Lt.Kyle
- Thread starter Attentiveluke
- Start date
I just chalk it up to "ENTERPRISE" with its the Temporal Cold War as well as "First Contact" and the BORG's attempted interference, altering things as we knew them from TOS.
This has always been my take as well, but all of this DNA-switching (three times now, no less) makes it harder and harder to reconcile. Technology and aesthetics are easily explained by an over-active section 31, amped up by Borg tech and Daniel's tech altering the entire 23rd century.
I always thought his name was Winston Kyle. Was that not from any credits or scripts, and just from the books? I mean.... I was reading trek encyclopedias and novels in grade school 80s/90s, so .... its a very old memory, but something I just accepted as fact and never really thought of, lol.
What are you talking about? If anything after TOS S1 " What Are Little Girls Made Of", the original writers abandoned what little backstory they had for Christine Chappel as a character. GR turned her into a platinum blonde caricature in season 1; and the only real character growth she had in later seasons was that she became a more standard yellow blonde.
The biggest thing the character is known for to this day is her unrequited love/pining for Mister Spock; who was never able to return it.
I guess in the TOS days the production team felt; How far can you take a character whose name is a play on the 'Sistine Chapel'?
But yeah sorry, even with every appearance this character had in TOS, and her one seen as a doctor in ST:TMP, honestly the character is close to a blank slate to expand upon as you can get.
Hell, at this point I'm surprised you're not complaining that she's not also played by Rebecca Romijn; since it was Majel Barrett who played both characters in TOS.
I've actually said, more than once, that this should have at least been in consideration.... lmao.
I may need to revise my take on this. Having now learned that the navigator's name is Jenna Mitchell, and recalling that Una's surname is Chin-Riley, I am inclined to think TPTB are being cutesy and simply borrowing the names of minor TOS characters they like.
I'll have to revise that again if Jenna Mitchell goes to Dimorus and takes a poisonous dart meant for Jim Kirk.
You know, it’s inevitable that we meet Leigh Kelso soon.
I would have been perfectly fine with that. Given her name is based on the Swahili words for "freedom" and "star", which are "Uhuru" and "Nyota", respectively, and there is Swahili spoken in South Sudan and other nations which have a large Afro-Arab population, and Swahili gets about ~20% of its loanwords from Arabic, it would have been completely plausible for her to be black and of Arabic descent, in fact.
Although, the hyperbolic phrasing of your question makes it clear either that you are completely unaware of the existence of (black) Afro-Arabs, or that you think there is something wrong with being Arabic.
Also, Uhura was a major recurring character, while Lt. Kyle was a minor background character. Uhura was an inspirational and aspirational character for young black children and girls in general who could look to her being treated as an important and respected member of the crew and see that future for themselves. Changing her character is hugely different set of circumstances from changing a minor background white guy. No disrespect to John Winston, though.
I would have been perfectly fine with that. Given her name is based on the Swahili words for "freedom" and "star", which are "Uhuru" and "Nyota", respectively, and there is Swahili spoken in South Sudan and other nations which have a large Afro-Arab population, and Swahili gets about ~20% of its loanwords from Arabic, it would have been completely plausible for her to be black and of Arabic descent, in fact.
Although, the hyperbolic phrasing of your question makes it clear either that you are completely unaware of the existence of (black) Afro-Arabs, or that you think there is something wrong with being Arabic.
Also, Uhura was a major recurring character, while Lt. Kyle was a minor background character. Uhura was an inspirational and aspirational character for young black children and girls in general who could look to her being treated as an important and respected member of the crew and see that future for themselves. Changing her character is hugely different set of circumstances from changing a minor background white guy. No disrespect to John Winston, though.
Theres absolutely nothing wrong with being Arabic. Why you would say something so stupid is beyond me. Arabic culture is very different from African culture. Dont even Try to make what I said racist. What if they would have made her italian, or british. You would ABSOLUTELY have an issue with that. If anyone says they would not they are lying. If they make Scotty a Texan. Would you like that?? Of course not.
I've started to spend more at this board instead of other Trek-related places because I found the tone more thoughtful and positive. But man, the very existence of this thread is frankly embarrassing. So we have to maintain absolute fidelity to TOS -- a show that asserts that the Romulan War was fought at sublight speeds, that doesn't know what century it's in from episode to episode, that states that women can't be captains -- to preserve this incredibly minor character's all-important whiteness? I think that saying that it's a different Kyle or that he changed his appearance is surrendering too much ground. It's the same Kyle. He's now played by (what I assume is) a Korean-Canadian man, to better reflect a world where white people are a minority of the population. That's it.
If it were a complete reboot...NO. .But it's set in the same universe and Kyle was in several episodes as well as a movie. They have created a very diverse crew for this show. Why change Kyle an established character??
Last edited:
Indeed. Why would I say something so stupid, Dar?
Black British people?! It boggles the mind, Dar. It's only like the largest ethnic minority in Britain or something. Can you believe there are Black Italians too? Astonishing, amirite!?
I wonder if they teach things there, like how Arabs aren't one monolithic culture, and neither are Africans, and they are in fact made up of many unique cultures, and that there is significant overlap between African and Arab populations.
I could totally see a Texas Scotty as the foreman on a wagon train... to the stars. You get a look at his missing finger and you know he's seen some things.
"And if my Conestoga had wheels, she'd be a wagon."
Indeed. It's embarrassing that the characters threads that have generated the most discussion have centered on Kyle and Chapel being updated. There are so many interesting things to talk about regarding this show, yet this is what gets attention? I expected there to be booming threads comparing screenshots of the ships and sets and costumes of the new and old shows by now--you know, all that minutiae Trek fans do so well--but this is what's getting comments?
Who cares? Better yet, why care? Everything we have seen on screen has been changed from the original show to this one, whether by millimeters or by a total overhaul. It's one of the oldest human traditions: retelling stories in new ways. I struggle to see what discussion-worthy breach of continuity is really happening here.
They're not comparable, and pretty much everyone can see that. @Locutus of Bored already explained this quite well.
Uhura's identity was important to the series. Important to the show. It has meaning.
Kyle was a generic bit character, and April was a one-time cartoon. To compare Uhura to these two is ridiculous.
Is it wrong that I know it's Little Joe Cartwright he talking to?
Where did i mentioned April?? Im perfectly fine with who was cast as April. April was never in any of the live action shows. So i dont see how he is relevant to this conversation.
That coat is as distinctive as Kirk’s wraparound. If it’s wrong to know that, I don’t want to be right.
It was the hat that got me and then the jacket.
Dumb question: How is this in the Lt. Kyle thread all of a sudden? I could've sworn I was responding in the General Discussion thread.All props to Commander Richard for how well he handles the voting threads and for the images he posts for each episode, they're very creative. But one person doesn't get a monopoly on starting every voting thread for every show, especially not with there being a gaggle of shows now. It's first come, first served.
I don't even think this is a normal case for OP That Shall Not Be Named, they just got to see the first few episodes with several hundred people and wanted to post the episode threads before spoilers hit the net. I'm sure Richard can pick it up soon enough.
Either I posted in the wrong thread or someone moved something.
Similar threads
