Should a Muslim be cast for the film?

[Guy Gardener]

Muslims are not by definition terrorists. So, it's ineffective to soothe the Muslims when they are not the problems. I think a Talent scout should head out to Camp X-Ray and get a couple Terrorists out of their isocells for a couple weeks to play some (small?) parts in the movie if it is the terrorists we want make friends with since we can't feasibly kill them all to any degree of certainty. It's practically no different from when the government makes chain gangs to work on road construction or painting government buildings.

I mean it's not like the warders guarding these terrorist prisoners will try to escape while they are acting in this Star trek movie that they will run the certainty of being shot dead by some psycho screw rather then pretend they're recalibrating a dylithium matrix would they?

O.

But then, Hollywood tradition has it that if anyone dies, no matter how minor the position, during the filming of a film that that movie is then dedicated to that person. Which opens a scary can of worms indeed.

I suppose then they could just audition the innocent people at Camp X-Ray then?

 

[Kegek]

The funny thing is, when DS9 was on, the big thing about Alexander Siddig was that he was a British guy who was best friends with an Irish guy. The show aired during the waning years of the Troubles, when that was still something of an issue, and DS9 offered its usual Trekkie image of hope.

Now, the big thing about Alexander Sidding - both as an actor, and retroactively as a Star Trek regular - is that he's an Arab. DS9 thus offers an unintentionally but nevertheless Trekkie image of an Arab getting along with his American superior.

Somehow I find this amusing. I'm familiar with the rather tasteless joke mentioned above, too, and I always mentioned Bashir when it came up. Back when I heard the joke, the target of Bush's tactless witticism was Saddam Hussein... how times change.

I believe the current King of Jordan had a brief cameo as a blueshirt on VOY, for what that counts.

 

[FredH]

jon1701 said:Should we have Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jehovahs witnesses and athiests on board as well?

I've always assumed that we already do. No particular casting choice is going to change that.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kegek said:
I believe the current King of Jordan had a brief cameo as a blueshirt on VOY, for what that counts.

Yeah, "Investigations". Apparently King Abdullah is a huge Trek fan and when he was in the army, everyone in his unit would watch it all the time. So he asked to be on a Trek show.

What gets me was that SAG rules prevented him from having any lines. Not in general (I understand why that rule exists generally), but that it was *him*. It has got to take some major league NADS for some pissant American union to tell a major worldwide figure of *royalty* that he can't speak.

 

[sturmde]

^ There are plenty of pissant American unions in showbiz, eh? Nothing new.

Rhetorically what is the OP suggesting, perhaps Enterprise should have cast a Muslim as Chef and had him serving a ham dinner?

Must be another of these "Should a Pygmy be in Star Trek XI" vanities, eh?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

If they have a Muslim character in the movie they might as well have a Christian character as well. Not a problem, but definitely a departure from the way that Roddenberry insisted upon handling it.

 

[denmaroca]

Kegek said:
...the big thing about Alexander Siddig was that he was a British guy who was best friends with an Irish guy. The show aired during the waning years of the Troubles, when that was still something of an issue, and DS9 offered its usual Trekkie image of hope.

An issue for who? Not even the IRA had trouble with Irish guys being best friends with British guys - it was the British state (or the perceived imperialist aspects of the British state) they had problems with, not the British people.

The attitude of the Irish people has always generally (there are always exceptions) been warm and friendly towards the British (and vice versa) - it's why terrorist campaigns on the mainland were politically unsustainable for the IRA, why there were huge numbers of British tourists and residents in the Republic throughout the Troubles, and why Britsh citizens were given the vote in Ireland.

But then the writers may have misunderstood the situation. Wouldn't be the first time. (And I'm sure British writers get things about the US wrong! )

 

[Kegek]

Edit: Should probably clarify that yes, I'm Irish, and my support would tend to be towards the SDLP position. I don't condone terrorism or hate the British, but neither would I downplay the hostility of that era.

denmaroca said:
An issue for who? Not even the IRA had trouble with Irish guys being best friends with British guys - it was the British state (or the perceived imperialist aspects of the British state) they had problems with, not the British people.

That's a nice abstraction. The truth was a lot of bitterness on both sides, and even within both sides, in Northern Ireland. The IRA targeted civilians, the B Specials reprised with the Monaghan bombings. Hell, there was a lot of bitterness within sides. How the IRA sabotaged the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s is still a sore point of contention in many branches of my family. The position of an ethnic Gael in NI prior to the troubles wasn't a lot better than their black counterparts in the American South, either.

The attitude of the Irish people has always generally (there are always exceptions) been warm and friendly towards the British (and vice versa)

Again, you're forgetting the Northern Ireland equation here. There might have not been a great deal of hatred on the British mainland (though I encountered some moderate degrees), it was intensely bitter in NI.

and why Britsh citizens were given the vote in Ireland.

Not exactly. Irish citizenship was extended to those who were born within Northern Ireland. That entails the right to vote, obviously, but it's not the same thing. The law's since been amended in light of immigration concerns - nine month pregnant women were landing in Ireland to get instant citizenship for their children and thus a free pass to here and the EU.

But then the writers may have misunderstood the situation. Wouldn't be the first time.

Aside from my own feelings in the matter, I believe Colm Meaney remarked to the same effect. But, thankfully, this ugliness is past. Let it remain there.

 

[Cyrus]

The OP probably meant a character with a name that implies he/she is a from a Muslim country. I don't think the religion of characters should come into play, they should not deviate from that aspect of Star Trek. But having a supporting character (e.g. a starfleet Captain or Admiral) have an Arabic name is not a bad idea, I am in favor of it.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Kegek said:
DS9 thus offers an unintentionally but nevertheless Trekkie image of an Arab getting along with his American superior.

How is O'Brien superior in rank to Dr Bashir?

 

[Kegek]

^
He isn't. But Sisko is superior in rank to Bashir.

O'Brien is Irish. Bashir is British, and Arab. Sisko is American, from around New Orleans to be precise.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Kegek said:
^He isn't. But Sisko is superior in rank to Bashir.
O'Brien is Irish. Bashir is British, and Arab. Sisko is American, from around New Orleans to be precise.

Of course. I know all that. But the OP was discussing O'Brien and Bashir.

 

[Jon1701]

FredH said:

jon1701 said:Should we have Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jehovahs witnesses and athiests on board as well?

I've always assumed that we already do. No particular casting choice is going to change that.

Well, thats the point really. We never found out the religion of any of the principal characters.

If Trek ever became overly religious, a lot of people would tune out. Same with any TV programme really.

 

[STARTREK11]

yenny said:
There have been Muslim actors and actress in Star Trek in the pass. Like Alexander Siddig and others. So I don't think there is no reason why there can't be a muslim actor or actress playing in the film.

Yes,especially if she was wearing a sexy sari with navel showing and wearing a very small sari top...

I find sari's very alluring as to what is underneath,anyone else suffering like this...


Can someone post a star trek sari?


Please.

 

[Kryton]

Temis the Vorta said:
Since Star Trek has never really dealt directly with characters' religious identities (at least in the case of the humans)....

Oh my GOD! I got so sick of Chakotay's vision quests with his animal guide I wanted to puke!

 

[MisterPL]

No Muslims.

Or Roman Catholics.

Or Jews...

Just Scientologists.

 

[indranee]

General_Custer said:
Should it happen with all the strife going on in the middle east? This could be done for political correctness and you could show a Iraqi as a crew member in a diverse setting working together with other races in a American Film.

whatever the hell for? like you think *they* care?

 

[USS Mariner]

Starship Polaris said:
If they have a Muslim character in the movie they might as well have a Christian character as well. Not a problem, but definitely a departure from the way that Roddenberry insisted upon handling it.

Is Gene in the director's chair though?

 

[apostle83]

Personally, I would not be in favor of a Moslem character.

 

[indranee]

STARTREK11 said:

yenny said:
There have been Muslim actors and actress in Star Trek in the pass. Like Alexander Siddig and others. So I don't think there is no reason why there can't be a muslim actor or actress playing in the film.

Yes,especially if she was wearing a sexy sari with navel showing and wearing a very small sari top...

I find sari's very alluring as to what is underneath,anyone else suffering like this...


Can someone post a star trek sari?


Please.

Most Muslim women (other than SOME Indian Muslim women) do not wear saris. the sari is an ethnically Hindu (Indian) dress. I hate it when people mix stuff like this up!

(calms down) okay, okay, well, a sari can be worn in many ways. sexy, somber, rural, urban, formal... and women in different parts of India wear it in different ways. anyway, here ya go... not a Star Trek sari per se...

http://www.geocities.com/hotsab/aish229.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_sari_scene

there are some pretty hot youtube vids on saris as well. just search for them.