I didn’t even realize Bashir was supposed to be Arabic until his parents showed up. He looks ambiguous enough he can play English or Arabic just by costume and makeup.
That explains Picard’s other best friend as a child — Etienne ch’Thehn’owah.And in the Trek universe French people who look like Andorians
That explains Picard’s other best friend as a child — Etienne ch’Thehn’owah.
Pity the short sightedness of the writers, presenting the UFP as an organisation/semi nation state of species where everyone but humans stick to their planetary systems.Who also had a British accent...
Acting ability doesn't always cover emotional state, though. Ever see Geneviève Bujold's brief but disastrous stint as Captain Janeway?
They resented her taking over from Gates McFadden as the ship's doctor.
Consider the stupid fan(atic)s who get angry/send death threats at the actor who plays a baddie or takes over from a well loved character....humans are stupid, its a fact.That's so misguided. If they wanted to be angry about it, be angry at the bonehead(s) who fired her, or authorized her firing. Muldaur had nothing to do with that.
I'm always amazed when I hear things like that, not just when it comes to the McFadden/Muldaur situation. If you want to be angry fine, but focus that anger in the correct direction.
It's never been spelled out just what his origins are and I really like that about him, as it has no bearing on him as a character as by this time what divides us now is meaningless (I'd suspect if they included a devout Muslim character in a series now it'd be splashed all over the press release).I didn’t even realize Bashir was supposed to be Arabic until his parents showed up. He looks ambiguous enough he can play English or Arabic just by costume and makeup.
I hate that about him and it makes me think a bit less of the show. They have no problem being specific about the origins of other characters, sometimes down to the city they were born in, Sisko is from New Orleans, O'Brien is irish, Worf grew up in russia but Bashir is ambiguously brown and could be arab... or not if the audience is uncomfortable with that.It's never been spelled out just what his origins are and I really like that about him, as it has no bearing on him as a character as by this time what divides us now is meaningless (I'd suspect if they included a devout Muslim character in a series now it'd be splashed all over the press release).
I'm pretty sure we've got an African who looks like Charlize Theron now.Also there will be Africans who look like Charlize Theron since their ancestors would have lived there for 600 years...
I tend to agree. In-grouping is a natural psychological process, being more socially costructing rather than socially constructed. I don't think that our current communities will survive--or at least they won't survive intact--but others will replace them, as groups form a common set of values and beliefs in order to pursue complex functions. In Star Trek, being in the Federation, especially in Starfleet, performs this function. I doubt that a closer look at the cultures and societies of future Earth (in the context of the lore) would show a white-washed world in which identity is wiped away. It's more likely that our identities will be more dictated according to our choices rather than other considerations. Indeed, we've seen in DS9 that Africanness is not just existing or being born in the space of the African continent: it is connected to an historical identity that is preserved in the future. (By the way, there have been people of European descent who called themselves Africans for more than a century: they were appropriating that identity).I hate that about him and it makes me think a bit less of the show. They have no problem being specific about the origins of other characters, sometimes down to the city they were born in, Sisko is from New Orleans, O'Brien is irish, Worf grew up in russia but Bashir is ambiguously brown and could be arab... or not if the audience is uncomfortable with that.
And saying what divides us is meaningless by that time ignores the fact that it's not meaningless now, the show wasn't made for a fictional 24th century audience. Representation matters! I've heard the same argument about gay characters in Star Trek for a long time "What does it matter if they're gay, humans in Star Trek have moved beyond charing about that" and it's all BS to justify Star Trek's failings when it comes to represent minorities. Because unlike earth religions (which truly don't matter in Star Trek) origins and sexuality were used all the time for backstory or episodic plots just not when it's not western or straight.
A sign that the production team and writing team should be more diverse or more knowledgeable.The Bashir thing kind of annoys me. Same with Harry Kim — is he Chinese or Korean? He has a very Korean name (think Smith or Jones), the actor is Chinese (that’s neither here nor there), and the character often brought up Chinese sayings and culture. Garrett Wang wasn’t clear about it, though Braga thought he was Chinese.
I agree that neither would be a problem if not for how specific the backgrounds of other characters are. It’s the disparity that makes it a rather conspicuous issue.
The curse of bad information.We saw how they treated Native Americans, it's really no surprise they had no idea where Kim was from.
Diana Muldaur would likely disagree with that. From what I've read, her co-workers treated her like shit.
Reportedly there was plenty of practical joking etc. going on with TOS, so she must have hated working on that show as well.I'd read Muldaur was very "old school" and took everything seriously, while the rest of the crew often did jokes (some of which make for fun outtakes). ...
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