News Rapp: Honored To Play A Gay Man On Trek

[Spot261]

I interpreted the scene to be more about Kirk's reaction to seeing a bonded family situation in the context of his own internal struggle. In my mind that is part of what solidified it as a gay moment for Sulu.

This.

Context is important and it was clear by the way the scene was presented that the relationship between the two men was intended to be more than simply affectionate or brotherly. The presence of a child and Kirk's monologue on the loneliness and isolation of space suggest a family unit and whilst yes, it is open to interpretation, I suspect both the intent and most common interpretation are in alignment, finally showing what many fans had suspected for years, that Sulu is gay.

 

[Tuskin38]

finally showing what many fans had suspected for years, that Sulu is gay.

We did?

 

[Spot261]

You may not, but lots of people did.

 

[cooleddie74]

Sex scenes are completely unnecessary and frankly are not wanted IMO.

Context.

Most fans bitched about the half-naked decon gel scenes in Enterprise because they were usually poorly-written and ineptly-staged as excuses for expositional dialogue that could just as easily have been conveyed to the audience in the mess hall or the Captain's quarters. It wasn't because there was bare skin and semi-erotic physical contact going on. It was because the scenes weren't very good.

Sex scenes in Trek are only terrible if they're 1.) completely gratuitous, badly-written and terribly acted and 2.)Refer to #1.

 

[{ Emilia }]

I don't care about having a gay character at all.

Ok.

However, if they make it a point to shove his sexual orientation down our throats over and over again

This is awfully close to what people say when they expect gay people to only be gay in private so that the world doesn't see it.

You know, what does "shoving it down out throats" even mean.
Let's take TNG for example: Every single one of the main cast was shown to be heterosexual at some point. So I don't think it's unreasonable to treat a homosexual character in a new show similarly. Where they go from there, is pretty open.
I struggle to think of a TNG character whose sexuality was rarely affirmed. They all had various crushes and relationships at some point. I suppose the one who's had the least of that was Beverly, so if the sexuality of the new gay character were as irrelevant as Beverly's, he could still have relationships and an on-going will-they-wont-they with the captain of the ship? And this wouldn't be "shoving it down out throats" because it'd treat a gay character's sexual life exactly the same way as a heterosexual's sexual life was treated.

He could also be the Will Riker of the ship and have a gay romance in basically 50% of all episodes and this would still not be "shoving it down our throats" because this is exactly how a heterosexual character was shown. And somehow even with all his affairs Riker managed to also have some other aspects to his personality, apart from his sexuality. So it's not like the whole character was only about sex.
They could also have him be married with kids like O'Brien on DS9 and have him argue with his husband all the time like O'Brien did with Keiko. It'd take a lot of screen time but this still isn't "shoving it down our throats".

Whether the new gay character lives his sexuality in a Riker or a Beverly way... I think we can be reasonably sure that the character will not ONLY be about sex. Yet, of course, if he's really a Riker kind of guy we'll see a lot of sexual content on screen, because he's like Riker, not because he's gay.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I interpreted the scene to be more about Kirk's reaction to seeing a bonded family situation in the context of his own internal struggle. In my mind that is part of what solidified it as a gay moment for Sulu.

He was a prop for Kirk, that's not really representation.

 

[Spot261]

You know, what does "shoving it down out throats" even mean.

This doesn't even have the decency to be a double entendre

 

[Locutus of Bored]

lol, that's a sure fire way of killing this show's inevitably pathetic ratings before episode 2 even airs.

I don't care about having a gay character at all. However, if they make it a point to shove his sexual orientation down our throats over and over again, it will effectively cheapen his character to being nothing more than a political statement. Star Trek was always about making a statement, no doubt, but it was equally about having characters that were interesting and stories that were entertaining/action packed. Sex scenes are completely unnecessary and frankly are not wanted IMO.

You clearly do care about having gay characters, or else you wouldn't equate a basic expression of love and relationships found in countless stories with something unusual and agenda-driven. If depicting gay characters having relationships in the same way they depict heterosexual characters doing so suddenly makes it jump from being a standard part of conventional storytelling to a "political statement," then you are making it abnormal and saying there's something wrong or controversial about it. Sex is a normal part of life. Gay people are a normal part of life, and they express their love for each other through sex just like most other adults do. It's time Trekkies learn to deal with this stuff in a more mature way and stop living up to the stereotypes.

 

[Long Syntax]

@Vezner made his comment in the context of Discovery having a "sloppy dude-on-dude sex scene to open the pilot." Regardless of your views on the matter, I think he's right -- it would be a sure fire way to sink the series.

 

[Bones]

He was a prop for Kirk, that's not really representation.

Hmm...I think you have a point. They revealed Sulu is gay in a manner that is not substantive enough to represent the gay community. If that's what you're saying then I'll buy it.

 

[BillJ]

@Vezner made his comment in the context of Discovery having a "sloppy dude-on-dude sex scene to open the pilot." Regardless of your views on the matter, I think he's right -- it would be a sure fire way to sink the series.

Commander "Chubby" didn't sink Enterprise. Two years of incompetence did.

Usually, doing something outrageous will give a show a short-term bump.

 

[Long Syntax]

I'm in the minortiy here I'm sure, but I'm a big ST:ENT fan -- quite possibly my favorite series.

I'm not sure what a commander chubby is -- pardon my ignorance.

Commander "Chubby"

 

[Spot261]

Yeah, I'm a little confused too

 

[Locutus of Bored]

@Vezner made his comment in the context of Discovery having a "sloppy dude-on-dude sex scene to open the pilot." Regardless of your views on the matter, I think he's right -- it would be a sure fire way to sink the series.

Yeah, that's not what he said, though. He extended it to "shoving his orientation down our throats over and over again," gay sex is by default a "political statement," and sex scenes in general are "completely unnecessary."

Add me to the chorus of not knowing who "Commander Chubby" is supposed to be on Enterprise, though. Unless he's talking about someone sporting wood in the decon chamber scene, or that time Riker visited the NX-01 on the holodeck in the middle of the TNG episode Pegasus and suddenly put on fifty pounds of stress weight for half a day before returning to normal.

 

[Awesome Possum]

@Vezner made his comment in the context of Discovery having a "sloppy dude-on-dude sex scene to open the pilot." Regardless of your views on the matter, I think he's right -- it would be a sure fire way to sink the series.

Gay people do more than just have sex. They go to work, eat food, display emotions. You know, human things. Sure, if you're only impression of gay people is based on porn, you might have a narrow view of what they do. But they have a variety of activities. I know one in particular who can draw any X-Men character.

Most likely we'll get a Star Trek character who behaves like all the other Star Trek characters. But instead of kissing green ladies, he kisses green men. It's shocking I know, but maybe this will be an eye opener for some fans who are perfectly able to accept a Klingon crew member, but not an actual human being who they share the planet with.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The Walking Dead has and has had quite a few openly gay characters, all of whom have been interesting so far. Almost all of the characters on TWD are interesting, which is one of the show's strengths.

 

[Long Syntax]

Gay people do more than just have sex.

I didn't make the comment, I just agreed that the such a scene would sink the series.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I didn't make the comment, I just agreed that the such a scene would sink the series.

It certainly sank Game of Thrones, that show got cancelled as soon as that happened.

Oh wait, it's one of the most popular shows on the planet.

 

[BillJ]

I'm not sure what a commander chubby is -- pardon my ignorance.

The decon scene in "Broken Bow".

 

[Long Syntax]

Oh, a euphemism for erection. Got it.