A stack of books with legs. An inquisitive, courageous, compassionate champion of the oppressed and forgotten, a wanderer, explorer, trailblazer, dreamer, a hopeless romantic and a lonely man, with the mind of a philolosopher, the heart of a warrior, and the soul of a poet. To me, he's the wholesome masculinity and the best of what humanity might become given enough time to grow and mature I've longed for all my life. Oh, James Tiberius Kirk. 🥰
Exactly! Chris Pine's interpretation of Kirk was all wrong. If you look at young Kirk, meaning the early episodes of the first season, you will see a strict, by-the-book disciplinarian. Kirk was a boy scout no mater what Carol Marcus said. Kirk had bravado and swagger only because he earned it and most of that was bestowed by those who looked up to him. Not because he ever tried to convince people he was something he was not. His origin story is that his family was part of the colony on Tarsus IV but was killed in the massacre by governor Kodos "...Your lives mean slow death to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore, I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered, signed Kodos, Governor of Tarsus IV." After being rescued by Star Fleet Kirk and his brother George are sent to live with their uncle on Earth forever marred by the massacre and forever indebted to those that saved him. Kirk dedicated his life to Star Fleet. And to the cause of stamping out evil and tyranny.
Without a doubt the best Captain of all the Captains portrayed in Star Trek. He may lose some people but he will get his ship and most of the crew out of the worst of Jams. He has the highest leadership capacity and gets the best out of everyone. Will not ask anyone to do something he isn't willing and frequently he dose too often, highly dangerous away missions, himself. Best commanding officer in any fiction.
Captain Kirk has been my personal idol since childhood. We also share a star sign, Aries, both the character and the actor William Shatner. Recently someone on Facebook wrote this of Kirk, and it perfectly summarizes why I think he is the best character in Star Trek, and indeed one of the best characters in fiction: Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Empathetic, kind, erudite, ferociously intelligent, brave, strategic, extremely charismatic, charming, thoughtful, introspective, funny... he takes risks when he has to, often motivated by flashes of insight and intuition, but he’s not brash. He quotes Melville, DH Lawrence, Shakespeare, Dickens, Peter Pan; knows his Milton, history, Spinoza; uses Latin tags; beats Spock regularly at chess and is a very dab hand at poker (and fizzbin). When a situation calls for diplomacy he's the best talker imaginable, when he has to get down and dusty he can kick butt. These qualities only scratch the surface. Gene Roddenberry, the writers, and William Shatner, all created an amazing character.
Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Empathetic, kind, erudite, ferociously intelligent, brave, strategic, extremely charismatic, charming, thoughtful, introspective, funny... he takes risks when he has to, often motivated by flashes of insight and intuition, but he’s not brash. He quotes Melville, DH Lawrence, Shakespeare, Dickens, Peter Pan; knows his Milton, history, Spinoza; uses Latin tags; beats Spock regularly at chess and is a very dab hand at poker (and fizzbin). When a situation calls for diplomacy he's the best talker imaginable, but when he has to get down and dusty he can kick butt. These qualities only scratch the surface. Gene Roddenberry, the writers, and William Shatner, all created an amazing character.
SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PPL IN THE BACK! No, seriously: Kirk has been and will always be my favourite captain. I'll go one step further and say he's the best captain that has ever existed. When I started watching the other series, I was so used to his way of dealing with certain things that everything else felt so terribly wrong. All the other captains have never been so involved in missions as Kirk used to be. I'd like to say they felt cold. Kirk CARES. He's a very thoughtful person, and I have to say I'd feel the safest under his command, cause I know he takes good care of his ppl (let's not talk about the red ones 😂 but I think you know what I'm trying to say). Kirk should be some sort of standard for a captain, I wouldn't want anyone else to command a whole ship if they're not ready to go ALL IN for their crew and for any other species or life that they encounter on their journeys.
Agree 100%. Kirk is by far my favorite Trek character. TOS Kirk, classic swash buckling hero. Admiral Kirk, legendary, seasoned space ace his men and recruits love, Starfleets cool dad.
Shatner says that when you make a weekly series,the character is the actor cause you dont have time....and actually he is ...he has charisma even in his 90s..the way he responds to people is natural...im convinced that if he still somebody gave him the captains chair again with the right money he would still rocks....
One thing I really like about Shatner he hasn’t ruined the the endearing Captain Kirk image by blabbing his political beliefs all over the place. Whatever they might be. Many actors seem hell bent on destroying the fandom of the characters they’ve made bigger than life.
Totally on point. I never understood the Chris Pine version of this out of control rule breaking fly by the seat of your paints wild man. According to the original show, Kirk was the youngest Captain in Star Fleet - and that would seem to indicate that he was mature beyond his years or he would not have ascended to that position so quickly. He always seemed grounded and in control, and I was never sure why he got that bad - parody like - reputation. As far as the womanizer stuff went - that was just a part and parcel of 1960's entertainment. What show back then didn't have the hero making out with the damsel in distress?
I really hate the bratty, arrogant, recklessly impulsive Kirk that Chris Pine plays, to the extent that I found myself actually rooting against him. And since it was my first experience with Pine, I have a reflexive dislike for him that I have to overcome when I see him in a different role.
Star Trek 2009...In a movie with time travel and trans-warp transporters, the most unbelievable part was Pike putting a washed-out stowaway cadet in charge of the Enterprise.
He is also my fav character and I agree with all your points. I think most people disliking him either don't really know the show and are just hating because that's what the majority do or because they dislike Shatner himself
Kirk (performed by William Shatner) was always my favorite captain - not only at the other Star Trek series or movies but of all scifi series. The way he cared for his people, the way he always tried to help other people in need, no matter if they are human or alien, was inspiracional. And later, when I had to lead ppeople myself, I often thougt what would Kirk has done? He gave a very high standard. Thank you, Captain ❤
TOS is the greatest of the Star Trek series. The relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy is perfect (Brawn, Brains, and Heart), and the other main characters fill out the rest of the human condition is their own way. Star Trek began as ''Morality Plays disguised as Science Fiction'', and it was what made the show special. This concept has been lost now, and I refuse to watch any modern Star Trek. (Honestly, I made it half way through Voyager and decided that I was done.) I 'll binge watch TOS (and also TNG) any day.
Another awesome video. The way Shatner acted in the scene where Sybok was showing everybody their past trauma convinced me that Shatner is a really good actor.
He is a good actor when he tries to be. He was very good in an episode of the six million dollar man, right up to the last five minutes when he turned it up to warp factor 13. But I still think his greatest performance was in Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. He made us care about the character and what happened to him in a way that the remake just couldn't match.
I agree with your commentary about Kirk. I grew up with TOS, and Kirk was my favorite character. One thing you brought up was the episode "Turnabout Intruder." I believe that was the final episode of TOS. The series was being canceled, and I recall reading that Shatner was ill while filming too. So the writers were not too into it. The episode is supposedly based on a story by Gene Roddenberry, which wouldn't surprise me. His greatest achievement was coming up with the idea of Star Trek. But as a writer, I just never found him to be that good IMO. It is a bad episode, and I suspect it would be difficult for many actors of that time to have played that role. But I completely agree that Kirk has been misunderstood on many levels. The thing I actually give the character credit for is that he won't dilly-dally if his adversary wants a fight. He doesn't go into diplomate mode and try to reason with them. Instead, he shows he is the Alpha, and once he has the upper hand, he gives the "bad guy" a chance to surrender. Case in point: In Wrath of Khan, after all that Khan had done -- the death and destruction, once the Defiant was incapacitated, he proffered them to surrender. Others would have blown them out of the nebula, but not Kirk. As for Shatner, keep in mind he is a trained Shakespearean actor, just like Patrick Stewart. Check out some of his other works. They are very good. Now, here is something to ponder. How would Kirk have handled dealing with the Borg or the Dominion? I think he could have ended the Borg threat much sooner than any other character, and as for the Dominion, the same is true. He is a "think out the box" kind of captain.
Sandra Smith did quite a good job of being Kirk in Turnabout Intruder. I was surprised by how she got Shatner's mannerisms, his stance and even his way of sitting down.
I always thought that turnabout intruder( although not my favorite) wasn’t that women couldn’t be star ship captains but just not that particular lady and she held a grudge against Captain Kirk
Captain James Kirk is THE reason I love star trek so much. You nailed every point that I make when explaining the difference between popular conception of him and the way he's actually portrayed. He is the ultimate leader, the second most interesting character in the entire franchise, and frankly way, way better than Anson Mount as Pike. Watching the remake of balance of terror in strange new worlds proves it. Shatner has incredible delivery, he's articulate, perfect comedic timing, he's just such a joy. The Pike character in SNW is like the complete opposite frankly. They're trying to make him out as this modern man in contrast to the toxicity of kirk and 60s star trek, but all I think it does is highlight that quality leadership and enlightened masculinity have had an exemplar in kirk from the very beginning. A competent, intelligent, inquisitive man of action, that's James kirk and that's who I aspire to be.
Thank you for creating this video, I'm now working on creating a video myself about this. 2 months ago, I took the time to write a very-very long Reddit post in the Star Trek subreddit, called "Captain Kirk stereotypes... How did this happen???". I mainly focused on the 2 worst stereotypes: him being a horny womanizer and him being a risk-talking rebel. A went into details and examined every single "romantic" scene in the whole series, one by one. Unfortunately, RU-vid doesn't allow me to link it from Reddit, but you can find it on the official subreddit under the mentioned title. I'm sad how many people no longer remember the actual Captain Kirk and how the JJ movies made him into his own parody. Probably part of the reason why they no longer show us the original Kirk is because they think it's no longer "believable", that a man in his early to mid 30s is so brave, moral, cultured, skilled, yet so polite and women like that. This is why they try to make him look like a horny, "cool", "non-nerdy" playboy, because that's they only hero type that modern audience will understand. Now, moderising a character isn't a problem, but they make changes that made it a totally different person. The JJ Kirt and the SNW Kirk are based on the parodies of Kirk, not on Kirk.
A good way to look at the mary sue misconception is that he'll usually win in hand to hand combat but most problems in star trek (and in real life for that matter) don't entail physical strength.
re: Kirk and romance... in an episodic series, every romance story had to be wrapped up in one episode. So there were a lot of romance stories. But people forget that while Kirk had the most, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Chapel, and even Chekov had romances too.
@@coolcucumber372 Nor did Uhura, sadly, unless you count her one date with Chekov. Both characters definitely should have had their turns at romance. I can only hope they would have if the series had continued.
Love that video. And it is very nteresting how Kirk kinda evolved in pop culture over the years, when you really just take a few of his traits and perpetuate them over decades. And as over the top as Shatners acting could be sometimes, he really made you care about this Captain and his ship...
Yes an interesting evolution. The TOS Prime Directive was an anti-imperialist rule that prevented the Federation from conquering other societies but in TNG it became a non-interference rule.
Bill Shatner is a brilliant actor, everything has already been commented on but I will drew attention to his facial expressions in comedy situations such as “The Trouble with tribbles”. The main cast make it work, the incidental music, writing, costumes etc but full credit to the star of the show. Very best regards from the UK!
Great vid. Some comments: 1. I have said many times, "Kirk is not a dick, he is a ladies' man." The difference is obvious. A dick just wants sexual pleasure. A ladies' man is a man that ladies like because he likes them: he likes their femininity, their compassion, their grace. Kirk remembers his romantic partners with affection and respect: Carol Marcus, Areel Shaw, Ruth. And on the rare occasions where he was aggressive, it was a trick to save the day. 4. Kirk didn't cheat on the Kobayashi Maru test (okay, he did, but hear me out). He never tried to hide what he had done - - it was obvious. And he got a commendation for original thinking. The scene has several purposes: it's an attention-getting opening; it sets up the combat scenes to come; it introduces the concept of "a test of character"; it shows how difficult it is for Kirk to deal with losing and loss, which is one of the main themes of the movie. (Okay, he cheated, I admit it. But if I was a crew member on a starship, I would love to see that Kirk was our captain.) 5. Kirk is peaceful and forgiving: "Balance of Terror" at the end; "Arena" at the end; The Search for Spock, when Kirk says, "Give me your hand"; "By Any Other Name" when Kirk says the Fedration would not help an invader, but they would help a FRIEND.
I feel that the pop culture image of Kirk is closer to Futurama's Zapp Brannigan than what he actually is, suave cunning & caring for his crew, and that's sad
Fabulous! Agree on almost every point. Kirk rarely hooked up with a lady when he wasn't being coerced or under some influence, except as you describe. Most of the time he was cool and laid back at work, safety conscious and responsible. He was passionate and yeah, that sometimes got him in trouble. Sometimes didn't make the best decisions. And yeah, there were no female starship captains... because there were only 12 starships -- everything not of the Constitution class was a space ship at that time. See the Star Trek Continues episode "Embracing The Winds" for a good explanation as to why.
The TOS main trio provided audiences with three well-developed characters with a number of interesting elements. TNG, which followed Hill Street Blues and LA Law ear of early 80's tv, followed that style of having more of an ensemble style. TNG split much of the TOS trio's characteristics among it's ensemble: Worf's the half-breed alien among humans, Troi has psychic powers, Data is emotionless and struggling to understand humans and super smart, Picard is a thoughtful scientist, Riker's a swinging dick.
Kirk is the literal summation of a leader - inquisitive, intelligent, inspirational. And, we can break that down to one character that we've never seen: Captain Garrovick of the USS Farragut. Kirk is driven to live up to his mentor. And, succeeds.
It's an interesting study and rings true in many ways - I'd only pick at one detail in interpretation of TMP and the point at which Kirk becomes 'complete' again. Fundamentally, you have two relationship parallels that form the plot of TMP: the story of Decker and Ilia/V'Ger, and Kirk and Spock. This is the core of the film. V'Ger's desire is to physically connect, gain a sense of completion and reason beyond logic. It achieves this through Decker and Ilia. Similarly, Spock is seeking the same answers, and realises the same needs, which are fulfilled by Kirk, who he finally accepts, alongside his inseparable emotional landscape. Kirk is imbalanced until SPOCK returns, and - arguably, if following the film's allegories, it's at the sickbay scene, when they physically join, that Kirk is then symbolically 'whole' again. If it were simply that conversation with McCoy, it would undermine the significance of Spock's return in fulfilling those parallels and the film's core message. But in acknowledging this, one would have to consider Spock's role in the construct of Kirk as King. While The Enemy Within is a microcosm of almost the pure King paradigm, in terms of the broader narrative of the series and movies, Kirk does not function in such a self-contained sense. The idea of Kirk and Spock being a part of each other is firmly established: Kirk makes the implicit explicit in TSFS, describing Spock as the 'noblest part' of himself - which explains his perhaps less noble behaviour in TMP when Spock is absent. Roddenberry himself described them as two parts of a whole. Kirk even suggests they share a soul. Essentially, the default state of the TOS-verse revolves around Kirk and Spock being a central and immutable unit, and everything is 'off' (and conspires to reunite them) until that condition resets. They govern this universe as a pair, who form one singular unit. Everything else rides on top of this. Looking back at episodes like Corbomite, Kirk and Spock very much operate as an almost domestic unit, governing the ship together; Kirk appears to be the main voice of command, but he leans on and reacts to Spock heavily, especially emotionally (he even states his sense of "emotional security" in him). This certainly contextualises TMP, and their separation, which revolves around Spock's rejection of emotion - of his human side; of Kirk. In a way, they are both symbolic of the same missing part of each other; Kirk without Spock is lacking in heart; he is hard-edged and lacks empathy; while Spock is also cold and detached. So I agree, the paradigm fits, but it's very much tied to Spock re-entering the equation and performing a symbolic role. Just more food for thought!
I couldn't agree more. I can distinguish among Kirk the character, Shatner the actor, and Shatner the human being. In order I rank them great verging on legendary, good, and a bit of a jerk. Of course, Roddenberry was quite a jerk himself, yet the Great Bird of the Galaxy gave us Star Trek. Also the first time I've heard someone agree with an opinion I've had since I watched TOS during its first run (as a pre-teen). Kirk isn't a sex addict, he's a love addict.
I’ve long agreed with your assessment of his supposed womanizing. He wasn’t above using his looks and charm on a woman, but it was always in the service saving lives. Every time you see him pursuing a woman for himself, it’s always something mature and monogamous.
It always annoys me to see him referred to in other ST shows as some out of control womanizer, and don't get me started on Kurtzman Trek. Kirk in TOS had an extreme dedication to duty... his first concern was always for his crew and his ship. I can't count how many times he said "what about my ship?" He was also a tactical genius, and had great practical understanding of his enemies motivations. The way he was killed off in Generations was nothing short of blasphemy.
They pretty much killed him off to get him out the way, so Picard can take over, because it’s also odd in TNG how both Spock and McCoy appear but there is no Kirk.
One other thing that just came to mind. Let's keep in mind that Kirk is of a 23rd-Century mindset which may not have changed so much from 20th/21st-Century. Picard is 24th/25th-Century thinking. It would be like trying to take the mores of our time and place them into 17th and 18th-Centuries. Yes, somethings character traits may apply, but a lot do not. How often do we read and hear about those that place judgement upon the society of the 1700s using 21st-Century ethics and morality? Picard looked down upon 21st-Century humanity. His terse behavior toward the cryogenic revived humans in the episode "The Neutral Zone" is a good example of this. And, it wasn't just Picard who questioned humanity's earlier flaws. Troi did the same to Mark Twain, but in a more civilized tone. In a hundred years, the people of that time will scoff at our time. That's human nature.
Kirk should be the standard in how a captain should command his ship. I enjoy TNG, DS9, and VOY, but Star Trek under Kirk was great. I enjoyed his acting. Other people who mimic the Kirk character mess it up because they don't understand him.
I totally agree with you about Kirk. He is a great character and William Shatner is a wonderful actor. People who do not like him are just jealous of his good looks and coolness in my opinion. I disagree with you about the episode "Turnabout Intruder" as a enjoy Kirk`s acting in it so much that I do not care much about the story.
I love Kirk but, yeah, he's a horndog and has an element of Gary Stu about him. William Shatner's an underestimated actor. His acting is one of the reasons the Twilight Zone episode, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet is considered a classic. His performances are almost always committed and focused.
In addition to what I said in my other comment, here are some other things that come to mind when I think about Kirk: Kirk saying, "Spock, I believe I'm in love with Edith Keeler." McCoy saying to Kirk, "What you had to do, what you always do - - turn death into a fighting chance to live." Kirk responding to McCoy's speculation about whether God is "out there" by saying, "Maybe He's not 'out there', Bones, maybe He's in here, in the human heart." Kirk responding to Spock's statement that he had lost a brother, by saying, "Yes. I lost a brother once. But I was lucky ...", and looking at Spock, and continuing, "... I got him back." Kirk, literally floored by the murder of his son, pulling himself together for the sake of his colleagues, and saying, "I swear to you, we are not finished yet." Kirk saying, "Of all the souls I have met in my travels, his was the most ... human." Kirk saying to Doctor Elizabeth Dehner, "Above all else, a god needs compassion."
Amusingly the picture at 0:11 is actually Dr. Janice Lester from the final episode Turnabout Intruder. And I agree about Turnabout Intruder. It could have been an amazing episode, but they didn't just drop the ball, they lost it in a busy Airport Terminal.
That’s interesting, as I agree, except I think SNW got Kirk in a way the Abramsverse movies didn’t. The way he tried to bluff with an unorthodox strategy struck me as especially true. (And I think that’s where the dirty fighter idea came from and morphed-into.)
James T. Kirk was a bad boy. Spock would never be comfortable with an inept Captain. He respected Kirk and the space villans feared him.. That's the highest praise you can get.
I agree with a lot of this, but so many people take STOS out of context from 1960s television. There was always some guest star female that male leads were falling in love with. Ever watch "Bonanza?" Little Joe was getting engaged almost every week. Television series were episodic. There was no continuity. Nowadays, series have some link with the previous episode. Back on the 60s, there was little connection from one episode to the next. And now people keep trying to find the continuity between episodes. Which has been a grand thing for fan fiction writers. Otherwise, I appreciate these thoughts. I loved Kirk in the 60s, much better than Spock - oh, I liked him too. But Kirk was my hero as a kid, and I still love the guy. ST's enormous popularity and long life is great, but it can also put the series out of perspective from what it was in its own time. It's remarkable that it still lives. And here's to that. As to his acting, people should look at his work before and after Trek's series. He was directed to be Horatio Hornblower. He does marvelous stuff. But I agree pretty much with what you say here, and yeah T/Intruder is an insult. I won't watch it.
Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek was envisioned as a "Wagon Train" to the stars. James Tiberius Kirk is the quintessential "space cowboy". Jonathan Archer came pretty close, which is probably why "Enterprise" was cancelled early, too. Network executives can't handle the truth that sheepdogs are tamed (but not domesticated) wolves.
I love William Shatner myself, and I agree with you on practically every point accept I don't believe that there was even 15 or 16 episodes with romantic encounters between Kirk and a woman much less I would say closer to 10, and I have always liked his acting , at least to where I started with him at Judgment at Nuremberg, my sister goes even farther back to Ontario Canada!!! GaryBailey KingofDarkness
I counted twice that he bedded with women. And he never broke the prime directive. He did under orders like you said. 80% of the time hes cleaning up other ships mess who have broken the directive in the past.
Chris Pine's interpretation of Kirk was all wrong. If you look at young Kirk, meaning the early episodes of the first season, you will see a strict, by-the-book disciplinarian. Kirk was a boy scout no mater what Carol Marcus said. Kirk had bravado and swagger only because he earned it and most of that was bestowed by those who looked up to him. Not because he ever tried to convince people he was something he was not. His origin story is that his family was part of the colony on Tarsus IV but was killed in the massacre by governor Kodos "...Your lives mean slow death to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore, I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered, signed Kodos, Governor of Tarsus IV." After being rescued by Star Fleet Kirk is sent to live with his uncle on Earth forever marred by the massacre and forever indebted to those that saved him. Kirk dedicated his life to Star Fleet. And to the cause of stamping out evil and tyranny.
The video, like most of your others , is spot on. My only caveat is that I I think it is more accurate to say that Kirk is mischaracterized rather than misunderstood based in largely on the pop cultural prevalence of the satirization of Kirk, as well as its embrace by Shatner who infuse later versions of Kirk in the movies
WNMHGB, TCM, The Enemy Within, The Naked Time, Charlie X, BoT, The Conscience of The King, Arena, A Taste of Armageddon, The Devil In The Dark, Errand of Mercy, The City On The Edge of Forever, Amok Time, The Doomsday Machine, Mirror, Mirror, Obsession, The Ultimate Computer, Spectre of The Gun, The Enterprise Incident, Day of The Dove, Plato’s Stepchildren and The Savage Curtain are the episodes to show to people plus ST II-IV and VI who thinks Kirk is Zapp. Each of them shows and depicts different aspects of William Kirk. Plato shows that Kirk is loaded with empathy on a planet near devoid of any, No Man and Conscious shows a more subdued Kirk, Amok shows what a good friend he is by willingly risk his career to spare his first officer the shame by not disclosing his reasons for heading to Vulcan, City, II and III shows Kirk’s grief, Mirror, Mirror shows Kirk’s comforting side, Arena and VI shows Kirk’s ugly side when he’s angry just to show the range the character has when written or acted well.
My favorite character is a close one, taking the win is The Sisko but Wil Riker is close to winning. My favorite Star Trek show was Deep Space 9 with a very close 2nd by one of the greatest series ever, The Next Generation. Also, no such thing as a dirty fighter when your life and the lives of countless people/species is on the line. I think Voyager was a much better show than it is given credit. Yes, i went off on a tangent with this.........I also think you nailed this one, thumbs up.
Kirk Gets around the Universe and Enjoys exploring all the Varieties that the Universe has to Offer enjoying Multi Colored Skys, Harry Mudd is the truly Misunderstud Character and Trelain who grew up to be Q
Thank you on the first point: Kirk as the supposed womanizer. Let's note whenever Kirk encounters an old flame--he's always on still-continued good terms with her: Ruth (from the Shore Leave Planet--Shore Leave), Janet Wallace (The Deadly Years), Areel Shaw (Court Martial), etc. He's glad to see them and they're glad to see him, sometimes with the possiblity of the flame being rekindled. (The one exception here was Janice Lester--from Turnabout Intruder--was driven mad by Starfleet sexism it seems). True, in the end, his career won out over the relationships--but I don't see womanizing here, but real genuine affection. And then when do see Kirk being more in dalliance mode--e.g., Deela (Wink of Eye), Marta (Whom Gods Destroy), Sylvia (Cat's Paw), etc., it's becasue he's using his seductive wiles trying to get himself (or his crew or his ship) out of some actual or potential trap. So yeah, the womanizing thing--which unfortunately has been canonized--I think is an unfair assessment. And your last point on Shatner's acting--yeah, I agree with that too. His mannerisms have been exaggerated overtime. These stem from his Shakespearian training and working on stages withut mics and modern audio / sound that can require extra enunciation etc.--go watch Shakespearian stage performances today and note how it sounds. First, Spock may have been the breakout character, but Spock shines with his logical coolness, precisely with how Shatner plays a more Falstaffian and highly capable Kirk. That chemistry doesn't seem possible had Jeffery Hunter stayed around as Capt. Pike who, rather than as a Falstaffian, was already world-weary and ready to hang it up (The Managerie / The Cage)--with perhpas a more analytic temper that might have made Spock in his current iteration a bit redundant. Shatner helped make Star Trek what it became --and we watch it becasue we think its great, rather than awful (e.g., Lost in Space--c'mon, there aren't Lost in Space conventions and people who have found their vocations by watching that show compared to the medical, and engineering and oither scientific pursuits that people were led into owing to Trek) Second, you have to give Shatner credit as he is always but always trying to find a way to carry an episode. When he has a great counterpart to play off of (e.g., Ricardo Monltaban) his acting is great. But when the show is faulty somehow, whereby it can't rendered as art, it goes in a bit of a camp direction (e.g., Whom Gods Destroy), which can contain some of the more redeemable parts of the episode. In that episode, which I just love to watch, the campiness really works and Shatner is clearly enjoying himself as he's acting as a disguised Garth. The episode's very title is from English Lit.: from at least as far abck as the 17th centruy: "Whom the Gods destroy they first make mad." Well, Shatner as Kirk as Garth is wonderfully showing the madness. So, Shatner is always trying to find the way to wrestle an episode into submission. Nimoy by contrast just retreats, where he can seem kinda bored with it if the story or characters aren't up to par. I think Shatner's great (also as the fantastic Denny Crane from Boston Legal) and I will be very saddened on hearing of his passing. So, yeah--great analysis. Glad you did this. Your effort deserves wider attention. Thanks!
You are spot on. The Chris Pine Kirk is far too emotional which negates the need for Bones. The Strange New Worlds Kirk wasn’t bad though. He was intelligent if a bit too ready to fight but that was also the point in that episode. Shatner himself though is to blame somewhat for the revisionist history about Kirk.
Shatner-Kirk is Best Captain, followed closely by Sisko, then Janeway, then Archer, and only _then,_ by Picard. Picard was willing to allow an entire species to die in _Homeward_ to preserve the Prime Directive - recall that being his original intent, before an alternative was forced on him. Picard is inarguably worse than the Douwd in _The Survivors,_ who wiped out the entire Husnock species, or he captain of the _USS Equinox_ in Voyager, who was harvesting sentient beings to power his ship -- the former acted in a blind rage, and the latter out of desperation to save his ship and crew...Picard just shrugged, and said, _'Let them die, because that's how the Universe goes'._
In a real fight where death is a possible outcome - there's no such thing as a dirty fighter. You do what it takes to survive - full stop. There are no 'gentlemanly rules' in a fight to the death.
Kirk isn't a Mary Sue during brawls because all of our main heroes are overly competent during brawls, not just Kirk, it's just a part of the western tv show format of the day.
There is truth in what you say about him, his character. Though I do not agree that the prime directive is crap... that is just plain sanity. Except of course when you have to / can help someone. But there is also a reason why people have these "misconceptions" about Kirks character. So, as most of the times, I think the truth is in the middle.
Recently I saw a reaction video of Star Trek III, and was impressed with the number of literary citations he'd casually drop in conversations. He would do at least as many as Picard, but wouldn't make such a fuss about that. Do a drinking game on his citations on the movies and see how long until you are drunk. Interestingly, the episode that portrays his qualities best is one of the weakest of the series: The Corbomite maneuver. But I must say that Paul Wesley, the actor playing the character in Strange New Worlds is doing a great job playing him. Earnest, committed, a lateral thinker always thinking his next move.
Thanks for the video, I agree with everything you analyzed except on one point: the episode Turnabout Intruder is one of the best of Start Trek from my point of view, this episode is original, inventive and makes sense. This has nothing to do with the fact that a woman can't be a captain but it has to do with the fact that a hysterical feminist obsessed with doing everything like a man regardless of the desired activity is really stupid because she denies, like the neo-feminist psychos of our time, the fact that each of the two natures has its own qualities and its strengths less adapted to this or that situation. This woman wanted to become captain at all costs, out of jealousy and her refusal to accept her feminine condition while the reason she was unable to access this position was quite simply due to the fact that she did not have the intrinsic qualities required for this responsibility and as such this episode was premonitory and underlines so much what we see today in companies or in society with this stupid obligatory parity. It is meritocracy that must prevail and not this harmful feminist ideology. This episode actually describes well the excesses that our societies would experience in the future, it's almost prophetic! Thank you and good luck in your activity.
People who dismiss William Shatner's acting abilities seem to have very little conception of his work. His television appearances from the 50s and 60s show depth in ways that were not expected for television at the time. Directors and producers adored what he brought to the screen. Films such as 'The Intruder' ('62), and 'Incubus' ('66), show some incredibly dramatic performances that have absolutely proved him a great actor. I look at his acting style for what was expected at the time, the way an actor interacts with the camera and other actors, not to mention he came from radio and theatre where the performance style (& vocal acting) is crucial to be received by any audience. In my opinion, majority of his areas in overacting were provided with that same intention, especially in Star Trek, although I am also not dismissive to the slips that occur, that I have probably seen in every good actor at some point in their career (Al Pacino, more than a handful, yet some of his work is too good to care). For those judging purely by his work in Star Trek, there too are some beautiful performances provided by Shatner that have offered much to the character and the series, to which I must also mention Leonardo Nimoy who is undeniably the best performer in tos.
"turnabout intruder" may be a terrible episode, but shatner's acting in it is some of his best work. check out kevin pollock's shatner story where bill called up kevin and asked him to describe for a book how to do the ultimate shatner impression.
@@thefurrybastard1964 Thats why Generations was so bad, Kirk was just living his best life in the nexus, until a random stranger comes and persuades him to fight a madman, because he can’t do it himself, which ultimately kills him, losing his opportunity to see his friends again.
Agree with you about Kirk but disagree about TURNABOUT INTRUDER. First of all, it didn't say that women couldn't be starship captains. It stated they weren't ALLOWED to be captains which was depicted in a negative light (Kirk: "You're right. It isn't fair.") making it pro-feminine thematically. Yes, I found it hard to believe that that would be the case in the 23rd century, but my in-universe theory was that a planet or planet's whose joining the Federation was imperative refused to join unless women were prohibited from commanding starships. As shown in JOURNEY TO BABEL, politics plays a major part in the Federation and there could be several member planets dominated by men as there was one dominated by women (Signet 14, TOMORROW IS YESTERDAY). And I think kudos should be given to Sandra Smith for her very convincing portrayal of Kirk and the lunatic Janis Lester.
