Mr. Sulu is revealed to be gay in the upcoming “Star Trek Beyond”…and George Takei is having none of it.
“I’m delighted that there’s a gay character,” the original Hikaru Sulu and prominent LGBT activist told the Hollywood Reporter. “Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of [Star Trek creator] Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate.”
A love interest for Sulu was never explored by the original series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which began airing in the 1960s.
According to Takei, Roddenberry had conceived of Sulu as heterosexual. His on-screen daughter, Demora, is explained as the result of a one-night stand with a “stunningly gorgeous woman” in a canonical “Star Trek” novel released in 1995.
Takei’s reaction comes following a revelation by John Cho, who plays the iconic character in the reboot, that Sulu raises his daughter alongside a male partner. The decision to make Sulu gay, Cho told Australia’s Herald Sun during promotion for the film, was made as an homage to Takei by writer Simon Pegg and director Justin Lin.
Cho said the film does not make a big deal out of Sulu’s sexuality. “I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thing out of it, which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicize one’s personal orientations,” the actor told the Sun.
Takei said he relayed his disappointment at the filmmakers’ failure to create an all-new gay character to Cho and Lin last year when he learned of the news.
“I said, ‘This movie is going to be coming out on the 50th anniversary of ‘Star Trek,’ the 50th anniversary of paying tribute to Gene Roddenberry, the man whose vision it was carried us through half a century. Honor him and create a new character.’ I urged them,” Takei said.
