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.
That's what I think they've been doing. These are not the same characters -- they're separate characters named after the TOS characters. Small tips-of-the-hat for viewers who recognize the references. Nothing more.
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.
Which Arabic culture? Which African culture? Why do you not address the fact that Afro-Arabs exist and that Swahili is influenced by Arabic?
Dont even Try to make what I said racist.
He doesn't have to. You did that all by yourself.
What if they would have made her italian, or british. You would ABSOLUTELY have an issue with that.
As I and others have noted, recasting a white character to a POC is much more acceptable than recasting a POC character with a white actor. The former empowers marginalized people and increases their representation in media that used to render them invisible; the latter disempowers marginalized people by rendering them invisible in popular media.
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
If they make Scotty a Texan. Would you like that?? Of course not.
Scotty's Scottishness is essential to his character. (Arguably it is one of the only things that
exist about his extremely stereotypical, two-dimensional character.)
Kyle... is not a character. He's an extra with a name. And nothing about his status as an apparent Englishman matters to his character. Literally any other character played by any other actor could have delivered his lines. Nothing about him was special or distinct.
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
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??
I repeat:
Kyle... is not a character. He's an extra with a name. And nothing about his status as an apparent Englishman matters to his character. Literally any other character played by any other actor could have delivered his lines. Nothing about him was special or distinct.
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
Look continuity issues happen with EVERY long running show. Pretty sure everyone knows this. But to blatantly just change things just because doesnt sit well with me.
Well, too bad, because it's endemic to art in general. Do you realize how often things get totally changed and re-conceived every time a play or musical gets revived on Broadway?
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
Case in point. The Klingons were completely overhauled for Discovery. Why???
Because Bryan Fuller determined that the Klingons of the Rick Berman era felt too familiar and safe, and that making the Klingons of
Star Trek: Discovery more alien and less familiar-looking would help create a sense of alienation (no pun intended) for the audience and a feeling of greater danger, which were feelings he felt necessary to engender
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
They wanted to make it their own. Bottom line. If they want to be creative and use that ego they should do it on new characrer and makeup....
It is ridiculous to ascribe a different set of aesthetics to narcissism. Some people are just more comfortable with suspension of disbelief than you are. Get over it.
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
I think of it like... okay, they had multiple actors playing Young Spock in Search for Spock. They cast people who had some resemblance to Leonard Nimoy because you were supposed to believe that they grew up into the guy at the end of the movie. It wasn't nostalgia that drove that casting, they weren't trying to play it safe to avoid a fan outcry, it was just basic consistency. Worf's son didn't have a radically different look to take advantage of modern makeup techniques, because you were supposed to buy him as being Worf's son.
If you put a guy called Kyle at the transporter, people are going to assume it's the same guy and wonder why he looks so different.
"People?" I cannot emphasize to you enough how
incredibly obscure the so-called "character" of Transporter Chief Kyle is. "People" are not going to assume it's the same guy, because the number of people who even recognize the reference is
incredibly small, and the number of
those people who care enough to get upset about it are even smaller.
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
They could've solved this by being creative and thinking up a new name.
There is no problem to "solve."
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
I don't mind the diversity on the show. It has a very diverse cast. What I dont like is changing characters that are ALREADY ESTABLISHED.
Nothing about Kyle is "established." He was an extra given a name that an incredibly small percent of the audience was aware of.
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
If Kyle is so insignificant to so many of you.....WHY IS HE EVEN ON THE SHOW??? Apparently the producers knew who he was so he can't be that insignificant. Right??
It's supposed to be a cute wink to the audience, not a goddamn treatise.
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
Just for the record AGAIN. I DO NOT completely hate current Trek. There are plenty of elements I like from all three shows. I just wish it would have a consistant tone.
Oh goodness no. The best thing for
Star Trek to do if it's gonna have five shows on the air all at once is for them to all have different tones from one-another so that they don't all feel like they're just hitting the same few notes over and over again every week.
And I must once again repeat: We have no reason to think TOS Kyle and SNW Kyle are the same character. You are getting upset about something you made up yourself.
