They wasted Benedict Cumberbatch in this movie. (SPOILER)

[satchelmouth]

As a fan of Sherlock and Star Trek, I feel they wasted Benedict Cumberbatch.

I feel like they took an actor who plays an awesome smug superior prick (see Sherlock) and wasted him on angst. Don't get me wrong, he does a good Khan, if you ignore the fact that he is the whitest person to ever be bestowed with the surname Singh (I went to see the movie with a Sikh friend who never saw Star Trek, and he burst out laughing when Spock Prime mentioned his full name, it was probably the most entertaining part of the movie). He would have been much better playing Q, not necessarily John DeLancie's Q, but a member of the continuum nonetheless. Or any number of antagonists who were not necessarily pissed off, angsty revenge seekers (besides they already did this with the LAST two movies, why did they need to do it again).

There I've said my piece on the internet. Flame, politely disagree or agree away.

 

[Vezner]

Kahn looked pasty white in TWOK to me. Too much time out of the sun on Ceti Alpha V?

 

[sj4iy]

Race≠Religion.

That is all.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

They didn't waste him at all. He was great, in a good part.

Does anyone actually care about the ethnicity thing at this point? Sad.

 

[satchelmouth]

Yeah, sad that their standards are lower than the show in the 60s, at least then they hired a brown-ish person. If the kind of systemic racism that allows one of the few visibly ethnic characters to be white washed doesn't affect you then you really really should not comment how it's sad that anyone notices his ethnicity unless you want to come off as a an ignorant, over-priveledged white person.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie and Benedict is great in it, but from what I understand they decided to make him Khan after they already cast him, and that was a monumentally bad and insensitive decision.

 

[BenRoethig]

I'm okay with it, because plastic surgery could have been part of his cover identity as John Harrison.

 

[M'Sharak]

Yeah, sad that their standards are lower than the show in the 60s, at least then they hired a brown-ish person. If the kind of systemic racism that allows one of the few visibly ethnic characters to be white washed doesn't affect you then you really really should not comment how it's sad that anyone notices his ethnicity unless you want to come off as a an ignorant, over-priveledged white person.

I'm sure Adm. B would be the first to admit to being both privileged and white, but let's refrain from uncalled-for insinuations of ignorance or racism. As for the actor originally hired to play the Khan role in "Space Seed," it's been pointed out more than once that both Montalban's parents were Spanish immigrants from Castile, and that a fair amount of Khan's "brown-ness" was applied in the make-up department before he stepped in front of the cameras.

Remember that, first of all, Star Trek is theater, and that the actor's first object is to portray a person, not an ethnicity. Remember second that everything we know about Khan's ethnicity is contained in two lines of vague supposition put into the mouth of (the dubiously-qualified) Marla McGiver:

From the northern India area, I'd guess.
Probably a Sikh.​

In short, we know next to nothing, so kindly temper the outrage a little.

 

[marksound]

Yeah, sad that their standards are lower than the show in the 60s, at least then they hired a brown-ish person. If the kind of systemic racism that allows one of the few visibly ethnic characters to be white washed doesn't affect you then you really really should not comment how it's sad that anyone notices his ethnicity unless you want to come off as a an ignorant, over-priveledged white person.

I'm sure Adm. B would be the first to admit to being both privileged and white, but let's refrain from uncalled-for insinuations of ignorance or racism. As for the actor originally hired to play the Khan role in "Space Seed," it's been pointed out more than once that both Montalban's parents were Spanish immigrants from Castile, and that a fair amount of Khan's "brown-ness" was applied in the make-up department before he stepped in front of the cameras.

Remember that, first of all, Star Trek is theater, and that the actor's first object is to portray a person, not an ethnicity. Remember second that everything we know about Khan's ethnicity is contained in two lines of vague supposition put into the mouth of (the dubiously-qualified) Marla McGiver:

From the northern India area, I'd guess.
Probably a Sikh.
​

In short, we know next to nothing, so kindly temper the outrage a little.

Well said, much better than I could have. Thank you.

 

[JoeZhang]

Yeah, sad that their standards are lower than the show in the 60s, at least then they hired a brown-ish person. If the kind of systemic racism that allows one of the few visibly ethnic characters to be white washed doesn't affect you then you really really should not comment how it's sad that anyone notices his ethnicity unless you want to come off as a an ignorant, over-priveledged white person.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie and Benedict is great in it, but from what I understand they decided to make him Khan after they already cast him, and that was a monumentally bad and insensitive decision.

I'm not bothered with the change but I think in the story they told, make him indian would have changed the metaphor from the enemies within trying to take advantage of chaos to a more racially charged and problematic story - especially when he crashes his "plane" into the city at the end.

 

[Cinema Geekly]

I hate the whitewashing thing. It makes it sounds like the writers were being intentionally racist or something. That is obviously BS.

Orci made it clear that they wrote the story without using Khan so that character wouldn't be a crutch for them to lean on. While I can't be 100% positive I am pretty close to 100% in thinking that part was scripted before they had cast anyone in the role.

Casting BC was done on purpose however and we know the reason why. 1. He is an amazing talent and 2. They wanted a better foreign Box Office showing (which they are getting).

 

[Therin of Andor]

Yeah, sad that their standards are lower than the show in the 60s, at least then they hired a brown-ish person.

'Cos what the world needs now is a "brown-ish person" committing acts of terrorism on the screen.

What's next? Only gay actors can play gay characters? Only blind actors can play sightless characters? No actors can fudge foreign accents anymore? Ban all coloured contact lenses from being used onscreen?

 

[marksound]

Yeah, sad that their standards are lower than the show in the 60s, at least then they hired a brown-ish person.

'Cos what the world needs now is a "brown-ish person" committing acts of terrorism on the screen.

What's next? Only gay actors can play gay characters? Only blind actors can play sightless characters? No actors can fudge foreign accents anymore? Ban all coloured contact lenses from being used onscreen?

Can you say "coloured" these days? Contact lenses might be offended.

I don't like the whole "whitewashed" thing either. To me it smacks of reverse discrimination to imply that a character can't be played by the best available actor, regardless of skin color.

Would some people have been satisfied if BC had been made up to resemble another ethnicity and had affected an accent?

 

[JoeZhang]

Can you say "coloured" these days?

If you are 70 or above you might get away with coloured but otherwise - no.

 

[Devon]

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie and Benedict is great in it, but from what I understand they decided to make him Khan after they already cast him, and that was a monumentally bad and insensitive decision.

Not sure where you got that. The writers said that they did not change the role for Cumberbatch, and in fact they had a few actors of hispanic origin lined up, including Benecio Del Toro who was in negotiations before Cumberbatch came along. They decided to go with who they thought would be be the best actor.

 

[KimMH]

I think he was wonderful, but I did feel like Ad Marcus was the true antagonist. Khan was ragey, but not the mastermind behind the scenes. I do hope he will reprise the role and fill out the larger than life role Khan deserves. And I deserve more Otterpop CumberKhan.

 

[M'Sharak]

And I deserve more Otterpop CumberKhan.

 

[Solariabsg25]

Yeah, sad that their standards are lower than the show in the 60s, at least then they hired a brown-ish person.

'Cos what the world needs now is a "brown-ish person" committing acts of terrorism on the screen.

What's next? Only gay actors can play gay characters? Only blind actors can play sightless characters? No actors can fudge foreign accents anymore? Ban all coloured contact lenses from being used onscreen?

"I don't play quadrupeds! I am an actor!!"

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

unless you want to come off as a an[sic] ignorant, over-priveledged[sic] white person.

Well, I am a white person, socially privileged in that respect as you say, and certainly ignorant in many ways (although my spelling is pretty good).

None of which adds up to you having any kind of a point here, or to me being wrong in this instance. You simply went for the name-calling because you apparently can't argue your position reasonably.

"Brown-ish person?" Really? What kind of misinformation or sloppy ethnic stereotyping leads you to the completely inaccurate conclusion that "at least then they hired a brown-ish person" in the 60s?

The reasons I think it's silly to make a fuss about Khan's ethnicity at this point are as follows - and I've said this a number of times:

1. The character's background was not definitively established in his first appearence ("Space Seed"), though the actor was made-up in dark face;
2. The previous actor, Montalban, was a man of mainly European ancestry just like Cumberbatch;
3. No attempt was made to disguise Montalban's background in the character's second appearence (TWOK), nor was there any confirming reference there to the speculative ancestry alluded to in his first appearence.

So, okay, any flaws in my logic can be attributed to my being an ignorant privileged white guy - what's your excuse?

 

[KimMH]

And I deserve more Otterpop CumberKhan.

Lol! You never disappoint!

 

[The Wormhole]

Cumberbatch is a great actor and did an excellent job with the role. The problem was with the secrecy. The mystery of who Cumberbatch was playing became too out of control and eventually overshadowed the movie. In the end, the role did not live up to the hype, but then how could it? The whole mess could have been avoided had Abrams and his minions been straight up and honest from the get go. But hey, considering how the movie is coming up a bit short at the box office, maybe their dicking around cost them and with XIII we'll actually know something before hand?

As for the ethnicity thing, I could probably deal with it if it weren't for the fact that Star Trek is kind of known for its cultural diversity. And you have an Indian character originally played by a Latino actor and now a white guy is cast. It makes it look like the they were more progressive in the 1960s than they are today. Also not helping the matter is the fact the Abrams series is already alarmingly white dominated for Star Trek movies, although STID did have more visible minorities than XI did anyway.

Also, Cumberbatch isn't exactly what I think of when I hear "genetically enhanced superman." Yes, he did bulk up for the role, as his deleted shower scene proves, but he still has a different physique than Ricardo Montalban. Much different.

And I deserve more Otterpop CumberKhan.

Total win!