posted
Well if we are to believe that Trek represents this liberal and egalitarian/utopian vision of society wherein everyone is accepted for who and what they are, I think the omission of openly gay characters is inconsistent and, well, kind of prudishly silly. (Again, not that they need to make a big fuss about the fact that this character is gay every FRICKIN' episode, just matter of fact, in the same way that Geordi was black (But not in the same way that he was handicapped.) But what I was talking about is the irrelevence/insignifigance of his skin-tone (see also Uhura)). So why not a gay character? At this point what could they really be risking? This would be doing good for the society of social progress and at the same time it'd likely garner Paramount some much needed publicity. I'm given to understand that the ratings for Enterprise are more or less in the bidet as is. He could be the ship's quartermaster if they needed to go that Will and Grace route.
-------------------- "Nah. The 9th chevron is for changing the ringtone from "grindy-grindy chonk-chonk" to the theme tune to dallas." -Reverend42
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Yes! So, you have this ship that's searching for these people who attacked Earth, and they have a gay interior decorator onboard. Been there, done that - Crusade, "Appearances and Other Deceits."
quote:Originally posted by Phoenix: For a lot of people, it's a religious conviction, not a prejudice.
I really dislike the "people who don't like homosexuality are repressed/prejudiced/evil" attitude. If people are free to do what they want, then other people should be free to disapprove of it, without being insulted and ostracised.
I completely agree with you brother. For myself and a lot of my sheet clad pals in the KKK, racism is a religious conviction not a prejudice. Don't you people know that hate is all right when it's endorsed by God?
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Obi Juan: ...Don't you people know that hate is all right when it's endorsed by God?
As Osama keeps telling the Universe...
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Don't you people know that hate is all right when it's endorsed by God?
Hate endorsed by God? When/where/what?
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Treknophyle: (color me agnostic)
Funny, I can't find that hue in my box of Crayolas.
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
Registered: Feb 2001
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While the situation with canon Trek may be what it may be, the modern novels certainly have their share of homosexual relationships. Four recent examples highlight the different ways to do it:
1) The "DS9 Relaunch" series features odd sexual arrangements of alien lifeforms as a plot point. And NOT as an allegory to anything human. It's just scifi, and the relevancy here is that the concept of weird sex is deprived of any "titillation value". It's not done in order to have sex scenes as such. Which is a message in itself.
2) The "SCE" series has a male character aboard a ship, in correspondence with a male partner at the port. The relationship is somewhat "up on your face" to the reader, in the sense that a heterosexual relationship would not receive so much attention in a book. From the point of view of the characters, though, this relationship is highly "normal", which is a typical heavyhanded Trek message. The language used is also a bit awkward, with expressions like "partner" used a lot in character speech. It does depend on who's writing the SCE entry in question, though.
3) "The Sundered" features a human guest character who has two mothers (and presumably no father). The reader may miss this if he or she blinks, but it offers extra color to the story tapestry. The story would be less rich without the addition.
4) "Serpents Among the Ruins" features a female Romulan character who has a son and a female lover. The reader WILL miss this even if he or she doesn't blink - it all hangs on a single gender-specific pronoun on a single page (and no, this is not a typo, sez the author). This is stylistically the most intriguing way to do it. The reader is left to wonder about the details of the arrangement, but the book is so full of such subtlety that there are a thousand other things to wonder about. (And just to clarify, the Romulan character in question is a protagonist, not a devious pervert bitch who gets comeuppance at the end. *That's* a different Romulan character altogether. )
We're left waiting for (and dreading) how Peter David will handle it. I mean, he has sexual innuendo dripping even from his technobabble, but when he's unleashed with the instructions of inserting a homosexuality message...
I do wonder if there are explicit writer instructions to that end, or if it is just a voluntary fashion statement of some sort. There are other strange commonalities between recent books, too. Marco Palmieri would be quick to denounce any top-level decrees, of course...
posted
The Crusades? The Inquisition? Oh wait, that wasn't hate. That was teaching.
It wasn't God. God != Catholic Church
Peter David's also got the fully hermaphroditic former engineer on the Excalibur, whose name and race escape me at the moment because the jerk hasn't released any NF books in two years. S/he's had both male and female lovers, and impregnated Dr. Selar.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
We never same homosexuality on TOS (except for those who chose to see it). But in Metamorphosis, Kirk and the boys suggest a rather open attitude towards relationships in the 23rd century. Of course, the Companion is clearly identified as female for the sake of tender 1960s sensibilities. I'm not saying this proves existence of homosexuality in Trek, but just offer this as evidence of more open attitudes. (Note: I'm not entirely sure who says what lines)
KIRK: You're a lover. COCHRANE: I'm a what? SPOCK: Her attitude toward you is profoundly different than when she contacts us. Her appearance is soft, gentle. Her voice is melodic, pleasing. I do not totally understand the emotion, but it obviously exists. The Companion loves you. COCHRANE: Do you know what you're saying? For all these years, I've let something as alien as that crawl around inside me, into my mind, my feelings. Kirk: It kept you alive. COCHRANE: It fed on me. It's disgusting. Kirk: There's nothing disgusting about it. It's just another life form.You get used to those things. COCHRANE: You're as bad as it is. SPOCK: Your highly emotional reaction is most illogical. Your relationship with the Companion has for 150 years been emotionally satisfying, eminently practical, and totally harmless. It may indeed have been quite beneficial. COCHRANE: Is this what the future holds, men who have no notion of decency or morality? Maybe I'm 150 years out of style, but I'm not going to be fodder for any inhuman monster. SPOCK: Fascinating -- a totally parochial attitude.
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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