"STAR TREK is a show that had a vision about a future that was positive"
About this Quote
Takei’s line lands with the plainspoken force of someone who’s watched “the future” get used as a weapon. In an era when science fiction often sells apocalypse as sophistication, he’s insisting on something almost countercultural: optimism as a deliberate artistic choice, not a naive default.
The intent is partly commemorative - a nod to Star Trek’s brand - but the subtext is personal and political. Takei, a Japanese American who was incarcerated as a child during World War II, knows what it looks like when a society fails its own ideals. So when he praises Trek’s “positive” future, he’s not talking about sleek consoles and warp drive. He’s talking about a world in which pluralism is baked into the premise: the bridge as a workplace where differences aren’t “issues,” they’re assets. His own presence as Sulu wasn’t just casting; it was a televised argument for who gets to belong in the story of tomorrow.
Context sharpens the point. Star Trek debuted in the 1960s, at the messy intersection of Cold War paranoia, civil rights upheaval, and the space race’s glossy propaganda. Roddenberry’s universe offered an alternative to both defeatism and triumphalism: progress without purity, exploration without conquest. Takei’s phrasing - “had a vision” - treats hope like a designed system, something you build and maintain. It’s a quiet rebuke to today’s cultural reflex to confuse cynicism with intelligence, and a reminder that imagining a workable future is its own kind of activism.
The intent is partly commemorative - a nod to Star Trek’s brand - but the subtext is personal and political. Takei, a Japanese American who was incarcerated as a child during World War II, knows what it looks like when a society fails its own ideals. So when he praises Trek’s “positive” future, he’s not talking about sleek consoles and warp drive. He’s talking about a world in which pluralism is baked into the premise: the bridge as a workplace where differences aren’t “issues,” they’re assets. His own presence as Sulu wasn’t just casting; it was a televised argument for who gets to belong in the story of tomorrow.
Context sharpens the point. Star Trek debuted in the 1960s, at the messy intersection of Cold War paranoia, civil rights upheaval, and the space race’s glossy propaganda. Roddenberry’s universe offered an alternative to both defeatism and triumphalism: progress without purity, exploration without conquest. Takei’s phrasing - “had a vision” - treats hope like a designed system, something you build and maintain. It’s a quiet rebuke to today’s cultural reflex to confuse cynicism with intelligence, and a reminder that imagining a workable future is its own kind of activism.
Quote Details
| Topic | Optimism |
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