This guy has issues with Bill Shatner

[Captain Robert April]

You folks are over reacting a bit, don't you think? I don't see him saying he hates Shatner in the article at all. He just says Shatner was mean. A friend of mine met Shatner here in Canada many years ago, and he treated her like a piece of crap. Gave her the whole, "I'm William Shatner", speech. She hasn't been able to watch a movie or show with him in it ever since...his voice now grates on her nerves he treated her so badly.

Details and context, please...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

A friend of mine met Shatner here in Canada many years ago, and he treated her like a piece of crap. Gave her the whole, "I'm William Shatner", speech.

All of the many people who have stories like that about him, spanning decades, are making them up, of course.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

^ Right you are. When that many people say something, it must be true!

Same with all those folks who report being abducted by aliens, too, right?

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Also:

http://www.peterjames.com/welcome.htm

This guys REALLY needs to think of better names for his books. Honestly, it's all a variation of (rather generic) phrases with the word "dead" in them.

It's Garth Marenghi!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

^ Right you are. When that many people say something, it must be true!

Same with all those folks who report being abducted by aliens, too, right?

That's a false equivalence, for sure. It sounds logical and makes no sense whatever. When lots of people tell you that it's snowing out, I presume you venture forth in bermuda shorts. No? Why not?

Shatner is a difficult individual. He sometimes treats other actors dismissively, is impatient with people, is self-absorbed. His sense of humor runs to practical jokes that can be unkind and unappreciated by the target. This is true to such an extent that there are people who've dealt with him at every stage of his career who dislike him and are willing to say so and to be specific about why. He is also, and this should be obvious, a charming, funny and likeable man who has made good friends of some coworkers.

That both things should be true is evidently confusing or disturbing enough to some of his fans that they prefer denial, and bristle and become defensive on his behalf when specific instances and cases of his bad behavior are cited - the phenomenon seems to be most pronounced when eyewitnesses speak plainly. C'est la guerre.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

^ You detected denial, bristling and defensiveness in my post? Dennis, Dennis, you're much too sensitive!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

^ You detected denial, bristling and defensiveness in my post?

It was a more general observation. All that I detected in your post was incomplete and bad logic.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

^ Well, if you say so.

I was just trying to point out that the argument you used -essentially that where there's smoke there's fire - can be used for all sorts of assertions, some quite ridiculous.

 

[Shatmandu]

You folks are over reacting a bit, don't you think? I don't see him saying he hates Shatner in the article at all. He just says Shatner was mean.

Problem is, there's nothing "mean" about what Shatner did in the story.

Joe, rational human