Would there have ever been an outroar if they got rid of Kim?

[exodus]

Probably. Because every character has their own set of vocal fans.

We probably would have had some people accusing Voyager of being racist as well, since Wang is Asian. Which would be complete garbage of course, but some people would say it.

I don't think it is garbage at all.

Mulgrew, Picardo, McNiell, Philips, Lien & Ryan are all White actors on the show. They out number the miniorities 5 to 1. Wang is the first Asian actor to be in the main cast, Takei doesn't even count because anyone outside of Shatner, Kelley & Nimoy were all supporting cast on TOS until the films.(It's why Takei's bitching about Shatner stealing all their screne time has no merit) Losing Wang would have been a step back and hypocritical towards Treks theme of diversity, Lien would not.

It's garbage because the desire to get rid of Kim had nothing to do with his race. He was simply the weakest character on the show, that's it. Are you seriously suggesting that the people in charge of Voyager were motivated by race to get rid of him? Kes and Kim were the two characters that the writers seemed to have problems making interesting and finding things to do with. Kim won out because of the beautiful people thing.

I don't care how diverse the show is. I just want good actors and stories. If they can achieve that with an all african american cast, all white, all asian or some kind of mix...it just doesn't matter to me. Good stories, good characters, that is all I want.

And I'm one of the few people on this board who actually defends Harry! I kind of like him, and I don't think Wang was a bad actor like so many others do. But even though I have a soft spot for him, his character was still by far the weakest on the show!

We aren't talking about if he was a good character or not nor the motivation behind TPTB for possably letting him go. We're talking about if there would be an up roar to getting rid of his character due to his race. Two completely different and seperate topics.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I'm not feeling any hypothetical up roar... So does tat mean that TPTB wouldn't have needed to make up for being such assholes with a come back episode in the sixth season? but if they did, what on earth could a "The return of Harry Kim" episode really be about?

Nice list Kurros, an operations officer, a science officer, a child stand in for wang and a blip and just another actress trying to play T'Pau. I was humping my monitor to praise the choice in actress for T'pau on Enterprise.

And this is why I mentioned the Clarinet.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

I don't think it is garbage at all.

Mulgrew, Picardo, McNiell, Philips, Lien & Ryan are all White actors on the show. They out number the miniorities 5 to 1. Wang is the first Asian actor to be in the main cast, Takei doesn't even count because anyone outside of Shatner, Kelley & Nimoy were all supporting cast on TOS until the films.(It's why Takei's bitching about Shatner stealing all their screne time has no merit) Losing Wang would have been a step back and hypocritical towards Treks theme of diversity, Lien would not.

It's garbage because the desire to get rid of Kim had nothing to do with his race. He was simply the weakest character on the show, that's it. Are you seriously suggesting that the people in charge of Voyager were motivated by race to get rid of him? Kes and Kim were the two characters that the writers seemed to have problems making interesting and finding things to do with. Kim won out because of the beautiful people thing.

I don't care how diverse the show is. I just want good actors and stories. If they can achieve that with an all african american cast, all white, all asian or some kind of mix...it just doesn't matter to me. Good stories, good characters, that is all I want.

And I'm one of the few people on this board who actually defends Harry! I kind of like him, and I don't think Wang was a bad actor like so many others do. But even though I have a soft spot for him, his character was still by far the weakest on the show!

We aren't talking about if he was a good character or not nor the motivation behind TPTB for possably letting him go. We're talking about if there would be an up roar to getting rid of his character due to his race. Two completely different and seperate topics.

Deleted post. Too much room for possibly offending someone on this one. I'm stepping out. And Awaaaaaaaaaaaaayy I go!

 

[Red Ranger]

I would have been annoyed. I was also annoyed that they got rid of Kes. What would have been ideal is if the writing had been good enough that they didn't have to replace someone in the first place.

Seven was an interesting character... why the hell didn't they replace Neelix?

Have to agree. Getting rid of Neelix early would've been preferable to what they did to Kes, or getting rid of Kim (maybe having him die around the time of Scorpion?). I think the writers eventually would have thought of a way around Kes's 10-year life-span. Since her mental powers were mutating, maybe when Ocampans travel in space, their lifespans lengthen? Kind of deux ex machina, I know, but hey.

And destro? I do care whether a show set in the future has a balance of ethnic types. It's just not realistic for a crew to be all-white, given the demographics of planet Earth even now, let alone New York City! The idea of casting Seven with an Asian actress is quite interesting. As I recall, Gedde Watanabe was considered to play the android Data in TNG, after all.

Red Ranger

 

[Lynx]

I don't think that there would have been an outroar in the Asian community if Kim had been dumped.

Neither Harry Kim, nor Voyager or even Garret Wang is a household name among Asian-Americans. I'm sure that there are many who don't even know about Voyager.

The Star Trek character whose firing would have caused an outroar if she had been fired was Uhura, due to the times in which TOS were filmed, times where the black people were struggling for their rights.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't see an outroar when Garry Dourdan and Khandi Alexander were dumped from CSI and CSI Miami.

However, there would probably have been a group of fans who had been sad and annoyed over Harry being dumped. Maybe they would have staged a letter campaign and Harry would have returned for one episode in which he had been destroyed as a character and killed off?

Personally I wish that they had kept all characters when Seven was added. As for Harry, I find him the weakest of the Voyager characters but still likeable.

 

[brcarthey]

I don't think it is garbage at all.

Mulgrew, Picardo, McNiell, Philips, Lien & Ryan are all White actors on the show. They out number the miniorities 5 to 1. Wang is the first Asian actor to be in the main cast, Takei doesn't even count because anyone outside of Shatner, Kelley & Nimoy were all supporting cast on TOS until the films.(It's why Takei's bitching about Shatner stealing all their screne time has no merit) Losing Wang would have been a step back and hypocritical towards Treks theme of diversity, Lien would not.

It's garbage because the desire to get rid of Kim had nothing to do with his race. He was simply the weakest character on the show, that's it. Are you seriously suggesting that the people in charge of Voyager were motivated by race to get rid of him? Kes and Kim were the two characters that the writers seemed to have problems making interesting and finding things to do with. Kim won out because of the beautiful people thing.

I don't care how diverse the show is. I just want good actors and stories. If they can achieve that with an all african american cast, all white, all asian or some kind of mix...it just doesn't matter to me. Good stories, good characters, that is all I want.

And I'm one of the few people on this board who actually defends Harry! I kind of like him, and I don't think Wang was a bad actor like so many others do. But even though I have a soft spot for him, his character was still by far the weakest on the show!

We aren't talking about if he was a good character or not nor the motivation behind TPTB for possably letting him go. We're talking about if there would be an up roar to getting rid of his character due to his race. Two completely different and seperate topics.

actually, whites actors only outnumbered minorities 2 to 1 since dawson and beltran are latino. either way, you're right in that there would've been an uproar, rightly or wrongly, for getting rid of him. but, the decision to keep him or get rid of him requires us to read TPTB's minds. i can't even read my wife's mind (as i was reminded today) so i'm not going to waste my time trying to discern the motivations of some intellectually vacuous "suits" regarding their reasons for keeping wang.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Actually, the race thing just evolved during the conversation, the original supposition was that there might be a lack of write in campaign for his return because he was a dipshit.

But Wang has played the race card a couple times, even though his job has, unfortunately, for the most part been safe.

It's very Captain Planet that all the minorities on Voyager combine into a single social block to seem nondismissed.

 

[JustKate]

Actually, the race thing just evolved during the conversation, the original supposition was that there might be a lack of write in campaign for his return because he was a dipshit.

(Because sometimes one smiley just isn't enough.)

Your summary is masterful, Guy. Cruel but, sadly, all too accurate and wonderfully succinct.

 

[AthanisTree]

Replace Kim with a sleeping cat.

No uproar, no reprisal, possibility of actual promotion unlike Kim...

?

 

[brcarthey]

Replace Kim with a sleeping cat.

No uproar, no reprisal, possibility of actual promotion unlike Kim...

?

so you'd be replacing one p----, with another? HELLO!

 

[AthanisTree]

The Cat could be an effective tension-breaker during diplomatic outings..

"Hello Mr Alien with appropriately nobbly forehead, would you like to stroke the cat while you wait?"

Or could function as a Mascot...

Or attract real, potential mates, unlike Kim...

 

[Pemmer Harge]

The Cat could be an effective tension-breaker during diplomatic outings..

"Hello Mr Alien with appropriately nobbly forehead, would you like to stroke the cat while you wait?"

Or could function as a Mascot...

Or attract real, potential mates, unlike Kim...

But could an Earth cat successfully breed with cats from the Delta Quadrant? Perhaps ancient felinoids seeded the galaxy with their DNA millions of years ago?

 

[Polgara]

Would have been glad to see him go but that's just me.

 

[Guy Gardener]

No, it's not just not you.

Your personal beliefs and convictions on this matter are the unified tenet for a billion fangasmic rants, from almost a hundred basement dwellers across (underneath?) the planet, about missed opportunities and unfulfilled expectations or promise.