Thursday, September 13, 2012
What makes Bill Shatner so cool?
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| AWESOME AND HE KNOWS IT: When it comes to believing in yourself, we could all learn a thing or two from William Shatner. |
"[William] Shatner must be the most gifted individual on Earth. He is a highly successful actor, author, playwright, singer and instrumentalist; despite having no discernible talent in any of those fields."
Now, before I go any further, let me just say that I am a HUGE fan of
Yet when I read that comment in the blog, I just had to laugh. Not just because it was so snarky, but because it was so true.
I mean, if you look in any dictionary for the definition of ham, and you will see Bill Shatner’s picture.
Okay, not really.
But if you look up the definition of ham on the TV Tropes web site you will literally see his picture there.
And should you look up Mr. Shatner himself on the site, you will see that his entry begins thusly:
"One of the most charming largest hams of all time."
Shatner’s overly dramatic acting style And ….His….. Odd …..Way…. OfRecitingHisLines, has been parodied so many times that it has practically become a cliché unto itself. It seems like every comedian sometime in their career has done a Shatner impression, though I think only Kevin Pollak’s impersonation has captured him the best.
Likewise with Shatner’s “singing” career, which took flight in 1978 when he performed “Rocket Man” at the Science Fiction Awards show. It was so impossibly ridiculous, it was good and probably ushered in the style of music we know today as rap.
Throughout his long career, Shatner has sometimes been called egotistical and a jerk. He’s been married four times and according to his fellow “Star Trek” actor, Nichelle Nichols, Shatner stole the honor of having the first interracial kiss on television from Leonard Nimoy, whose Spock character was the one who was originally scripted to kiss Lt. Uhura.
“My understanding is Bill Shatner took one look at the scene and said, ‘No you will not! If anyone's going to be part of the first interracial kiss in television history, it's going to be me!' So they rewrote it,” she said.
There is also a popular YouTube video where Will Wheaton (Wesley Crusher on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”) tells of his first meeting with the legendary star when Shatner was filming “Star Trek V” next door to the Next Generation set.
Then there was his directorial debut with the aforementioned “Star Trek V,” which was roundly panned as the worst “Star Trek” film ever.
The movie had an interesting and promising premise. The crew of the U.S.S Enterprise is seeking G-d at the end of the universe, but the story’s execution was so weak and lamely handled that it seemed to be more of a parody of the franchise than a real attempt at making a good “Trek” movie. Yet to be fair, I’m not 100 percent certain we can lay the blame for this flop solely at Mr. Shatner’s feet. Though it was his concept, I have read some of his other “Star Trek” books and while he wrote them with the help of a ghost writer, they were quite good. In fact, they still rank among my favorite “Star Trek” novels set in the “The Next Generation” timeline. I am also told that his non-“Star Trek” book series, TekWar, is also very good.
Despite all these flaws, Shatner remains an eminently likeable person and a terrific entertainer.
Why?
If we put all the above mentioned qualities that make William Shatner, William Shatner, and put them into anyone else, they would have failed epically as actor, author, playwright, singer and instrumentalist. But somehow Bill Shatner has taken them and made them successful.
How he managed to do this became a subject of a rather long e-mail thread between a few friends of mine.
“I don't know if I can quantify Shatner as a good actor or not,” my friend Tim wrote. “I have not had enough exposure to him in a range of roles. It may be he is just playing himself. If so, then he is just a really charismatic and cool guy.”
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| Classic Shatner ham: WEEEEE . . . the PEEEE-ple! |
Valid points, but then Tim came back with this:
“The question then becomes what is the definition of a 'good' actor? And is it different than the definition of a 'successful' entertainer? If the primary attribute of a 'good' actor is the ability to entertain. Then yes, Shatner is a VERY good actor. He is also a very successful actor. If the primary attribute of a 'good' actor is the ability to assume multiple and diverse roles as the story demands, then I have not observed it. But my experience is admittedly limited, and my observations could just be the result of always casting him to play a 'Shatner' character. I think I would not enjoy any part that he played as other than himself very much. So perhaps it is all for the best. I submit for contrast, Patrick Stewart who I feel has considerable skill as an 'actor', but falls far short as an 'entertainer' (unless you are entertained by the art of acting itself).”
But after all our back and forth, it was Erik who finally hit the nail on the head in figuring out why William Shatner is so cool.
“To sum Bill Shatner up I will rephrase something once said about Yul Brynner, " he wrote. “Only Bill Shatner could have the audacity to believe that he could actually be Bill Shatner."
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