Hikaru Sulu comes out
Asian-American
George Takei is an actor and activist
who grew up in a U.S. internment camp. He was also a bridge officer on the
USS Enterprise NCC-1701, and is coming out in Wednesday's edition of the Los Angeles pub,
Frontiers Newsmagazine.
I adore George Takei. In a platonic, futurist kind of way.
Bonus Trek link: all the dirt on
filking.
ADDED WEDNESDAY: Here's
the direct link!
Excerpts: "Takei's portrayal of Sulu is a watershed moment in television history -- never had an Asian-American actor played such a prominent role in the national media, certainly not without a marginalizing accent or stereotypical job as a chef or servant or cook. In fact, Takei's clear, booming voice and perfectly enunciated English as he helmed the U.S.S. Enterprise, flew in the face of traditional Asian male stereotypes prevalent even up to that time on TV and in film."
George Takei, on discussing his sexuality to the media: "You know, it's not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It’s more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen. And then some doors are open and light comes in, and there are skylights and it widens. Brad's my partner, we've been together for 18 years. So, I've been 'open,' but I have not talked to the press. In that sense, maybe that's another opening of the corridor there."
On being a child in the United States during the World War II: "You know, I grew up in two American internment camps, and at that time I was very young. My memories of camp -- I was four years old to eight years old -- they're fond memories.... Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape.... But when we came out of camp, that's when I first realized that being in camp, that being Japanese-American, was something shameful. That camp was sort of like jail, and bad people go to jail. So, when you’re eight, nine… And there’s a sense of some shame being Japanese-American."
POSTED FRIDAY: Best feedback so far about George Takei: "One could have guessed -- after all he did look too comfortable in that leather outfit he donned for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." (Haven't yet been able to find a decent online pic, darnit...)