ChristopherPike said:
...The whole point of him fencing in The Naked Time was to be non stereotypical. George Takei mentions this in several interviews. The original script had him go nuts with a samurai sword and he got it changed. They even made a joke about his ethnicity in that excellent Futurama episode, where he says something along the lines of "Have I ever led you to believe I've studied karate?"
I can appreciate Takei's comments, but I personally equate a Katana with Japanese
culture, not necessarily with a negative stereotype.
I'm of Greek heritage. The film
My Big Fat Greek Wedding was FULL of Greek-American stereotypes, but none of them were negative ones. I never once saw that film as condenscending -- in fact I loved that film because it took me back to fond memories growing up amidst a Greek-American community.
I don't see how Sulu with a sword that is part of his heritage would be automatically condescending.
Maybe in the 1960s, people (even Takei) wanted to 'blend in' more with white-bread American culture, but here in the 21st century it is okay -- and even encouraged -- to show diversity through the differences in our cultures.
On another note, I'm surprised an argument hasn't broken out about Simon Pegg's Scotty
allegedly getting a "midget sidekick". Maybe they'll be using a camera trick to reduce Nick Frost.
Maybe Scotty's "side kick" is one from the same race as those little people in
Journey to Babel (Ithenites??). I always found it a bit odd that even though Tellarites, Andorians, and the Ithenites were major members of the Federation, we never saw them again in TOS.
Maybe Abrams plans on his "Federation Starfleet" be a more inclusive one that includes many different races; Or possibly this little person is an Ithenite who was Scotty's friend and associate before Scotty joined Starfleet.
