George Takei is of course part of the OG Star Trek gang, and lately he’s been in the news as a frequent guest on Howard Stern, and for coming out of the closet. He’s also now the subject of his own documentary, To Be Takei.
The documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and it’s gotten pretty good reviews. The Daily Beast called it “captivating,” and Variety feels the documentary could crossover to many moviegoers, not just Trekkies.
Of course, the documentary isn’t just about Star Trek, it’s about Takei’s entire life from growing up in an internment camp, to becoming a sci-fi icon, to becoming a gay activist and marrying his long time partner Brad.
Takei liked the fact that the film premiered at Sundance in Utah, where he was able to speak out against the state’s anti-gay marriage stance. As Takei told The Daily Beast, “Gene Roddenberry’s idea was ‘infinite diversity and infinite combinations’ – the Starship Enterprise is a metaphor for Earth, and he wanted to have that represented in the make-up of the cast.”
Yet as many Trek fans know, Takei and Bill Shatner, who will soon turn 84, have been estranged for some time. As Takei told the L.A. Times, if he could talk to Shatner, he would tell him, “Bill, ‘fess up. This is all an act. He complained about not getting invited to [my] wedding. Everyone knows we did send an invitation. Why have this tension?”
