Make it the future, but Filipino, part two
There hasn't been much Filipino representation in STAR TREK. Growing up watching the OG STAR TREK, I imprinted my Filipino-ness onto my favorite TREK character — Captain James T. Kirk. I didn't really see myself on screen, but could easily see myself as Kirk.
The closest we've come is STAR TREK LOWER DECK's Lieutenant Junior Grade Samanthan Rutherford, who is voiced by my brother from another Filipina mother, Eugene Cordero.
Rutherford is heavily coded as Pinoy. He's Moreno skinned with a passing resemblance to the actor who voices him. As a cadet, he built a warp hot rod called the Sampaguita, after the Philippines national flower. Even painted his racer in jeepney green with the ship name in the same brush font they use.
Until LOWER DECK's creator Mike McMahan says otherwise, I'm counting Rutherford as a Filipino brother from the future.
Where are the Filipinos in Starfleet?
I'm a Navy brat. All my Filipino friends' dads were in the Navy as well. It was part of life growing up in San Diego. We used to joke that if all Filipinos went on strike, the Navy, hospitals, and the Post Office would come to a standstill.
Since Starfleet is a space navy, where is my Filipino Mafia who make shit run like it should?
So far, Sam Rutherford and one another. Captain Pike saves a Filipino trainee in the time crystal vision of his fate in STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Well, the actor, Bryon Abalos, is Filipino-Canadian that is.
But is that it? Kinda.
Captain Sulu is a Half-Pinoy from San Francisco?
According to THE MAKING OF STAR TREK , Mr. Sulu (played by George Takei) was part-Filipino, which makes sense considering his last name is from the Sulu Sea in the Philippines. Also, there is no "L" sound in the Japanese language.
Sulu's mixed heritage has shown up only in a few STAR TREK novels, mostly the ones penned by science-fiction author Vonda N. McIntyre. But it's never been uttered in a TV or film production.
Hikaru, his first name, also comes from the novels and it wasn't mentioned on screen until STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY. Thus, making it official canon.
We also didn't get confirmation Sulu was gay until STAR TREK: BEYOND*, so maybe STRANGE NEW WORLDS can finally make his Filipino background canon.
The lack of Filipinos hasn't stopped me from putting my peeps into the STAR TREKs I've written.
*Okay, gay at least in the Kelvin Universe.
Commander Mariah Delos Reyes, USS Vikrant
My first non-official Trek was a comic story for Mark Farinas' STAR TREK: THE WEBCOMIC page, entitled "The Word of God."
I contributed the overall story, which Mark wrote the final script with me doing some minor rewrites. He also did all the artwork. The adventure centers around the conflict between Commander Mariah Delos Reyes, a Kirk-like intervenor, and Captain Afshar, who holds a dogmatic view of the Prime Directive.
While I was at it, I also wrote a cameo for myself in the comic as the ship's counselor, Dr. Raynar. Why not? At least, I didn't Gary Stu myself. But it was a thrill to write a scene with two Filipinos where they weren't discussing their cultural identity. That they simply existed in this universe, yet still were authentically Filipino.
The best representation is authentic without being about a journey to discovery one's heritage or accept their culture. In the dark ages when there wasn't much representation, this was what indie Fil-Am films seemed about. Those type of tales only benefit the non-Filipino audience and don't serve the characters.
THE CLEANING LADY gets it right. The Filipino characters simply are. Their Pinoy-ness is an inherently part of them and informs their stories, but it's not about hanging a lantern for the audience's benefit.
Nurse Practitioner Cheryl M. Ramos, ERS Hirschfeld
When STAR TREK: PICARD aired, I sent a tweet about how I'd love to write a show about Dr. Beverly Crusher, my favorite TNG character, out on the frontier helping worlds the Federation forgot. To my shock, Gates McFadden QT'd me and said for me to write it and send in the script.
And I did. STAR TREK: OATH was the result and her agents sent it to her. I've got it on good authority that she has the script in her hands. You can read it on THE STUNT LIST.
One of the characters is a Filipina nurse practitioner, Cheryl M. Ramos. A Starfleet Medical dropout who decided the service wasn't for her, much to the disappointment of her mother. She plays a vital role in saving a child's life in the story and she can hold her own against one of the more snotty doctors on the ship.
Cheryl was my homage to my Filipino nursing friends, my mother who was a lab tech, and Gates herself whose first name is actually Cheryl.
But STAR TREK is outta my system for now. Now, I have my own sci-fi universe to populate with Filipinos.
Introducing Lt. Commander Tomas R. Cruz
Tomas R. Cruz is my lead and would-be starship captain. As one friend said, "He's Captain Kirk without the colonial baggage."
Yes, his name is a play on Tom Cruise and also my own first and middle name. My writing partner Hannibal suggested the name, which I loved immediately as a pun since the initial concept was TOP GUN meets STAR TREK. Also, it allows me to sign my work. The "R" in his name stands for Ryanito, a nickname my mother called me.
Excerpt from my character notes:
LCDR Tomas R. Cruz
Mid-to-late 30s. A skilled pilot. Moreno skinned and deadly handsome. Confident, but filled with self-doubt, which is born form generational trauma passed down from his mom who expected him to be everything for the family. Vulnerable. Keeps his heart on his sleeve at all times. He isn't one to button up his emotions although he struggles with managing them. But he is a man of deep emotions.
Empathetic and kind to a fault. He wouldn't leave a wounded bird to die. Or a stray cat to find for itself. That can get him into trouble sometimes. But he would hate himself if he didn't at least try.
Yet, he is cool under fire. He isn't excitable in the face of crisis. Although, he may break down once the crisis has passed. He is hardest on himself for any and every mistake he makes.
He can be snippy and charming at the same time. A wry smile always about to crack in the corner of his mouth. He loves and hates life at the same time. Because as he admits, "I am a walking contradiction no more or less than any other human."
But he enjoys what he does. Truly enjoys it. He sees the horizon with optimism not dread. He's eager to find out what beyond the next world and all the distant worlds that await. He is never down about the job. Maybe about how things turn out or how they unfolded, but he never slams the service.
He is a true believer in The Star Service's mission. If there is one word that summarizes Cruz to who he is at his core... it's "service." He believes service is an expression of love. And a commander must be of service, love his ship and his crew. He serves the ship, the crew, and the mission... in that order.
He firmly believes that going into battle is a failure of his command. That's not what they're out there for.
Cruz was born in Donsol, Bicol, at the southern tip of Luzon. His father is a starship shipwright turned fisherman. His mother, a diplomat and politician whose family has a rich political history. Following in the footsteps of their father, his sister works on starship keels as a structural astro-engineer. When not at the shipyards, she lives in Masbate with her wife and two children.
He is part of The Argonaut Seven, the bridge crew of the first deep-space exploration starship off the construction line. Along with three other senior officers, he is in consideration for the captaincy.
Him and his peers are also from the first graduating class of the Space Academy. He holds a bachelor's in aerospace and astro-mechanics. His master's is in astro-navigation and stellar mapping. A master pilot, he's logged over 2,000 individual flight hours. As a trainee, he served on a Perimeter Defense Agency ship on detached service to earn his space qualification flight hours.
Getting the chair is the thing he wants most in the whole entire universe. Okay, maybe the second most thing. Because he'd give that all up for one person, who is also in the running to be captain – an alien from a volatile world. Ain't love a fickle bitch?
As for the photo of Manny Jacinto as Cruz, that's a bit of dreamcasting. He just fits the uniform, so to speak.
Next Two Weeks: San Diego Comic Con is around the corner, so we'll have a couple of light posts. Then in August, we'll dive deep into the queer aspects of DISTANT WORLDS.
BONUS: STAR TREK ARTIFACTS
A picture proof from a promotional photo taken during the production of the second STAR TREK pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," featuring George Takei as Lt. Sulu, ship's physicist. Yep, he wasn't the helmsman yet!
