# George Takei... Am I missing something here? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2013, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959 "2013-02-21T11:05:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/41 "2013-02-21T23:37:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > He was young and got to do nifty things like fencing with his short off Nice Freudian typo there. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/42 "2013-02-21T23:44:04Z")
I “liked” his page because I find most of the stuff he reposts amusing, and because he’s generally pretty cool. I would be surprised to learn there was any hipster cred (if such a thing exists) in joining any Facebook page. Also, he reposted something I made, which validated my entire existence. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/43 "2013-02-21T23:56:46Z")
Obligatory link to the video of George telling homophobic Arkansas School Board Member McCance that he is a douche bag. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UACK93xF-FE/hqdefault.jpg "George Takei Calls Out Anti-Gay Arkansas School Board Member") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UACK93xF-FE) I’m not gay, but to me that was awesome, no one can sound so respectful as him even when being insulting with targets that deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/44 "2013-02-22T00:44:56Z")
He seems kind, intelligent, and funny. Finding any two of those things is easy, but the three together is the holy trinity of a person in my opinion, somebody I’d want as a friend. In an age of witless classless snark he brings wit and warmth and if he brings sting it’s as deserved as it is sharp. Except perhaps in the case of _Twilight_, which he hates and often skewers, but at least there it’s funny, and more importantly, I agree with him.😉 ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/45 "2013-02-22T02:29:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Takei also made [this clip on Youtube responding to homophobic basketball players a few years back](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s1iQODC5OI), which is both insightful and inspiring in addition to being completely hilarious. ha! ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/46 "2013-02-22T02:40:39Z")
Trekkies love him because he makes fun of Shatner. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/47 "2013-02-22T02:52:01Z")
George has been a political activist for Gay Marriage Rights for years, especially in his home state of California. Several years ago when it became legal (all too briefly) in California for gays to marry, George and his partner Brad (who had been together for something like 25 years at that point) made plans to marry. At first, they were going to join the masses of people at City Hall, but instead, George wanted to wait and plan “the wedding of his dreams.” Fortunately, they did marry when the opportunity was still available. There were even some Star Trek stars involved. I understand Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) was George’s “best man.” ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/48 "2013-02-22T02:55:55Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Obligatory link to the video of George telling homophobic Arkansas School Board Member McCance that he is a douche bag. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UACK93xF-FE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UACK93xF-FE) > > I’m not gay, but to me that was awesome, no one can sound so respectful as him even when being insulting with targets that deserve it. I agree, that was darn awsome! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/49 "2013-02-22T21:25:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > He was Hikaru Sulu in the original _Star Trek_ and in the subsequent movies. In the interest of fighting [my] ignorance, help me clear a fuzzy spot in my memory. In TOS, I don’t recall the character ever being referred to by any name other than “Sulu” or “Mr. Sulu”, even in the credits. I was under the distinct impression, as a kid watching the show in syndication in the early '70s, that the character was supposed to be Chinese. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized that Takei is a _Japanese_ name\*, and it was still later when I first learned that the character’s full name was Hikaru Sulu. Was Sulu indeed originally presented as Chinese, or was that simply my child’s brain not yet comprehending the difference between Chinese and Japanese? (and did the “Hikaru” name only come along later, after the original show’s run?) > [@](#): > > 4.) He continued his voice work I’ve always thought he has a James Earl Jones-quality speaking voice. \*And having just started rewatching Deep Space 9 on Netflix, I chuckled a bit when I realized that Keiko O’Brien, a Japanese character, is portrayed by Rosalind Chao, a Chinese-American. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/50 "2013-02-22T21:27:44Z")
I can’t recall his ethnicity ever being discussed in the original _Star Trek_ episodes. I believe “Hikaru” came up first in a novelization or perhaps even in a fanzine. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/51 "2013-02-22T21:30:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I can’t recall his ethnicity ever being discussed in the original _Star Trek_ episodes. I believe “Hikaru” came up first in a novelization or perhaps even in a fanzine. Says Memory Alpha in [their entry on Sulu](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Hikaru_Sulu); > [@](#): > > Sulu’s given name, Hikaru, was canonically established in Star Trek VI, though it had been used in fan circles since it was introduced in Vonda N. McIntyre’s 1981 novel The Entropy Effect. McIntyre created the name, taking it from The Tale of Genji, because she needed to write a love scene featuring Sulu, and she “couldn’t figure out how to write a love scene where the protagonists called each other by their surnames.” Hikaru was also given in the script of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as the name of the young boy whom Sulu later realizes is his great-great grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/52 "2013-02-22T22:18:04Z")
Ah, yes, the very first original novel in the Timescape series. And Sulu’s paramour was its own annoying Mary Sue – Captain Hunter. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/53 "2013-02-22T22:36:00Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Obligatory link to the video of George telling homophobic Arkansas School Board Member McCance that he is a douche bag. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UACK93xF-FE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UACK93xF-FE) > > I’m not gay, but to me that was awesome, no one can sound so respectful as him even when being insulting with targets that deserve it. I wish there were a better term to call that sort of person. Douche bags are useful things, and can come in very handy when you’re feeling “not so fresh”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/54 "2013-02-23T05:07:43Z")
Considering there is no /l/ in Japanese, only /r/, and the name _Sulu_ appears to have been borrowed from the Sulu Archipelago, populated by ethnically Malay people, located between Malaysian Borneo and the Philippines—the character Mr. Sulu may have been intended as some sort of composite pan-Asian. ---
**Author:** ![clarkstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/55 "2013-02-23T05:35:10Z")
love mr takei, he’s ok in my book. i am a follower on facebook, his posts are consistently funny. i really love him on the stern show ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/56 "2013-02-23T06:50:37Z")
And don’t forget he was in The Green Berets with John Wayne. He was absent from the trek set for a bit and that helped Chekov get more screen time. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/57 "2013-02-23T07:24:39Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Moving over to Cafe Society, which is just what George Takei would do. Don’t you mean ‘beaming it over’? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/58 "2013-02-23T09:52:23Z")
One of my favorite Takei anecdotes is his story about getting on an airplane, taking his seat (in first class, natch), glancing over at his seatmate and doing a doubletake at the sight of Patrick Stewart sitting there. Takei: “Excuse me, but aren’t you…?” Whereupon Stewart does his own doubletake and says “Well, aren’t YOU!” ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959/59 "2013-02-23T10:09:21Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I wish there were a better term to call that sort of person. Douche bags are useful things, and can come in very handy when you’re feeling “not so fresh”. Nah. Douchebags disrupt the natural order of things, cause irritation, increase infection rate and generally make a wonderful place into a chemically altered cesspool. So it’s a pretty apt metaphor for an idiotic school board member. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-takei-am-i-missing-something-here/650959.md?page=2)