Why Are We Not Getting Up In Arms Over THIS?! (Spoilers)

[Pindar]

Kegek said:
Who's to say Sulu didn't also posess a katanna? Maybe he's got a whole variety of swords we never knew about. He seems to be the enthusiast.

Well he collected guns so I don't see why he wouldn't collect swords.

But from the picture I would guess he picked it up from whatever planet they are on.

Presumably to defend himself from the man with the axe.

 

[Arlo]

That's not Sulu, it's Kaito Nakamura.

 

[section9]

Well, you did see the guy with the big pickaxe standing right next to him, did you not?

Something tells me that this is akin to the Chris Pike fight scene from WNMHGB. Or, maybe Indiana Jones ropes in, looks around, and says, "oh, sorry, wrong script!"

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Kegek said:Who's to say Sulu didn't also posess a katanna? Maybe he's got a whole variety of swords we never knew about. He seems to be the enthusiast.

Well, Takei objected to the original suggestion of him having a "samurai sword" (aka a Katana). He felt it was fairly racist, and preferred making Sulu more of a "world citizen" rather than an Asian stereotype. So he asked to avoid the "Japanese stereotype" and instead go for "The Three Musketeers."

I think that this was a GREAT suggestion, and I find it... mildly disturbing... that they'd backtrack on that here.

Then again, is that really a Katana or is it a Rigellian Blorch-blade or a Klingon toothpick or whatever?

 

[estrea]

On another board or thread somewhere, I was corrected re: Sulu and the foil. The TOS script "The Naked Time" called for a katana, but George Takei was a fan of swashbuckling and asked for a foil instead. Thus, the French foil.

---------------

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape.

 

[archeryguy1701]

section9 said:
Something tells me that this is akin to the Chris Pike fight scene from WNMHGB.

"The Cage"? Or perhaps "The Menagerie"? :thumbsup:

 

[Vulcan Soul]

Cary L. Brown said:

Kegek said:Who's to say Sulu didn't also posess a katanna? Maybe he's got a whole variety of swords we never knew about. He seems to be the enthusiast.

Well, Takei objected to the original suggestion of him having a "samurai sword" (aka a Katana). He felt it was fairly racist, and preferred making Sulu more of a "world citizen" rather than an Asian stereotype. So he asked to avoid the "Japanese stereotype" and instead go for "The Three Musketeers."

I think that this was a GREAT suggestion, and I find it... mildly disturbing... that they'd backtrack on that here.

Then again, is that really a Katana or is it a Rigellian Blorch-blade or a Klingon toothpick or whatever?

Of course, if we want to examine "racism", you could also call it "racist" how the modern shows in particular even showed the allegedly "Non-american" characters deeply rooted in American/Western pop culture. Hell, at times even the Alien characters. So that notion of "world citizen" or "Federation citizen" equaling "American citizen" might be far away from reality, but then again, we all know "it's an American TV show produced for an American audience" etc. etc.

 

[T'Cal]

Sharr Khan said:

Seriously, for me, this is just another one of those hopelessly self-referential ...

I'm getting profound amusement about the fact fans are getting up in arms about inside references, usually that's supposed to be part of the fun of being a fan being able to pick up on the inside jokes and call backs to previous things. Me I enjoy it myself as long as it helps whatever the story is flow.

Moreover lacking the context of what and where and why? Its hard to judge if its "hopelessly self referential" or in some way helps tell the story in an interesting manner.

Sharr

What he said!

 

[davejames]

I just see this as Abrams returning to the fun, swashbuckling 60s roots of the original series. Which frankly, I think is a long time in coming.

Hell, if he wants to throw in another Nazi planet or Gangster planet, I'd be fine with that too.

 

[Balrog]

Kegek said:
Who's to say Sulu didn't also posess a katanna? Maybe he's got a whole variety of swords we never knew about. He seems to be the enthusiast.

As I recall, Sulu was a weapons enthusiast. In "Shore Leave" he talks up wanting the very same .38 Special he finds and says he doesn't have one in his collection.

 

[ancient]

RoJoHen said:
I'm more interested to find out why he has a sword while wearing a spacesuit. Is it a Zero-G sword fight?!

There was one of those in FC (Worf vs. Borgs) and a 0-g phaser fight in TUC (pretty one-sided, though).

Damn, How did Lucas never find a way to do a 0-g lightsaber fight?

 

[Augustus]

Chill y'all!!! We have no idea what context this photo is in or what he has in his hands. For all we know they took the picture to throw people off balance...
Are we even 100% sure that this is Sulu???

 

[shapeshifter]

I'm not getting up in arms about it because a sword fight outside the ship sounds just like something TOS would have done had they the budget to.

Seriously though, we have no idea what's going on in that picture, behind the scene peeks can be very deceiving.

 

[Sharr Khan]

If I had to hazard a guess that weapon is a weapon of convenience, picked up by Sulu in the midst of a battle after losing his sidearm since I don't see him dragging a sword along for the ride for a landing party...

Sharr

 

[Phantassm]

Are we suppose to get up in arms over everything? There is no context to the picture at all so why be premature over something like this? The words "drama-queen" come to mind.

 

[RoJoHen]

ancient said:

RoJoHen said:
I'm more interested to find out why he has a sword while wearing a spacesuit. Is it a Zero-G sword fight?!

There was one of those in FC (Worf vs. Borgs) and a 0-g phaser fight in TUC (pretty one-sided, though).

Well, Worf is a Klingon, and I can believe that he would carry a blade of some kind. And a phaser fight doesn't count.

I'm just wondering why Sulu would even think to bring a sword with him outside!

 

[Tralah]

It is interesting to ponder what sequence of events will lead up to Sulu having a sword and using it in an environmental suit! Alas, we'll have to wait and see the movie before we're able to properly judge if this is something we should be up in arms about or not.

 

[davejames]

ancient said:
Damn, How did Lucas never find a way to do a 0-g lightsaber fight?

It IS kinda surprising that through 6 movies, we never saw anyone outside a spaceship in a spacesuit. I can't recall many other scifi movies set in space where that DOESN'T happen.

Of course when you have droids like Artoo to do the dirty work for you, there's probably no need to go outside.

 

[Valar]

RoJoHen said:

I'm just wondering why Sulu would even think to bring a sword with him outside!

Wait a sec. Didn't one of these pics have him wielding a serrated edge sword? Then this one is with him wielding a katana- what gives?

 

[Balthier the Great]

StarMan said:
Behold - Sulu with a fencing sword:

Now, it's ridiculous of course. But, we must remember he was influenced by an alien entity... or something, so it's forgivable. Additionally, George Takei looked pretty impressive topless ( which - on the record - I mean in a purely non-sexual context).

But this?

The latest incarnation of Sulu appears to be brandishing a katana. Now forgive me, but that doesn't strike me as standard issue for Starfleet officers.

Does Abram's vision have a Batman-style utility belt in mind? Polaron radiation interfering with your phaser? No prob! Unsheath your fold-out katana blade and start hacking away.

Lest we forget he's a bigger fan of Star Wars than Star Trek.

Abrams and co may have more up their sleeve than we've anticipated.

*poses thoughfully*

The second sword doesn't look like a Samurai sword. It may be a serated blade. Vaal in a Tutu don't these photographers know how to focus their cameras?