship with his partner for 18 years. In 2008, the couple got married.
The revelation that this new version of Sulu is gay was intended as a tribute to Takei, which seemed like a nice gesture by Simon Pegg, who plays Scotty in the rebooted films and co-wrote the screenplay for Beyond. Director Justin Lin was also in favor of adding this trait to the character. It also seemed like a natural nod to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who envisioned a future culture in which ethnicities, races and species would co-exist peacefully, at least on Earth and as part of the United Federation of Planets that represented a spirit of cooperation and exploration throughout the galaxy.
However, Takei surprised many fans and media by telling The Hollywood Reporter that he was not on board with this new direction for the character. Adding to the surprise, Takei explained that he wasn’t against the premise a gay character being introduced to Star Trek mythology, but making Sulu gay went against Roddenberry’s original intentions for his creation.
“I’m delighted that there’s a gay character,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate.”
That’s not to say that Roddenberry was opposed to having a gay character in Star Trek. Takei made sure to explain that the writer was “a strong supporter of LBGT equality,” but didn’t want to push the issue too far on the show for fear of being canceled. It’s certainly worth noting that the original Star Trek series depicted Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura kissing, the first time an interracial kiss had been depicted on TV and led to the episode not airing in the South.
Those involved with the Star Trek Beyond production were apparently caught off-guard by Takei’s stance on the subject, as well. Cho told him about the decision to make Sulu gay last year, but Takei voiced his objections to the actor and Lin. Takei thought it would be better to create a new character who was established as being gay, and not a previously closeted person who was being outed. Maintaining Roddenberry’s original vision seemed even more important as Star Trek celebrated its 50th anniversary.
However, that makes the mistake of assuming that Cho’s version of Sulu was closeted to begin with. In the previous two J.J. Abrams Star Trek films, nothing about Sulu’s sexual orientation is mentioned. It just wasn’t necessary to the story. How do we know he wasn’t gay all along and that all of his friends and colleagues in Starfleet were perfectly fine with that?
If Takei’s objection was that he didn’t want Sulu to be refashioned as a token gay character, that disagreement might seem more understandable. Perhaps Takei feels that this is an unnecessary tribute and politically correct attempt to make Star Trek appear more inclusive.
In a statement to The Guardian, Pegg respectfully disagreed with Takei’s stance, while adding that creating an entirely new character simply to have a gay presence on the Enterprise would be even more of a token gesture.
“I have huge love and respect for George Takei, his heart, courage and humour are an inspiration. However, with regards to his thoughts on our Sulu, I must respectfully disagree with him.
“He’s right, it is unfortunate, it’s unfortunate that the screen version of the most inclusive, tolerant universe in science fiction hasn’t featured an LGBT character until now. We could have introduced a new gay character, but he or she would have been primarily defined by their sexuality, seen as the ‘gay character’, rather than simply for who they are, and isn’t that tokenism?”
“Really unfortunate” are not two words that would’ve been expected to come from Takei in response to this new direction for the Sulu character. The reaction was actually rather shocking, though maybe nearly everyone was mistaken in presuming that Takei would automatically be supportive of this decision.
Perhaps Sulu being heterosexual in the original series and previous films represents something to him, a time when he had to stay in the closet because of the political climate at the time. Audiences may just not have been ready for a gay character, even in science fiction. But Takei being freely out now reflects how much the culture has changed.
That’s obviously speculation, of course. Takei is certainly entitled to his beliefs, and what’s really unfortunate is that Roddenberry still isn’t with us to share his views on the matter. But revealing an established character that we’ve come to know somewhat over three films doesn’t seem like a drastic direction. And it does seem to represent the times we live in, when people are more enlightened about such topics. Deep down, Takei must realize that, even if it means he has less ownership of the Sulu character than he once did.
