yeah, precisely. Pegg makes much more sense on the issue, and i’m bummed that Takei didn’t just take it for the honor it is and leave his personal opinions about Roddenberry’s vision to himself. Pegg is right: a new character would be defined solely by his/her sexuality, whereas with Sulu we have an entire history to now view in the new light of that sexuality. it’s a richer experience, and not just tokenism.
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Yeah, all apologies to Mr. Takei, but Sulu was always a bit… awesome. (if’n you know what I mean).
And a daughter’s not exactly entirely dispositive…
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No - but it does mean that the show & George thought he was.
That said - it’s a different Sulu & I lean towards respecting Simon Pegg’s vision here. Much as I respect both men.
Though as always, the proof will be seeing him in the new movie as we see this new facet of the character.
In an article entitled “George Takei” which appeared in Star Trek: Communicator issue 100, Takei talked about Demora Sulu, discussing his take on his character having a daughter. He expressed an interest in finding out how Demora had been conceived by Sulu and an unnamed woman, as well as wanting to learn who her mother was.
Apocrypha
Demora is central to the plot of the following:
The novel The Captain’s Daughter by Peter David (where her mother’s name is given as Susan Ling)
The PC-based simulation Star Trek: Starship Creator.
The Lost Era novels Serpents Among the Ruins and One Constant Star by David R. George III.
The short story “Iron and Sacrifice”, from the Tales from the Captain’s Table anthology, also by David George.
She was also referenced in William Shatner’s novel Dark Victory.
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I don’t even care what you’re implying. Sulu fencing is just awesome.
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I signed up for a fencing course and all they wanted to do was sword fight.
I got my money back on that one.
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George I love you like chocolate cake, I’m really “Star Trek-conflicted”, plus I’ve been drinking, a lot.
Maybe the light of a new day will help.
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It’s his version of ‘pulling pigtails’. It was an awkward time for him.
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I’m reading the comments here to try and decide what my opinion on this matter should be. I feel like I should have an opinion on this, but I don’t.
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Shirtless noless…
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Why?
Also, wasn’t Demora conceived imagined over 25 years after TOS? So not really evidence as to how TOS positioned the characters?
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It’s only vaguely related, but I’ve only read one Star Trek novel, and in that one, Sulu was definitely straight, or at least in a straight relationship (and had awesome hair).
But as far as this goes, I think I’m with Pegg. Like @Daedalus says:
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This isn’t necessarily contradicted by Sulu currently being described as gay.
- He could have evolved over his life in a culture that (by definition in a modern definition of Roddenberry’s utopian vision) didn’t obsess over sexuality
- He could be just ‘mostly gay’
- They could have conceived in an alternative way
- They could have conceived for a reason other than ‘Generic American Married Couple’, for example in that universe children are a gift and not a burden, and they were buds
- He could’ve been just as much of a horndog as Kirk when she was conceived
There are probably another dozen scenarios, many of which could make excellent, entertaining and poignant stories.
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I think the point in this case was more that the new movie series has little to do with Roddenberry’s vision, so it seems silly to suddenly start protesting one particular change*.
Although it should have been Kirk - we all know he’s omnisexual anyways.
*But yeah, there is also the fact that the Star Trek series have all been pretty crap in terms of QUILTBAG representation/issues and Roddenberry couldn’t have touched on that in TOS even if he wanted to, given the times.
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As someone said elsewhere on this article “There’s no reason everyone has to be at the very ends of the Kinsey scale.” Hell, maybe Sulu’s been bisexual all along, and now he’s met a guy he wants to marry, after dating several women. Bisexual doesn’t necessarily mean you like both equally, after all. I prefer men about 75% of the time, but if my husband walked out on me tomorrow you can bet I’d be only dating women for a good while.
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^this.
As far as I can remember, Sulu was not specifically described as straight.
I appreciate the concern about the “original vision”, but it doesn’t really feel like the original episodes solidly kept the idea that he was straight (even if it was specified at some point I don’t remember…)
A “being in every port”, indeed.
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You don’t know what goes where until you check!
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Fan series, but written by David Gerrold. In one episode, Peter Kirk is gay. It was adapted from an unused TNG script that Berman shot down because eww teh geyz.
I don’t remember if it was him or his lover, but one of them, upon wakening, says, “Mr. Sulu!” and the response is, “You wish.”
Anything else?
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Thank you for posting the scene that, admit it, was in our heads.
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