Now, we're deeply embroiled in a discussion here on the AfterElton mothership about whether this video response by William Shatner to the George Takei wedding invite snub is the ramblings of a man whose celebrity and ego have rendered him unable to understand basic human interaction or a legitimate response to an inappropriate personal attack in the press.
Whichever it is, it's absolutely fascinating to watch over poached eggs. Try it!
Submitted by
on Wed, 2008-10-22 08:21.
That's simple
Excessive
This is what Takei said which I assume Shatner is referring to: "Our contact list has, like, 3,500 names, so we have to whittle it down and I don't know if William Shatner is going to make the cut. He's a wonderful actor. No one could have created the character Capt. Kirk the way he brought his singular metabolism to the character. Kirk and Shatner both have this grand ego of sense of self. He sits there in the center of the set and he revels [in] it."
Shatner's reaction to the above statements seems excessive. Shatner's remarks on Takei's statement basically prove Takei correct: Shatner has a huge ego.
Shatner's hurt
Shatner kind of reminds me of Kenley from Project Runway. He says things without thinking and is not aware of the hurt he causes other people. All actors have huge egos and insecurities, and I think it's really hurting him that 40 years later he is still disliked by Takei.
But remember that Shatner and Nimoy really were the stars of the show and everyone else was support, not even making the opening credits of the original show or appearing in every episode. Takei is taking a slight way too far as well and needs to get over it.
Still it would have been nice if Shatner's response (if he really felt he needed one) was more in the line of "I didn't expect to be invited. We were never really that close. I wish him well, though."
Yes
Shatner
In Shatner's defense, he makes some valid points.
Their work together were so long ago... why drag it up now? Granted, I don't know Shatner or Takei and either man (or both) could have been a pain to work with on set.
But on your wedding day of all days shouldn't you just "forgive and forget" what an old colleague has done? Of course there is no reason to invite him to your wedding if he is, in fact, a "total stranger" as Shatner insists. But to re-ignite a personal feud seems to darken an otherwise happy day.
No you shouldn't
Yes you should
Unfortunately, his inability to do neither of those things hurt Polonsky far more than those he couldn't forgive (or forget). One of those immutable laws of human nature.
Regarding Takei and Shatner, I agree with Triplicate Guy that Shatner would have shown great class and maturity (which unfortunately he seems to lack) by regretting the snub but nonetheless wishing his old castmate well. And I think George could have brought an extra measure of grace to his big day by at least avoiding the subject, or even overlooking past slights and inviting Shatner to share his joy.
Shatner
I'm pretty sure I saw
I'm pretty sure I saw Shatner in a clip of a McCain rally in Cali. Seeing as how McCain is for Prop 8, how can anyone blame George Takei for leaving Shatner off the invite list?
They asked. He answered.
They asked Takei about former Star Trek members being at the wedding. He probably went a little overboard in trying to insult Shatner in his reply, but I'm not Takei, so I don't know the extent of his relationship with Shatner. He made it clear, though. And now it seems that Shatner is trying to bate him into a public fight.
Check out the Shatner roast on comedy central, Nichelle Nichols doesn't seem to be joking, either.
I saw that roast....
....and I agree with you. George was almost certainly not joking, and Nichelle Nichols seemed sort of in the middle: wanting to not be too mean, but relishing the opportunity to rip Bill.
BTW, how about that Lisa Lampanelli??? You can't be more politically correct, but you also can't be more funny!
Shatner's at it again
NEW YORK (AP) -- William Shatner is continuing to feud with former "Star Trek" co-star George Takei.
In his latest video he says George has been "mean", for decades!
Looks like Takei is getting too much plublicity of late, and Shatner wants a piece of his lime light. Gotta love a guy like that.He then invites Takei to appear on his Biography Channel talk show, "Shatner's Raw Nerve."
I'm adding this an hour later:
took me a while before finding the video
Shatner cleverly seems to be baiting Takei. At 1:29, "I'm going to take the historical fact that he said publicly that he didn't" Shatner neither agrees nor disagrees that he got an invite. 2:00 Shatner says it's possible the invitation was sent and he never got it, and again he doesn't come right out and say it was never received, even though Takei made a public statement saying so. Shatner, "it's not important" (whether he sent an invite or not.) So, Shatner issues a 'public invite', while denying Takei's public invite. Okay.
Any body know the interviewer and program? Same as above.
YouTube Link
I'm going to answer my own question, It seems I read about this somewhere. Bill has a vlog at youtube, The Shatner Project. So the interviewer would be his cohost to the story of his life?.