Will Wheaton in the cape of dicks on stage at Dragon Con
February 3, 2012 8:02 PM Subscribe
It's Wil with ONE L.
And from that distance, the dicks on the Cape of Dicks looked only like fleur-de-lis-es-whatever.
But the outcome of the story (SPOILER ALERT) was unsurprising to me. If there was any period in his career when William Shatner was taking himself way too fucking seriously, it was when he got to DIRECT Star Trek V. I heard he didn't come down from that Ego Trip until the third year of "Rescue 911". And I'm kinda surprised nobody warned poorWesleyWil.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:01 PM on February 3, 2012
And from that distance, the dicks on the Cape of Dicks looked only like fleur-de-lis-es-whatever.
But the outcome of the story (SPOILER ALERT) was unsurprising to me. If there was any period in his career when William Shatner was taking himself way too fucking seriously, it was when he got to DIRECT Star Trek V. I heard he didn't come down from that Ego Trip until the third year of "Rescue 911". And I'm kinda surprised nobody warned poor
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:01 PM on February 3, 2012
I keep reading this as verb, not an adjective. It's horrifying.
It could be worse. You could be reading the number as a preposition too.
posted by Garm at 11:34 PM on February 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
It could be worse. You could be reading the number as a preposition too.
posted by Garm at 11:34 PM on February 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
I wonder how this went from Shatner's perspective. He's a notorious practical joker, and had a habit of teasing coworkers. He may have thought he was gently ribbing the kid, letting him know he was on the inside, without realizing how it might have felt to a 16-year-old who already feels badly out of his depth having joined a franchise he was a fan of (and, rather unfairly, as an intensely unpopular character.)
In fact, doing some digging, there is more to the store, including Shatner sending Wheaton a personal note telling him he's a fine young actor (perhaps at the bidding of Gene Roddenbury), some years of aloof interactions at conventions, and then:
Before we began filming, I sat in the green room (a place where actors hang out while they get stuff ready. There's food, drinks and TV, usually) and watched the World Series . . . with WILLIAM FUCKING SHATNER.
Yeah. It was really weird sitting there, talking about baseball with him like . . . we were just a couple of guys watching baseball. We talked about Randy Johnson versus Curt Shilling, and discussed the various strategies employed by the teams during the few innings we watched. He was kind. He was funny. He was warm. He was genuine. He talked nerdy sabremetrics with me. He was just a really nice and charming guy. In fact, he was so friendly to me, I assumed that he'd forgotten that I was that kid from Next Generation, or had me confused with someone else he'd worked with who he liked.
I suspect Shatner is like a lot of us -- sometimes blindly unaware of how his behavior come off to others, and genuinely surprised when he discovers its read as mean or distant. The trouble is that he also happens to be Captain Kirk, and so that behavior comes off as a million times bigger. I have always wondered if that wasn't the source of some of the conflict between him and George Takei -- Shatner has talked about how, when he was making Star Trek: TOS, he was on the set seven days a week, along with Nimoy and some of the more central character, and others would only come in a few days a week, such as Takei, and he had gotten close with the actors he saw all the time and felt a little distances from the actors he only saw occasionally, and as a result was not as chummy as he might have been. From his perspective, I can see how this might be something inconsequential -- you don't have to be friends with everybody you work with, and you naturally get closer with the people you work with all the time, and who knew how long Star Trek was going to be around? But from Takei's end, it would have felt like he was being left out, and that Shatner was inexplicably distant to him, and as a result they have had this weird animosity for years, where they seem to constantly accidentally offend or hurt each other. And the shame of it is that they're both awesome, and seem to genuinely regard each other as terrific, and that exacerbates whatever slights they feel they are getting from each other.
I don't know. I haven't met either man (although I have done quite a bit of research about Shatner -- after all, I wrote a book about him). I may feel unfairly sympathetic to him -- perhaps he really was, and perhaps is, as Roddenberry says, "an ass." But I also know how easy ot is for inadvertent behavior, or behavior that you intend as fun or jokey, to be misinterpreted.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 12:16 AM on February 4, 2012 [8 favorites]
In fact, doing some digging, there is more to the store, including Shatner sending Wheaton a personal note telling him he's a fine young actor (perhaps at the bidding of Gene Roddenbury), some years of aloof interactions at conventions, and then:
Before we began filming, I sat in the green room (a place where actors hang out while they get stuff ready. There's food, drinks and TV, usually) and watched the World Series . . . with WILLIAM FUCKING SHATNER.
Yeah. It was really weird sitting there, talking about baseball with him like . . . we were just a couple of guys watching baseball. We talked about Randy Johnson versus Curt Shilling, and discussed the various strategies employed by the teams during the few innings we watched. He was kind. He was funny. He was warm. He was genuine. He talked nerdy sabremetrics with me. He was just a really nice and charming guy. In fact, he was so friendly to me, I assumed that he'd forgotten that I was that kid from Next Generation, or had me confused with someone else he'd worked with who he liked.
I suspect Shatner is like a lot of us -- sometimes blindly unaware of how his behavior come off to others, and genuinely surprised when he discovers its read as mean or distant. The trouble is that he also happens to be Captain Kirk, and so that behavior comes off as a million times bigger. I have always wondered if that wasn't the source of some of the conflict between him and George Takei -- Shatner has talked about how, when he was making Star Trek: TOS, he was on the set seven days a week, along with Nimoy and some of the more central character, and others would only come in a few days a week, such as Takei, and he had gotten close with the actors he saw all the time and felt a little distances from the actors he only saw occasionally, and as a result was not as chummy as he might have been. From his perspective, I can see how this might be something inconsequential -- you don't have to be friends with everybody you work with, and you naturally get closer with the people you work with all the time, and who knew how long Star Trek was going to be around? But from Takei's end, it would have felt like he was being left out, and that Shatner was inexplicably distant to him, and as a result they have had this weird animosity for years, where they seem to constantly accidentally offend or hurt each other. And the shame of it is that they're both awesome, and seem to genuinely regard each other as terrific, and that exacerbates whatever slights they feel they are getting from each other.
I don't know. I haven't met either man (although I have done quite a bit of research about Shatner -- after all, I wrote a book about him). I may feel unfairly sympathetic to him -- perhaps he really was, and perhaps is, as Roddenberry says, "an ass." But I also know how easy ot is for inadvertent behavior, or behavior that you intend as fun or jokey, to be misinterpreted.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 12:16 AM on February 4, 2012 [8 favorites]
As forgiving as that all sounds, Bunny, keep in mind that he's had rifts lasting years with more than just Takei (much of that due to being an inveterate line-counter), as well as more wives than Newt Gingrich, and a critical career moment where he insulted his fans -- not to mention a sort of tribute movie centered almost entirely on the basic concept that the guy playing the captain is self-centered and hated by his cast. Shatner has developed a somewhat awesome public persona, but the private one seems to be quite different.
I enjoyed his docu The Captains [Netflixable!], but even that has a great deal of his fatuousness on display, and you can bet he was trying to be on his best behavior. I will say that as different as the other "Captains" are, the one thing they clearly had in common was being theatre people, with all that implies.
Basically, I think the guy is a good actor -- I'm currently rewatching TOS (in production order, which I say to explain my level of nerdiness), and he's really quite good, especially in ways that Jeffrey Hunter doesn't seem to have been capable of -- but in person, yeah, a bit of an ass.
posted by dhartung at 1:36 AM on February 4, 2012
I enjoyed his docu The Captains [Netflixable!], but even that has a great deal of his fatuousness on display, and you can bet he was trying to be on his best behavior. I will say that as different as the other "Captains" are, the one thing they clearly had in common was being theatre people, with all that implies.
Basically, I think the guy is a good actor -- I'm currently rewatching TOS (in production order, which I say to explain my level of nerdiness), and he's really quite good, especially in ways that Jeffrey Hunter doesn't seem to have been capable of -- but in person, yeah, a bit of an ass.
posted by dhartung at 1:36 AM on February 4, 2012
This fpp was in no way meant as a dig at the Shat. He is what he is and you either love him or hate him. I just thought "Wil" Wheaton wearing a cape of very small dicks reminiscing about his TNG years was too good to pass up.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 2:25 AM on February 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 2:25 AM on February 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
Warning: Contains Filk.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:34 AM on February 4, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:34 AM on February 4, 2012 [3 favorites]
I have nothing against your post, AElfwine (except that second L - it's like spelling Shaq with a K). And there will always be arguments over whether the Shat is really a pompous ass or just plays one on TV (so often, he is obviously winking at us, but other times not so sure). And there really is much divided opinion over who the Most Awesome Star Trek Guy is... Shatner? Stewart? Nimoy? Takei? Burton? Spiner? Heck, even Wheaton is starting to get some votes.
And here's a better look at the Cape of Dicks. I do like how from enough of a distance, they don't look so much like dicks.
(And the video contained less than 5% Filk, so it should be safe for most sensitive people)
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:25 AM on February 4, 2012
And here's a better look at the Cape of Dicks. I do like how from enough of a distance, they don't look so much like dicks.
(And the video contained less than 5% Filk, so it should be safe for most sensitive people)
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:25 AM on February 4, 2012
I couldnt access the videos ... which two parts did he fuck him in?
posted by iotic at 8:42 AM on February 4, 2012
posted by iotic at 8:42 AM on February 4, 2012
It's a choose your own adventure with crowd applause as the determining factor. Which hole would you like to fuck Shatner in?
posted by P.o.B. at 9:05 AM on February 4, 2012
posted by P.o.B. at 9:05 AM on February 4, 2012
William Fucking Shatner
Whenever I read this construction, I always picture a variant on Jesus Fucking Christ.
posted by hippybear at 9:39 AM on February 4, 2012
Whenever I read this construction, I always picture a variant on Jesus Fucking Christ.
posted by hippybear at 9:39 AM on February 4, 2012
(And the video contained less than 5% Filk, so it should be safe for most sensitive people)
a) that's a gross underestimate b) there is no safe level of Filk.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:15 AM on February 4, 2012
a) that's a gross underestimate b) there is no safe level of Filk.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:15 AM on February 4, 2012
For the curious:
Apparently the whole origin of the "cape of dicks" came from a joke Chris Hardwick told on one of his podcasts, where he was riffing on how nerds could defend themselves by completely indulging in nerdery and thus come off as crazier than their attackers. Or, they could ride a tiger. “Who would fuck with you if you’re riding a tiger? Nobody, that’s who. You could go tearin’ through a mall on a tiger dressed like a mermaid wearing a cape made out of dicks flapping in the wind and no one would say a word.” Apparently the "cape of dicks" offered such a vivid mental image that when Wil was next on Hardwick's podcast, he said something about wanting such a thing. ...And at a future con event, a fan presented him with that cape, which she had made for him.
Believe it or not, there is a full analysis of how the "cape of dicks" meme has spread throughout fandom, complete with a copy of this video, a copy of the video in which Wheaton is presented with the cape of dicks, and a video of Hardwick receiving his own, differently-designed (and a bit more graphic) cape of dicks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:03 PM on February 4, 2012
Apparently the whole origin of the "cape of dicks" came from a joke Chris Hardwick told on one of his podcasts, where he was riffing on how nerds could defend themselves by completely indulging in nerdery and thus come off as crazier than their attackers. Or, they could ride a tiger. “Who would fuck with you if you’re riding a tiger? Nobody, that’s who. You could go tearin’ through a mall on a tiger dressed like a mermaid wearing a cape made out of dicks flapping in the wind and no one would say a word.” Apparently the "cape of dicks" offered such a vivid mental image that when Wil was next on Hardwick's podcast, he said something about wanting such a thing. ...And at a future con event, a fan presented him with that cape, which she had made for him.
Believe it or not, there is a full analysis of how the "cape of dicks" meme has spread throughout fandom, complete with a copy of this video, a copy of the video in which Wheaton is presented with the cape of dicks, and a video of Hardwick receiving his own, differently-designed (and a bit more graphic) cape of dicks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:03 PM on February 4, 2012
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