Tuesday, August 07, 2007

It's just that kind of day.

(It would help if you could read the following post while imaging mellow, jangly piano music playing in the background. Thanks.)

I don’t know – maybe it’s the rain. Maybe it’s the melancholy or the fact that I’m thinking of having cheese for lunch. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m wearing synthetic fibers. Whatever the reason, today is the kind of day when I’m thinkin’ ‘bout Shatner.

I’m thinkin’ there’s a lot to love about this particular Canadian…and no, that’s not a fat joke. Those will come later. Be patient. I’m thinkin’ here’s a man who loves himself a lot and if he loves himself a lot, then who are we to question that wisdom? After all, William Shatner knows William Shatner better than anyone and maybe we should all settle down and not fight the Shatner love anymore. I’m cool with that.

And speaking of cool, I’m thinkin’ he’s pretty cool to pimp himself for Priceline, too. Because not only is he entertaining me with his kung fu moves every night on TV, he’s probably also getting a sweet deal on rooms and rental cars. It makes good career sense and best of all, it makes good financial sense. He’s a smart Canadian.

I’m thinkin’ no one else could have played Captain Kirk – and ultimately come to believe he was Captain Kirk – quite the way Shatner did. If you haven’t read his autobiography, you really should. Immediately. I’ll wait….

Are you done? Did you enjoy it? Was your favorite part the part where he believed he could fight some guy because he was pretty sure that he, William Shatner, had Kirk’s smooth moves and would win, just like Kirk? But then he didn’t because he’s not a fictional character and wasn’t carrying a stunt coordinator with him that day. Yeah, that was a good chapter.

I’m thinkin’, too, of the time he tried to humiliate a teenage Wil Wheaton which Wheaton describes beautifully here. I’m thinkin’ I don’t like Shatner so much when he does that but I do like laughing at the story, in which he tells the young, newly minted Star Trek:TNG cast member that “he would never let a child on the bridge of his ship.” Again with the reality not being such a good friend of The Shat Man.

And I’m thinkin’ that as much as I mock Shatner and point at his girdle when I watch Generations and shake my head at his singing (“Mr. Tambourine Maaaan!!!!”) and cry a little at his spoken word poetry and maybe laugh some more when he auctions off his kidney stones, the world really wouldn’t be as much fun without him. That’s not just the cheese and melancholy talking either....

4 comments:

WarpSpeedScotty said...

You have to love the Shatner. The Shatner is good.

I've devoted a few entries to our man Bill (yes, I had too much time and was indulging my inner geek with these):

http://smwance.livejournal.com/9248.html
http://smwance.livejournal.com/11019.html
http://smwance.livejournal.com/14383.html
http://smwance.livejournal.com/15999.html
http://smwance.livejournal.com/16231.html

Liz said...

Those are awesome posts, Scott. Your analysis of his fighting was great. I'm going to read all of them tonight. And I'm glad to hear there's someone else out there who will admit to reading Shatner's autobiography. I enjoyed the hell out of that book, and honestly, it takes a lot of guts to admit to being such a jackass the way he did...kinda...sorta...while still loving himself.

Shan said...

The Shatner situation is very strange to me. I've loved original Trek and Kirk since it was passed on to me by my late father. And typically, I hate it when I learn that the actor who played a beloved character is in reality, a pompous, insufferable ass. But there's just something about Shatner (and Kirk, as it's so difficult to separate them) that is...just...so...iconic. In the twilight of his career, Shatner has toned down the megalomania, though we still get glimpses of his remarkable self-absorption. And yet I still find him fascinating and oddly likable. I really can't describe the cognitive dissonance associated with it. Other, much more talented performers completely turn me off with their off-screen behavior and it taints my view of them and even their work (same goes with sports stars -- appropriately enough today, Mr. 756*). The only current parallel I can think of is Alec Baldwin.

--Silver said...

Shatner's the reason we started to watch Boston Legal, and one of the reasons we still watch -- and love -- it bundles.

He's cool beyond words, and isn't afraid to make fun of himself (from the bad singing in the first Priceline commercials to his Eminem-esque birding of the audience at concerts before launching into the oh-so-awful-yet-oddly-good mangling of The Beatles for which his audience is calling), which only makes him cooler.

And his recent song "Has Been" is STILL on every one of my "Current obsessions" iPod playlists every since it came out.

.