Actor and activist George Takei was on The Daily Show the other day to promote the documentary, ‘To Be Takei,‘ about his life, about being an actor, activist from his early childhood to present day.
What captivated the host, Jon Stewart, the most was Takei’s experience as a child being forced with his family to be imprisoned into a Japanese internment camp during World War II – Takei was only 5 years old when that happened. Stewart emphasized that most Americans probably don’t know that much about this sad chapter in our country’s history. Takei emphasized the only thing that Japanese Americans were guilty of was looking like the people who had bombed Pearl Harbor.
As I had blogged before, I had the great opportunity earlier this year to meet George Takei, along with his husband Brad, at a fundraiser for Congressman Mike Honda (who was also imprisoned at a Japanese internment camp as a child). It was Takei and Honda’s shared experience of being internees and that shared ‘experience’ that formed the foundation of their friendship.
The documentary is available via DirecTV until August 5th and in select theaters and iTunes August 22nd.