It looks like we'll be getting a Muslim character in the new Trek after all. And apparently he's gonna be a badass!
Pakistani Captain
- Thread starter SeamusShameless
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Link?
I believe this is the story the OP is referring too from TrekMovie.
http://trekmovie.com/2008/02/29/faran-tahir-is-the-federation-captain/
Cool! It looks like we now know who this Federation Captain will be.
http://trekmovie.com/2008/02/29/faran-tahir-is-the-federation-captain/
Cool! It looks like we now know who this Federation Captain will be.
He can't be Muslim. Humanity has evolved beyond all that superstitious claptrap and only aliens have religion in the Trekverse.
I think it's wonderful that we'll get a more international feel with a non-American captain playing a "meaty" role in this movie. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this comes together. Perhaps he will be a captain that Kirk served under and was inspired by? My first thought was Captain Garrovick, but someone told me it was confirmed that he was in an earlier draft of the script but then written out. I'm not sure how many captains Kirk served under before having his own command.
Has it been said that he is playing a Muslim character? I'm not saying he won't be a muslim, but you can't assume that just because the actor may be muslim. For instance Shanter didn't play the "Jewish Captain". I don't doubt however that Tahir's character may be obviously of Middle Eastern descent, but I don't know if they will identify the character with any particular religion.
I wonder if Abrams will mention any characters' particular Earth religion at all -- Star Trek never really had done so in the past. However where TOS often dealt with social issues dealing with race, perhaps Abrams will attempt to do the same with religion (in a small way -- not as part of the plot).
I don't know...at the end of Bread and Circuses, Uhura and the rest of the bridge crew certainly seemed to understand who the "Son of God" was.
I'm sure they knew who Zeus was too.
Indeed those notions are strictly a product of Picard's time and not present as such in Kirk's who also once mentioned about "Only needing the one god" in an ep that escapes at the moment.
Of course I think Temis might have been being sarcastic...
Sharr
The network insisted on the addition of Kirk's "we find the one [god] quite sufficient" in "Who Mourns For Adonis." Roddenberry never had any use for organized religion, either at the time of TOS or later.
And that was his absolute right, to create his show in whatever fashion he liked. Straczynski always made a big deal out of including religion in B5 despite his professed atheism, and never managed anything more observant than treacly Hallmark bushwah in the process.
We don't really know whether Shatner played a jewish captain or not - odds are we won't know what faith if any Tahir's character practices. Still, it'll be nice if his character turns out to be of such a background that the likelihood of some non-Western beliefs is there.
And that was his absolute right, to create his show in whatever fashion he liked. Straczynski always made a big deal out of including religion in B5 despite his professed atheism, and never managed anything more observant than treacly Hallmark bushwah in the process.
We don't really know whether Shatner played a jewish captain or not - odds are we won't know what faith if any Tahir's character practices. Still, it'll be nice if his character turns out to be of such a background that the likelihood of some non-Western beliefs is there.
That's true. Not everyone associated with Star Trek had the virulent, spiteful attitude towards religion that Roddenberry showed. Hell, even he didn't show it very much early in his career... it mainly came during his "dope smokin' and coke snortin' 70's" phase. Several of the key players in TOS Trek were actually quite devout in their faith. For that matter, several people associated with TNG were as well, though it was less prevalent then (for reasons which would drag this thread off topic entirely).
My point... Trek wasn't ALWAYS stridently anti-faith, and not everyone involved in Trek was stridently anti-faith. Just a few (admitted fairly LOUD) voices... in a pretty large choir.
That's true. Not everyone associated with Star Trek had the virulent, spiteful attitude towards religion that Roddenberry showed. Hell, even he didn't show it very much early in his career... it mainly came during his "dope smokin' and coke snortin' 70's" phase. Several of the key players in TOS Trek were actually quite devout in their faith. For that matter, several people associated with TNG were as well, though it was less prevalent then (for reasons which would drag this thread off topic entirely).
My point... Trek wasn't ALWAYS stridently anti-faith, and not everyone involved in Trek was stridently anti-faith. Just a few (admitted fairly LOUD) voices... in a pretty large choir.
As goes the chior director, so goes the choir.
I don't care whether the charecter is the devout muslim, or if we get to hear him chant a prayer. If done right, it might be tasteful. I'm just not keen on making him the "token muslim" where every scene is about him being a muslim. I've seen those kinds of characters way to often to be impressed by them -- the gay character whose entire life is ZOMG I'm Gay, the black sidekick in action movies who only seem able to wisecrack, that kinda stuff isn't good storytelling in my opinion. If he's a captain, and he's a muslim yet also a well rounded character, that would work.
I doubt he'd be Garrovick since Ensign Garrovick in Obsession didn't look Pakistani to me. Besides, doesn't the thing on Trekmovie say this guy commands a ship that's never been seen or mentioned before? And really, Kirk could have served under dozens of captains before getting the Enterprise.
I'm sure it was meant to be more than that...The crew seemed pretty indifferent about the pagan "Sun" worsippers, but after Uhura informed them about the "son of God", Kirk suddenly became much more contemplative and reflective -- as if this was more meaningful to him. You would think it really wouldn't matter to Kirk what those people were worshipping if he and other 23rd century humans had moved beyond religion; "Sun Worshippers" and "Son Worshippers" would both fall into the same general category for a non-religious society.
I think one of the reasons TOS hinted at religion on occassion was that it was a 1960s network family TV show -- a future where the human race had progressed beyond the need for God would not sit too well with the American public in 1967.
However, I certainly don't think that a Star Trek film plot-line should be concerning itself with God (we all know how well that story idea works) -- leave that for the TV series to explore since they have more time.
...And you're right Sharr; I suppose Temis was being sarcastic.
Very true. If they want to go that route and prove to us that Muslims have made it into space along with the rest of humanity, then they should simply make some off-hand remark ONCE that establishes that character as an officer who just happens to be Muslim, then show that character doing all of the heroic (and even all of the mundane) stuff that the other characters are doing.
The same is true about a gay character. Maybe just establish early in the film that a character is gay, perhaps by having a male character introduce is "companion" or even "husband" to someone, then never mention the character's homosexuality again -- but then show that character as a respected member of the crew.
I still think that Faran Tahir will simply play an Officer who perhaps seems to be of Middle-Eastern descent (or Southwest Asian to be more accurate), and whose religion is unspecified to the audience.
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Well, Trek itself wasn't a series that appealed broadly to the "American public" in 1967. That said, such a hypothetical future certainly did not sit too well with the gatekeepers who presumed to know what was and wasn't "acceptable" to the public - NBC Standards and Practices.
They should do something original, 2001 already had a space Muslim.
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