Simon Pegg Responds to George Takei's Response to Sulu Being Gay in STAR TREK BEYOND

Yesterday, word came out that this month's upcoming Star Trek Beyond would reveal John Cho's version of Hikaru Sulu as a gay character, marking the first major LGBTQ character in franchise history. The idea came from co-writer Simon Pegg, who thought it would be a cool way to include more representation for underrepresented minorities on the big screen in a way that wasn't a big deal, and to honor original series star George Takei, who has become something of a gay rights icon since coming out in 2005.

But Takei shocked us all by responding to that by saying it was an "unfortunate" decision, and talking about how he tried to convince Pegg and director Justin Lin to change their minds. In Takei's mind, Sulu wasn't gay in the original series and movie timeline, so the character shouldn't be gay now. Takei believes this is a twisting of Gene Roddenberry's original vision, which frankly seems like a shortsighted view of the larger issues Beyond is trying to tackle right now. I understand he feels ownership of the character and he had actual conversations with Roddenberry about Sulu's past, but Takei of all people should realize how cool it will be for gay audiences to see a gay hero on screen in a modern blockbuster...especially in a way in which the character's sexuality doesn't define his character.

In any case, after reading Takei's response, Pegg has a response of his own: he respectfully disagrees with Takei's opinion. Here's what he told The Guardian:

I have huge love and respect for George Takei, his heart, courage and humour are an inspiration. However, with regards to his thoughts on our Sulu, I must respectfully disagree with him.

He’s right, it is unfortunate, it’s unfortunate that the screen version of the most inclusive, tolerant universe in science fiction hasn’t featured an LGBT character until now. We could have introduced a new gay character, but he or she would have been primarily defined by their sexuality, seen as the ‘gay character’, rather than simply for who they are, and isn’t that tokenism?

Justin Lin, Doug Jung and I loved the idea of it being someone we already knew because the audience have a pre-existing opinion of that character as a human being, unaffected by any prejudice. Their sexual orientation is just one of many personal aspects, not the defining characteristic. Also, the audience would infer that there has been an LGBT presence in the Trek Universe from the beginning (at least in the Kelvin timeline), that a gay hero isn’t something new or strange. It’s also important to note that at no point do we suggest that our Sulu was ever closeted, why would he need to be? It’s just hasn’t come up before.

I don’t believe Gene Roddenberry’s decision to make the prime timeline’s Enterprise crew straight was an artistic one, more a necessity of the time. Trek rightly gets a lot of love for featuring the first interracial kiss on US television, but Plato’s Stepchildren was the lowest rated episode ever.

The viewing audience weren’t open minded enough at the time and it must have forced Roddenberry to modulate his innovation. His mantra was always ‘infinite diversity in infinite combinations’. If he could have explored Sulu’s sexuality with George, he no doubt would have. Roddenberry was a visionary and a pioneer but we choose our battles carefully.

Our Trek is an alternate timeline with alternate details. Whatever magic ingredient determines our sexuality was different for Sulu in our timeline. I like this idea because it suggests that in a hypothetical multiverse, across an infinite matrix of alternate realities, we are all LGBT somewhere.

Whatever dimension we inhabit, we all just want to be loved by those we love (and I love George Takei). I can’t speak for every reality but that must surely true of this one. Live long and prosper.

This is a classy response from Pegg, who doesn't bash Takei's views and simply explains his (perfectly reasonable) reasoning behind their decision. I'm halfheartedly hoping Takei responds to Pegg's response just so I can make the next headline even more ridiculous, but I'm guessing this will be the last we hear on the matter for a while.