Because everything is better with more Takei, abstract_reg.
(That said… in the original, sure. Wanna bet we’ll see anything like that in the reboot?)
Makes you wonder what you will have to put with if your novels make the jump to the big screen.
I’m still sticking with my point of Gaila, who, as with Kirk, was in her undies of her own will for the same reason as Kirk.
Yes, I understand that she was there largely as eye candy. No, I don’t think that’s okay.
That’s one area where Star Trek has definitely dragged far behind mainstream culture. You’d think the franchise that once aired television’s first interracial kiss and regularly depicts characters hooking up with entirely different species could at least try to catch up with Battlestar Galactica on same-sex relationships.
Anyone remember if Sulu was ever explicitly depicted as straight in TOS? I know there was some mention of his “family” in the movies but I don’t remember anyone specifically using the word “wife.” Maybe it’s finally time to see how he spends that shore leave.
A perfect example - if Castaway had starred a female actor in Tom Hanks’ role, it would probably fail the Bechdel test (unless Wilson was a female volleyball…), and yet be a huge step forward for Hollywood.
[quote=“dragonfrog, post:46, topic:4711”]
if Castaway had starred a female actor in Tom Hanks’ role, it would probably fail the Bechdel test
[/quote]Actually a gender-reversed Cast Away would pass that test with flying colors. Before he ends up on the Island Tom Hanks converses with coworkers, employees and several members of the flight crew.
In any case, as someone already mentioned the Bechdel Test is more useful as an aggregate measure than an indicator of the quality of any one movie. If you’ve got two or more feature-length films in a row that don’t pass the test then it’s time to start wondering why women aren’t playing a bigger role in your franchise. (Star Wars is even worse: over the course of six films the only women who even had names mentioned onscreen were Luke Skywalker’s immediate family).
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You might see Scotty in his underwear in the reboot, but it’d be played for comic effect, with him drunk, or hung over being dragged out of bed for some emergency.
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Well, Enterprise was just a big step backward in every respect, and the Abrams stuff is following the same line. DS9 did have a lesbian episode that featured kissing, which was brave for the time it aired.
But even that could be enough to pass the Bechdel test - Rand: “Nurse Chapel, I got some blood on me when that redshirt got eaten by the monster - can you bring me some disinfectant?” Chapel: “OK”.
It’s not that hard to pass.
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I guess, but even that episode needed a sci-fi explanation (“they fell in love back when one of those characters was a dude, so it’s not really gay!”) instead of just including a gay character because some people happen to be gay.
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Actually, that red shirt was very likely a man, sp she and Chapel are speaking about a man. 
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Well, according to TOS, the normal attraction is that of one man to one woman. Even if the man is human and the woman a sparkly space cloud.
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I’m surprised Kirk never tried to hook up with the Horta.
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If you watch the deleted scenes, it’s clear that Kirk was using Gaila to gain access to the Kobayashi Maru testing program.
Hahaha! There are quite a few more than three females in the two movies, even with speaking roles.
I also remember seeing Kirk in his underwear twice. But let’s not get bogged down with pesky facts. Cory, do some fact checking next time, I like you and I want to continue liking you.
I would point out that every scene in a movie not featuring the lead actors will typically involve talking about the lead actors. This is how every single successful movie is made. Anything that does not move the plot forward or develop the lead characters is cut.
This effectively makes the Bechdel test rather pointless when talking about any movie where the leads are male since you won’t be able to tell the difference between sexism and good editing.
In the late 60s, Roddenberry and a few others were actively trying not to be sexist and to work against the sexist environment of Hollywood, and it shows. Now, in the 2010s, Hollywood’s convinced itself that it’s no longer sexist so it doesn’t need to pay attention.
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Read the post again: that’s three NAMED female characters. As in: we might be expected to know that character’s name because someone says it at some point during the course of the movie. “Big-eyed alien nurse in the shuttle who tells Kirk’s mom to push harder” doesn’t count.
[quote=“bovisrex, post:58, topic:4711”]
In the late 60s, Roddenberry and a few others were actively trying not to be sexist and to work against the sexist environment of Hollywood, and it shows.
[/quote]Yes and no. He was banging both Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett, after all.
I see the Bechdel test as a test of climate, not weather. And also remember this test originated as a joke in a comic.
I really like the Star Trek reboot for the action and the Kirk/Spock dynamic. It’s just a shame that it might not catch the imagination of a 9 year old girl today the way TNG caught mine when I was a little girl. TOS was progressive for 1960s. Seems a waste that the reboot isn’t very progressive for the 2010s.
