BEAM ME UP, SULU – Review by Liz Whittemore
Beam Me Up, Sulu documents how the pure gumption of a young admirer and student filmmaker kicked off decades of friendship and an alliance of like-minded Star Trek fans. In 1985, Stan Woo walked up to George Takei at a political event, with cocktail and his film script in hand. Takei saw in Stan Woo a passion that he recognized in himself, and he agreed to star in Woo’s low-budget indie film based on the Star Trek television series. Yorktown: A Time To Heal was a passion project that took 36 years in the making, from concept to screening. In chronicling the production of Yorktown, the documentary Beam Me Up, Sulu features sit-down interviews, an immense amount of archival footage, and animated transition sequences. The behind-the-scenes clips of Woo’s Yorktown are pure gold. To see fresh faces and the knowledgeable presence of Takei working hand in hand with them says it all. If you were unfamiliar with George Takei’s history, the documentary gives you a crash course into his undeniably traumatic childhood when, during World War II, he spent five years incarcerated with his family in a concentration camp for American citizens of Japanese ethnicity. The parallels to the current government’s discriminatory actions cannot be ignored. We also get a delve into the broader fandom of Star Trek, and how cosplay allows for not only adoration but also a sense of home for devotees. Star Trek has always been ahead of the curve in terms of politics, gender identity, sexuality, and race. Yorktown‘s cast and crew perfectly mirror the show’s multiculturalism. Star Trek lovers are the epitome of representation. Everyone belongs. Beam Me Up, Sulu is a love letter to the collaborative vision of the Trekkie fandom.
