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Where No Man Has Gone Before, Again

The actor who played Sulu in the Star Trek films and TV series is currently having a spat with the actor who played Kirk, in same. Takei and Shatner, according to the great eccentric Canadian thespian on his blog, have been at odds for maybe 40 years or more. Shatner has been lashing out at his friends and foes lately, using the Internet, set to stun, as his weapon of choice. According to Entertainment Weekly, he even complained about not being given a part in 2009's much-anticipated new Star Trek film, starring the guy who plays Sylar on Heroes as the guy with the pointy ears (from Sylar to Spock being a small stretch for man). Meanwhile, the real Spock was given a walk-on.

Shatner has been weird science for a while - his poetry and song recordings are notoriously bad, and so is much else in his life. But he's also lived through personal tragedy, and being lampooned for years. His bread and butter has also been his body-hugging hairshirt. My father went to school with Shatner. No moral or clue there, just an odd fact.

What is it about Quebec that it creates (in fiction and reality) a curious sort of overdetermined AWOL son - at least among its anglophones? - one thinks of Saul Bellow, Conrad Black, Duddy Kravitz, Shatner, etc.- larger-than-life, take-no-prisoners types. Perhaps it's the wintery neglect francophone culture, then Toronto, then America, then the world, spoon out to Montrealers. Or some would say. Best to beam out, or light away at some top warp speed.
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Unknown said…
I think I agree with you. And this doesn't just apply to native Montrealers like yourself, but naturalized Montrealers, like myself. A whole book, or several book could be written about this phenomenon. Or film (remember Errol Morris' First Person)?
Sat Oct 25, 08:50:00 am 2008
Stephen Morrissey said…
Hi Todd,

I always enjoy your blog, it's always insightful and interesting. I love Shatner, he's great as Denny Crane in Boston Legal, has reinvented himself numerous times, his recordings are hilarious. Jewish Montreal has produced a lot of talent, for instance Leonard Cohen, Moses Znaimer, William Shatner, A.M. Klein, Irving Layton, Mordechai Richler, the recently deceased Ben Weider, and many others. Shatner's generation, the children of eastern European immigrant parents, intelligent and hard working people, encouraged their children to go as far as they could in their education, and have contributed much to Canadian culture, business, and community life. Shatner went to my old high school, Monklands, about twenty years before I went there, and he grew up only a few blocks from where I grew up. I like having someone from Montreal so prominent in the media. So, he's cranky and upset, someone with his talent and body of work is forgiven... he's still playing one of the most unique and original characters on American television. He may not be one of the nicest people you'll meet but we don't have to live with William Shatner, just enjoy his creative work.

Best wishes,

Stephen Morrissey
Sat Oct 25, 04:20:00 pm 2008
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