I'm Okay, You're Takei

I recently wrote about Life Itself, the documentary that explored the life of Roger Ebert, with full access to him (in his final days) and those close to him. Not long after I watched it, I caught a similar documentary, another chronicle of a man's life, made with full access to him and those close to him: To Be Takei.

As you can surmise from the title, this documentary focuses on George Takei -- who until a few years ago surely would have been best known as Sulu from Star Trek, though may well now be better known as Facebook's most popular personality. The documentary covers both these aspects of his life, his involvement with the Howard Stern show, and the two great causes for which he advocates.

First is his lineage as a Japanese American, who as a boy was unjustly held in an internment camp by presidential decree during World War II. It's an ugly chapter of American history that not nearly enough people are aware of. Takei has booked many public appearances where he's spoken of his time in a camp, and the documentary covers his latest means of telling his story -- through the creation of an original musical titled Allegiance.

Second is his push for LGBT equality, a cause he threw himself behind when he was among the first actors of reasonable fame to come out as gay. In the documentary, he speaks of the fear for his career that kept him closeted for most of his life, even after he'd long been in a relationship with the man who would eventually become his husband.

The documentary is also subtly revealing of the man behind the causes. George Takei comes off as a born performer always playing to the crowd, happy to laugh and be the butt of a joke so long as others are laughing too. One gets the sense that above everything else Takei is, he's an actor, and would have had to be an actor to find true happiness in his life. You also get snippets of insight from his friends (including fellow Star Trek cast members) and family (including his husband Brad).

Seeing this documentary so soon after Life Itself made me inevitably want to compare the two films, even though Ebert and Takei lived very different lives -- and Takei seems vibrant enough to have a good amount still to live. On the one hand, To Be Takei feels to me like a slightly more substantial film -- though it's quite likely I identify with it more, as a Star Trek fan and gay man. On the other hand, anyone who follows Takei on Facebook (and if you're not, you're doing the internet wrong) will likely know almost everything this documentary has to tell. So all told, I'd average it out to about the same grade, a B-.

I suspect you don't need me to tell you if you're the right audience for it.