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Pakistani Captain

The PR specifically mentioned that the actor is Pakistani, and he was born in the USA... So is he an American who has Pakistani parents- does that will make him a Muslim character in this movie? If so, what’s the big deal? He could be a gay agnostic- who cares?

This is news because his parents are from Pakistan? I haven't read one single thread that went off on a white man's religious, cultural, or philosophical values, so why now?

[FONT='Times New Roman']Christ this thread is ridiculous. The shit some of you people write, and some of Cary’s educational rants (and generalizations), really turns me off from the Trek BBS. [/FONT]
 
^^^
People are very tuned by the US media matrix to believe Muslim is somehow strange and different. As if it might be a bad thing. The reason this thread came up was a reaction to this fearfulness in US media culture, I reckon.

And yes, it's the sort of thing that turned me off from TrekBBS as well... but they encourage it. Gets them lots of traffic. :lol:
 
So uh, he won't be shouting "Allah Ackbar!" as he flies his ship into an enemy space station?

No seriously...I think this is cool. Trek is supposed to be a utopian future where people from all cultures, sexes, "races", and even species work together...so :techman:
Yes... that's exactly correct. And part of that means "different beliefs."

I'm all for an Arab character... if the character is well-written and well-acted. Of course, that doesn't mean it's a MUSLIM character... but I'm all for that as well, provided that the same criteria apply.

Just don't make it a GIMMICK like Roddenberry tried to do when he came up with his TNG characters (which, thankfully, the actors were MOSTLY able to move beyond over time!)

Pardon my ignorance, but what gimicks? I don't think any of them were gimicky, other than possibly data. Even then, data wasn't just pinnoccio with yellow skin.

Very controversial.I hope he does not talk with that jarring Pakistani accent.
How will Middle America react to this brown bread,post 9/11?
Knock the racial slurs off, right now.

It's pretty bad when I can see a thread title and know what the arguments are going to be before I even open the thread.

We have a Pakistani actor playing a fictional captain in a space show.
Therefore he must automatically practice the Muslim faith and will be praising Allah whilst firing the ship's phasers. Please...:brickwall:

Who said "must"? I don't think he has to be a muslim, I just hope that if they go that way, it's not a case of token muslim, token jew, token black guy, etc. I don't like that kind of "diversity". I hope he has a meaty role, not *just* being the ZOMG MUSLIM of Trek XI. I'm actually kinda hopeing that this captain has a large role in Kirk's development. Something like a mentor -- maybe keeping the rogueish Kirk from getting himself thrown out of SFA. Something like that could be good.
 
But as it has been said before, when has Star Trek ever specified a character's religion anyway. The example I used was that Captain Kirk was not considered "A Jewish Captain" just because Shatner is Jewish, so why should Tahir be "A Muslim Captain" just because most of the people who live in his parents' country of origin are Muslim?

Can't he just be a plain old Starfleet Captain who has a South- or Sothwest Asian Name?

Edit to Add: I suppose Shatner/Kirk isn't a good example, since you can't get many hints about his cultural identity from his looks. The character of 'Scotty' may be a better example: Are we to think Scotty should be labeled "The Protestant Engineer", since most Scots are Protestant? (coincidently by the way, the Church of Scotland is often called "The Kirk")
 
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The PR specifically mentioned that the actor is Pakistani, and he was born in the USA... So is he an American who has Pakistani parents- does that will make him a Muslim character in this movie? If so, what’s the big deal? He could be a gay agnostic- who cares?

This is news because his parents are from Pakistan? I haven't read one single thread that went off on a white man's religious, cultural, or philosophical values, so why now?

[FONT='Times New Roman']Christ this thread is ridiculous. The shit some of you people write, and some of Cary’s educational rants (and generalizations), really turns me off from the Trek BBS. [/FONT]
Your post formatting doesn't work with TrekBBS, so it's very hard to read. I initially assumed that you were quoting from someone else.

Sorry you don't like my (as YOU characterize them) "rants." And I actually have no idea what "generalizations" you're even referring to. I believe that all I said here was that if the character is well-written and well-acted, I'd personally welcome him as an arab or as a muslim or both. Not really a "generalization" or an "educational rant" there.

Not that I really care all that much... but it would be a really good idea to keep to the TOPIC and avoid off-topic personal attacks.:thumbsup:
 
Who said "must"? I don't think he has to be a muslim, I just hope that if they go that way, it's not a case of token muslim, token jew, token black guy, etc. I don't like that kind of "diversity". I hope he has a meaty role, not *just* being the ZOMG MUSLIM of Trek XI.
I agree.

I would much rather see him as a non-descript South-Asian Captain of a non-specified religion with a role meaningful to the plot rather than a minor character whose only reason for being there is to prove "lookie here everyone, we have a Muslim -- see, this IS an all-inclusive future"
 
He is going to play a Vulcan. He is Spock's grandson, and captain of the Enterprise-F at the beginning of the 25th century.
 
Why do I just have not even the slightest concern that Abrams and Co. will handle this character just fine, despite all our bellyaching?
 
^
^^You're right. I Have faith in the creative team. My bellyaching is't aimed at Abrams et al. My Bellyaching is aimed at the other bellyachers...if you see what I mean
 
Your post formatting doesn't work with TrekBBS, so it's very hard to read. I initially assumed that you were quoting from someone else.... not that I really care all that much... but it would be a really good idea to keep to the TOPIC and avoid off-topic personal attacks.:thumbsup:

First off, I just hit "quick reply". If the BBS buggered it up, I can't help it, and I figured you'd all figure it out.

As for going off topic, I have yet to figure out what the hell the topic actually is.

And Cary, you are the last person here who should preach about staying on topic...
 
As for going off topic, I have yet to figure out what the hell the topic actually is.
The topic was mentioning a new actor cast in a new role which we've been speculating about for months, and what might be the case with the character he's going to play. I'd have thought that was pretty obvious.
And Cary, you are the last person here who should preach about staying on topic...
Please stop with the personal attacks. This sort of comment is how "flaming" is defined under the BBS rules. And it's DEFINITELY "off topic," no matter what.
 
I realize that this thread is way past worrying whether or not Tahir's character will be overtly Muslim (thankfully), but here is an interesting article I came across that is only slightly off-topic.

It seems that Malaysia's first astronaut -- who visited the International Space Station (ISS) last year -- is a devout Muslim. The question arose as to which direction should he face while performing the Ibadah, since the ISS moves so quickly (it orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes).

To help this first Muslim astronaut and future Muslim astronauts, a bunch of Muslim clerics and scientists got together and created a guide to help Muslims pray while in the ISS.

Here's a link to the article. I found it quite interesting: Mecca in Orbit
 
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Maybe the Middle Eastern captain will be Al-Batani or a perhaps an ancestor of Dr. Bashir? :borg:

I would rather this movie stands away from that kind of thing. It is bad enough every ancestor or descendant is linked to one another in Star Trek, let us put an end to that.
 
The PR specifically mentioned that the actor is Pakistani, and he was born in the USA... So is he an American who has Pakistani parents- does that will make him a Muslim character in this movie? If so, what’s the big deal? He could be a gay agnostic- who cares?
This is news because his parents are from Pakistan? I haven't read one single thread that went off on a white man's religious, cultural, or philosophical values, so why now?
I didn't start the thread to "go off" on this guy's religious values, I started it to comment on the new actor joining the cast. I agree that the part about the character being Muslim was purely specculation on my part, but by speculating that I was in no way trying to imply that it was a bad thing. Racism is a problem in this country that we have struggled over 150 years to overcome, and the point of a multi-ethnic cast in Star Trek was always meant to show that in the end we are all the same, living, breathing, flesh and blood with feelings and emotions. Having a character, a starship Captain no less, that is the image of what many people in the world fear, misunderstand, and hate is a good thing for Star Trek. And very in keeping with the spirit of Star Trek. Please don't imply that I'm racist, I treat everyone I meet the same, I judge their character based on their attitudes and actions, and I keep mt judgements to myself. Afterall, it isn't my place to judge, now is it? I am but human.
 
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