Elim Garak

[TheVortaKeevan]

Indeed, Andrew Robinson is an amazing actor.
Garak is a notable character. His face is unique and recognizable. All episodes with him are brilliant.

It's a pity, that there is no good romantic story, in which he is involved.
It was a nice try to do such a story with Ziyal, but this story actually wasn't prominent.

During the first (and maybe second) season there were some hints, that Garak can have romantic interest in Bashir. Obviously, Star Trek is a family show and here can't be any sexual ambiguity. But, IMO, such relationship would make Garak and Bashir characters even more deep and interesting.

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[Terok Nor]

Andrew Robinson played it as if Garak was omnisexual in his first appearance. When he came back in Season 2 he was asked to drop that. So it is true that Garak was attracted to Bashir in Past Prologue. But then he was also attracted to the table, so...

 

[TheatrePup]

I have no issue with homosexuality in general when it comes to trek but it does slightly irritate me when certain traits in characters are automatically perceived as gay.

I get what you're saying. I'm not sure how perpetuating stereotypes is progress.

 

[Long Syntax]

I have no issue with homosexuality in general when it comes to trek but it does slightly irritate me when certain traits in characters are automatically perceived as gay.

I never understood this whole bashir garak gay thng so many envisaged was happening, and think anyone that thinks something like that is gay never really understands human interaction.
Even robinson himself claimed he played the part as a sexual, not being interested in woman does not equate therefore one is interested in men.

Like this whole spock kirk gay thing you see going on on so many sites.
Having actual gay couples in trek would be a good thing I guess, but making straight people out to be gay just always seemed ridiculous to me.

^ This - exactly. Maybe it's human nature to want to see yourself reflected in the stories you listen to or watch. I chose to see Garak as having an agenda that supersedes or out-weighs sexual considerations.

 

[mendelin]

I never understood this whole bashir garak gay thng so many envisaged was happening, and think anyone that thinks something like that is gay never really understands human interaction.

Well, it's not always easy to understand human interaction properly. Not all people are Guru of soul or mind reading. And not all people are members of The Lightman Group (Lie to me Series). That's why sometimes common people can sense something ambiguous in some personalities. Garak is very complex personality and he is indeed not just "plain and simple Garak".

Even robinson himself claimed he played the part as a sexual, not being interested in woman does not equate therefore one is interested in men.

And in what can he be interested? In plants?
He's a villain with some psychological problems. Plants are to primitive for him

Like this whole spock kirk gay thing you see going on on so many sites.

Yep, Kirk/Spock is classic for many young silly girls. Love is equal to having sex for many of such girls. Maturing will improve it.

Having actual gay couples in trek would be a good thing I guess, but making straight people out to be gay just always seemed ridiculous to me.

But, you know, Star Trek is a family show, there can't be any "I'm Lieutenant Smith and I'm gay". Besides, such a directness of can be boring. Trekkies like to read between lines

 

[TheVortaKeevan]

As for you ridiculous comment about understanding human interaction properly , its not rocket science to realize some people are comfortable with other people of the same sex but not in a sexual way.

Garak could have initially sought out the doctor for any number of elaborate reasons, who knows maybe even to toy with him
The actor himself says he even played it that way without any sexual overtones

This whole notion that because a man has no sexual interest in EITHER sex is suddenly gay strikes me as utterly retarded, and proves that those people have absolutely no idea what A-sexual actually means.

As for the notion that star trek cannot have gay couples because it is a family show might have been true back then, not today but seeing as Andrew robinson said himself garak was not gay I think I will take his word over know alls on the internet

I think most people would think that person is odd if they aren't attracted to any gender not gay. I would also like to point out if Damar didn't kill Ziyal I'm sure a strong relationship would come about between Garak and Ziyal.

 

[Jonesy]

I have no issue with homosexuality in general when it comes to trek but it does slightly irritate me when certain traits in characters are automatically perceived as gay.

I never understood this whole bashir garak gay thng so many envisaged was happening, and think anyone that thinks something like that is gay never really understands human interaction.
Even robinson himself claimed he played the part as a sexual, not being interested in woman does not equate therefore one is interested in men.

Like this whole spock kirk gay thing you see going on on so many sites.
Having actual gay couples in trek would be a good thing I guess, but making straight people out to be gay just always seemed ridiculous to me.

I never interpreted it as a gay thing. I had this feeling that Garak scoped out the new starfleet roster on DS9 and found the person who he felt he was most likely to strike up a friendship with. It was established that Garak essentially had no friends on the station (certainly not from the Bajorans) and was a man in exile.

I think the relationship between himself and Ziyal removed any doubt for me about where Garak's sexuality was.

 

[Zonker]

Wait where did Andrew Robinson say Garak was asexual? Every interview of his I've ever read he says that he played him as gay or pansexual.

"TZN: I have got another reader question here, that touches a different subject. Did you know that there is speculation about Garak's sexuality?

Robinson: Oh, yeah. I started it."

"I remember when I very first played Garak, I played him gay! I thought this would be great! He sees this young man, this young, very attractive doctor on the station, he is lonely, he is the only Cardassian there, this doctor is curious about him, and if you remember, this was a great moment because Sid totally went with it! When he comes up and he puts his hand on his shoulder, Sid did this great thing, it was this sort of an electrical charge that went through him and so I played him totally gay in that episode."

 

[Zonker]

Yeah, he was bi. Neither gay nor straight. He said he doesn't care about gender. He's inclusive. As far as you saying he's clearly straight in Stitch in Time I clearly have a different copy than you because he flat out says he's attracted to Eight. Sure he has a stronger relationship with Palandine but that doesn't make him straight just not gay.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I've heard the stories about Robinson playing Garak gay or pansexual in his first appearance but the only thing he actually does to even suggest at that was rub Bashir's shoulders. Which is something that could easily be written off as cultural differences or just a quirk.

But it certainly wouldn't change the quality of his character whether or not he was gay. He always seemed more interested in career and politics than relationships with the exception of Ziyal.

 

[Jonesy]

Wait where did Andrew Robinson say Garak was asexual? Every interview of his I've ever read he says that he played him as gay or pansexual.

"TZN: I have got another reader question here, that touches a different subject. Did you know that there is speculation about Garak's sexuality?

Robinson: Oh, yeah. I started it."

"I remember when I very first played Garak, I played him gay! I thought this would be great! He sees this young man, this young, very attractive doctor on the station, he is lonely, he is the only Cardassian there, this doctor is curious about him, and if you remember, this was a great moment because Sid totally went with it! When he comes up and he puts his hand on his shoulder, Sid did this great thing, it was this sort of an electrical charge that went through him and so I played him totally gay in that episode."

I remember reading that from Andrew. But that didn't last long.

 

[TheVortaKeevan]

Yeah, he was bi. Neither gay nor straight. He said he doesn't care about gender. He's inclusive. As far as you saying he's clearly straight in Stitch in Time I clearly have a different copy than you because he flat out says he's attracted to Eight. Sure he has a stronger relationship with Palandine but that doesn't make him straight just not gay.

It seems to me some gay fans probably upset by the lack of gay characters have decided that any 2 men that might have a close connection must therefore be gay to suit their agenda.

You seem to want me to ignore garak the character, robinson the actor and any actual perceived gay conversation .

I notice you avoided the point about Bashir not being gay either.
Then I guess I should be thankful you aint decided bashir and o brien were gay, or troi and crusher were lesbians etc since any form of friendship must have gay connotations.

I always like this scene.

https://youtu.be/svc1NDFJQRg

 

[Zonker]

Yeah, he was bi. Neither gay nor straight. He said he doesn't care about gender. He's inclusive. As far as you saying he's clearly straight in Stitch in Time I clearly have a different copy than you because he flat out says he's attracted to Eight. Sure he has a stronger relationship with Palandine but that doesn't make him straight just not gay.

It seems to me some gay fans probably upset by the lack of gay characters have decided that any 2 men that might have a close connection must therefore be gay to suit their agenda.

You seem to want me to ignore garak the character, robinson the actor and any actual perceived gay conversation .

I notice you avoided the point about Bashir not being gay either.
Then I guess I should be thankful you aint decided bashir and o brien were gay, or troi and crusher were lesbians etc since any form of friendship must have gay connotations.

I don't see how you can say I'm ignoring Robinson the actor when I actually quoted him saying he tried to play Garak that way. I avoided the point about Bashir because I wasn't disputing it. I never said Bashir was gay. And for the record no, it's not just gay fans pushing an agenda, it's how a lot of people naturally perceive the character.

 

[kkt]

We should not overlook how useful a friendship would be for Garak. I'm sure that would be one consideration for him. All the Cardassians are gone, the Bajorians certainly won't be interested in being friends. That leaves either Starfleet or the merchants like Quark. Quark isn't really Garak's type... but Dr. Bashir is perfect. Sisko -- too busy running the station, and busy off-hours with Jake. O'Brien -- too busy off-hours with Keiko and Molly. Dax -- too busy running away from Bashir. Odo -- too suspicious. So Bashir is his choice. Friends are always useful and he's senior enough to be invited to the staff meetings so he has some idea what's going to be happening.

 

[Jedman67]

Requiring all the main cast to be in 24 episodes a season probably hurt the show. See an interview by Terry Farrell where she was hoping to downgrade to recurring for season 7 so she could work on other projects. TBTB told her to take it or leave it, so she ended up walking.
For that reason, putting Robinson in every episode could easily have diluted his performance - nearly every episode he was in was fantastic - especially the romulan 2 parter and Pale Moonlight

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