Thursday, September 18, 2008

I'm sweating like a bridegroom.

As a fan of Star Trek and an admirer of George Takei in particular (he has a very interesting life story and always speaks his mind) I just wanted to say how happy I am for him on his wedding this week to his longtime partner Brad Altman.

I'm going to risk conflating real life with fiction here but I think that in this case it will be okay since Takei has never run away from his association with Trek, in fact he's always spoke of it proudly. Star Trek means cardboard sets and bad acting to a good portion of the population and I won't argue that. I readily admit it's cheesy to it's core.

But Star Trek - specifically the future imagined by Gene Rodenberry some forty years ago now - has also always presented a kind of society that I as a progressive wished we lived in. There is no racism, sexism or prejudice against homosexuals in that fictional future. Takei understood what Trek represented from the start which is why he didn't try and run away from the show like Shatner and Nimoy did.

So congratulations Mr. Takei on your wedding. In the larger sense it was a step towards a better, more equatable society. For that I thank you.

(Takei with spouse Altman, Maid of Honor Nichelle Nichols and Best Man Walter Koenig)

16 comments:

Randal Graves said...

"Say nucwear wessels!"

I'm with you on all counts. Sure, Trek is cheesy as hell - and that's part of its charm - and sure, such a pseudo-utopia is impossible given our species' penchant for acting like idiots, but at least shoot for it.

mwb said...

Excellent!

Congrats George!

Unconventional Conventionist said...

Weeeeeeee!

Dean Wormer said...

randal-

It's at least nice to imagine we may evolve as a species.

mwb-

Yep.

Uncoventional-

Huzzah!

Lockwood said...

"Cheesy as hell..." OK, but let's put it in context: can you name any TV from the second half of the 60's that isn't cheesy as hell? I watched the original airings as a youngster, and was spellbound. Can't stand it anymore, but, man, at the time, whoa.

Congrats George!!! The vision of limitless worlds, of tolerance and respect, and of infinite diversity through infinite combinations, that you helped bring to life for me forty years ago is one step closer to being realized. Best wishes for the future!

Ubermilf said...

He was on Heroes.

I love Heroes.

Overdroid said...

That is cool, but I'm not so sure that Trek was a proponent for equal rights for homosexuals. They definitely pushed boundries with black women kissing white men and all colors of the rainbow represented on the ship, but an open acceptance of gayness is mysteriously absent from the original series.

Unless you are watching Deep Space nine on, then there is a lot of girl on girl (and girl on vulcan girl on orion girl) action. Not much of the two guys together though.

enigma4ever said...

wow...so nice to hear something nice this week...

Dean Wormer said...

lockwood-

"Cheesy as hell..." OK, but let's put it in context: can you name any TV from the second half of the 60's that isn't cheesy as hell?

Well, I, um... concede the point.

My kids love the old show even with the cheesiness. If we're really bored they'll bug me to pull out an episode from the DVDs to show them.

uber-

Yes, he was Didn't he die on that show? I did read he had a licencs plate on his car on the show that read "NCC 1701."

Overdroid-

They got away with as much as they could with the network as it was a constant battle to keep the progressive stuff in there but I think it's fair to say that a future in which the superficial is not allowed to seperate us anymore is a future where race, gender and sexual orientation didn't matter.

Besides - did you see the way Kirk and Spock glanced at each other?

enigma-

I know it's been a bad week but it's getting better. At least as far as politics are concerned.

Randal Graves said...

Well okay, it was a decade of cheese to be sure, but Ironsides wasn't extra dairy, at least as far as I can remember.

Distributorcap said...

can you get beamed up in a tux?

Fran said...

I think that this is GREAT!!!

Your post I mean- who gives a crap about George Takei?!

tee hee

Life As I Know It Now said...

Live long and prosper George.

Dean Wormer said...

randal-

Don't forget the Mod Squad. Doesn't get any more serious than that.

distributorcapny-

It would be embarrassing if the tux didn't beam up if you know what I mean.

fran-

Thanks!

liberality-

I'm doing that Trek split finger thing with my hand.

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