Really? A connoisseur, someone who chooses carefully and selects only the finest of options? James T. Kirk?!
I always saw him as a rabid skirt-chaser, and I dare say that's the prevailing opinion. If there's an available woman to be found, he'll inevitably find her, woo her, and sleep with her or at least sway her to his side as an ally. As Bones said on Rura Penthe in ST6, "What is it with you?" It's a noteworthy trait.
Now, it certainly may be true that Kirk, like James Bond, is a Guy Hero Of The Sixties, and that archetype includes certain traits: resourcefulness, hand-to-hand fighting skill, natural leadership, and being a ladies' man. "Women want them, men want to be them." If you take any of those traits away from either character, you've destroyed the concept and, with it, the character.
By contrast, some Star Trek works have introduced non-hetero characters, and I applaud them for it. I'm all about introducing diversity. I just disagree - rather strongly - with the notion that existing characters who have been around for over four decades should be fundamentally changed to make them more diverse. Kirk doesn't mack on guys because he's all about the women. That's how he's always been, and there's no reason to change it. It's not because being gay or bi is "bad" - just that it's way, way out of character for him.
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Really? A connoisseur, someone who chooses carefully and selects only the finest of options? James T. Kirk?!
I always saw him as a rabid skirt-chaser, and I dare say that's the prevailing opinion. If there's an available woman to be found, he'll inevitably find her, woo her, and sleep with her or at least sway her to his side as an ally. As Bones said on Rura Penthe in ST6, "What is it with you?" It's a noteworthy trait.
Now, it certainly may be true that Kirk, like James Bond, is a Guy Hero Of The Sixties, and that archetype includes certain traits: resourcefulness, hand-to-hand fighting skill, natural leadership, and being a ladies' man. "Women want them, men want to be them." If you take any of those traits away from either character, you've destroyed the concept and, with it, the character.
By contrast, some Star Trek works have introduced non-hetero characters, and I applaud them for it. I'm all about introducing diversity. I just disagree - rather strongly - with the notion that existing characters who have been around for over four decades should be fundamentally changed to make them more diverse. Kirk doesn't mack on guys because he's all about the women. That's how he's always been, and there's no reason to change it. It's not because being gay or bi is "bad" - just that it's way, way out of character for him.