The respect is mutual EB. You are very insightful because at work new employees were always told that I was "not politically correct " but my bosses always acknowledged that " I was the most honest employee at the company " which is something that I am proud of.
Most famous ever Quebecer worldwide?
- Thread starter kaydee1968
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The respect is mutual EB. You are very insightful because at work new employees were always told that I was "not politically correct " but my bosses always acknowledged that " I was the most honest employee at the company " which is something that I am proud of.
You are correct about one being entitled to their own opinions. But I have never seen any love for the French-Canadians (as a whole) coming from you.
I do apologize for picking on you, that was inappropriate. But EB is suggesting an anti-English slant on the part of French-Canadians, and I am suggesting that your own slant in this subject matter does not make you a credible sole source of support for his opinion. But I heartily agree about your suggestion of Pierre Trudeau. History will remember him much longer than most other people suggested here.
EB, all the interview with Shatner shows us is that he says he learned French by osmosis. He doesn't speak French in the clip. My research to date found no clips of him speaking French apart from that laborious 5-word sentence at McGill. Guess I won't be using Joe as a bookie after all...
EB, one minute you accuse French Canadians of dissing Shatner for being a Jew, then you come back and pick on my ignorance of his religion. Which is it? Besides, I'm secular whatever and don't put a whole lot of stock in religion. Period, the end.
I never said that. Shatner himself said that he encountered anti-semitism in Montreal and also said most of his friends were French.
The point of my post, as I have said many times now, is that because Shatner is Anglophone and Jewish he is not viewed as "one of your own" in Quebec. Celine is viewed that way. This attitude we see manifested in many posts in this thread, and in general comments on the Internet about Shatner. And to me, it is shameful disrespect, a disrespect that manifests itself in people like you admittedly not knowing much about the most famous Quebecer in the world - not even his religion or where he grew up. If on the other hand he was viewed by you as "one of our own", you would know these facts.
However the thread is about their popularity worldwide, and I was pointing out that if you go outside Quebec, more people will look at Shatner and say yeah, he is from Montreal. I never saw him as an American. And that is what is important here in determining who is really the most famous person in the world that comes from Quebec. And that person, with no doubt whatsoever, is William Shatner. It just shocks me that he can be that, and disrespected in his home province by people who do not know him because they do not see him as one of their own.
You keep saying Shatner's French is laborious. There is no proof of that. He said 5 words to an English speaking audience. He gave other interviews in which he said he is quite fluent. But the truth is Shatner operates in the English speaking world, so nobody has a chance to see this aspect of his personality. All of his biographies say he speaks fluent English and French but that he does NOT speak Klingon.
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Wallseye,
Tell me honestly how much did you know about Shatner prior to this thread and did you view him as one of your own, or not?
Tell me honestly how much did you know about Shatner prior to this thread and did you view him as one of your own, or not?
Wallseye,
That's fair, and I think your answer is honest. It's just my feeling that people in Quebec look at Shatner and they don't think of him as one of their own. We have had a few people in this thread post that they thought he was American. They look at Captain Kirk and they don't see that guy as from Montreal, Quebec. And it just kind of startles me.
As far as the question of who I look at as "one of my own", the answer to that is tricky because I am the child of parents who are of different ethnicities and different religions. My father is European Catholic, my mother Jewish. I grew up in a neighborhood of Catholics and Jews and never felt a part of either group in the truest sense. So my background is less homogenous than what is probably typical in Quebec. That being said, now that I have spent my whole life in New England and my Canadian friends tell me I have a distinctive "New England" accent, I consider myself a New Englander and New Englanders to be my own. But being a New Englander is more geographical and linguistic and less cultural, I think.
That's fair, and I think your answer is honest. It's just my feeling that people in Quebec look at Shatner and they don't think of him as one of their own. We have had a few people in this thread post that they thought he was American. They look at Captain Kirk and they don't see that guy as from Montreal, Quebec. And it just kind of startles me.
As far as the question of who I look at as "one of my own", the answer to that is tricky because I am the child of parents who are of different ethnicities and different religions. My father is European Catholic, my mother Jewish. I grew up in a neighborhood of Catholics and Jews and never felt a part of either group in the truest sense. So my background is less homogenous than what is probably typical in Quebec. That being said, now that I have spent my whole life in New England and my Canadian friends tell me I have a distinctive "New England" accent, I consider myself a New Englander and New Englanders to be my own. But being a New Englander is more geographical and linguistic and less cultural, I think.
Sapman try to keep an open mind and don't allow yourself to become overly defensive about your etnic/ cultural background.
Now about my love of French Canadians , which is all Canadians across this great country , who have French decendancy be it Acadian, Quebecois, Metis , Franco Ontarians or any others, I really enjoy sharing there culture and charm when I'm with them.
I do discriminate because I find it very easy to fall in love with the pretty French Canadian women and don't have the same romantique desires towards the men. lol!
But Don't confuse my contempt towards Quebec politics with my deep passion for the Quebec people and their culture. I'm an idependant person with a free mind and if you use logic to convince me you would be more successful then using smear tatics.
Now about my love of French Canadians , which is all Canadians across this great country , who have French decendancy be it Acadian, Quebecois, Metis , Franco Ontarians or any others, I really enjoy sharing there culture and charm when I'm with them.
I do discriminate because I find it very easy to fall in love with the pretty French Canadian women and don't have the same romantique desires towards the men. lol!
But Don't confuse my contempt towards Quebec politics with my deep passion for the Quebec people and their culture. I'm an idependant person with a free mind and if you use logic to convince me you would be more successful then using smear tatics.
Sapman, there is a lot of canadian english speaker on merb, and we all know that a lot of them are french haters... So everytime the word or concept "quebeker" or "french speaker" will appear in the title of a thread, you will find all the same old frenchhaters, using this pretext to spread their sad ideology, even if the real subject is innocent... They dont understand that they wont prove some person are less valuable just cause they are different from what they are, they just prove some canadian englishspeakers have a big problem of tolerance to french ones... THats the only conclusion an objective person will have by reading all these threads... I used to study history long time ago, and it reminds (toute proportion gardée) me the way some sad papers from the beginning of the 20th century in Europe are now a way to prove the intolerance people had against some culture, despite the goal of those who wrote them was to spread their ideologies...
We wont change the world, let them talk, time will do the rest...
We wont change the world, let them talk, time will do the rest...
I'm not interested in the off topic stuff in this thread, but with respect to the original topic: There isn't any real evidence that Shatner is the most famous person from Quebec. I know you think so, but I and a large number of people feel it very well could be Celine Dion.
To say there is no doubt whatsoever, that it is Shatner, is false. There is a doubt.
I like your post, which is why I am quoting it in its entirety. If I have misread you in the past I am sorry for it, and I will not stoop to going back to check your past posts. But I am looking forward to enlightened debates in the future.
Beav, note the title of this thread, "Most FAMOUS Quebecer..." You keep coming back to your clearly incorrect estimate of Shatner's wealth. For some bizarre reason, you seem to want to equate wealth and fame. Please explain.
How do you know that my estimate is incorrect? By the ways my posts responded to someone else who had posted the net worths of Shatner and Dion and those supposedly accurate estimates said Shatner was worth $300 million (NOT including whatever the value of his Priceline shares are), and Dion was worth $400 million. Shatner's PL shares were not sold and they are worth considerably more than $100 million and are likely worth more than $600 million post Kayak takeover. I merely tried to point that out to the person who posted this purported analysis of the respective wealth of these two, which was not me. I had said that I believed Shatner could buy out Dion of everything she has if he cashed in his PL shares, and I still do believe that.
I do not equate wealth with fame, but Shatner's wealth is some indication of the fact that he has made a lot of money over the years through movies and TV shows and merchandising which was not only profitable but also POPULAR, and worldwide popularity = fame. In this case, popularity of his entertainment product also resulted in extreme wealth.
Do you understand that Shatner was the star of 3 highly succesful TV series in 3 different decades, made 7 very profitable Star Trek feature films, won 2 Emmys and 1 Golden Globe, and then from ages 66-82 was also Priceline pitchman resulting in the explosion of that company from upstart startup to #1 online travel service in THE WORLD. Does anything more really need to be said? The man has had a successful career spanning 6 DECADES. Please show some respect. The man should very frankly have St. Catherine Street renamed after him when he dies.
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I dare say, Beav, that Jack the Ripper is considerably more famous than Shatner and was worth considerably less.
Do not push your luck. Montréal already has a street named after you. We will let you relinquish it to Bill if you wish.
The famous Jack from QC would be Jack Layton or as the girls from TO would refer to him as" Rub @ Tug Jack".
Jack the Ripper is from England and probably never visited QC since he was kept bussy with his full time hobby in London.
True enough, at least with regard to Quebec. We can say, however, with little doubt who the most famous Ontarians are: Bob and Doug McKenzie.
A poll conducted anywhere in the USA will likely yield similar results.
I want to go back to your initial post which I think is the most astute post in this thread:
The answer to the question is very dependant on demographics. Ask it to men and you'll get a different answer than you will from women. The same thing would apply to age groups or where the respondents happen to live. If you were to ask who the most famous Canadian is to a group of under 25 year olds right now, they'd probably say Justin Bieber. Ask country music fans and they'll say Shania Twain. Ask it to hockey fans and they'd say Gretzky. Alyssa, it's pretty obvious to me that asking your question to primarily French speaking people will give a huge advantage to Celine Dion over any other person. I'd say that Shatner is a much more well known Quebec born personality world wide than Celine Dion but many people wouldn't say that because they think Shatner is American.
The original series of Star Trek is still seen in syndication world wide, more than 40 years after it went off the air. It's also been re-mastered in high definition for Blu-ray release and is one of the top selling television collections ever released on that format. Shatner returned to television in a number of series, the most recent of which was Boston Legal in the role of Denny Crane for which he won a Golden Globe and Emmy in 2005 and was nominated again in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. He also won an Emmy in 2004 for the same role on The Practice. He's one of very few actors to win an Emmy for playing the same character on two different series.
Shatner also wrote a series of sci-fi novels called TekWar that were adapted for a television series and has co-written a number of books set in the Star Trek universe.
To summarize Celine Dion's career....she sings songs.
Most famous Quebecer, world wide, William Shatner without any doubt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1CwZgb_iAI
All I can say is very well said. Shijak also had some eloquent posts in favor of Shatner but the above post of Techman, which I think is his best post ever on MERB, succinctly states the case as it should be stated.
I don't understand how any fair minded person in Quebec watching Shatner's "I am a Canadian" video would not laugh and cry at the same time.
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What a joke: 155 (!!!) posts before this one - most of which are spent arguing the relative "quality" of Dion vs. Shatner.
Consider: 1. Money does not equal fame so who gives a fuck whether Celine or Willie has more $$$ ?
2. The question in the thread could only LEGIMITATELY be answered by polling every single person in the world...and certainly NOT by tiresome juvenile bickering about wealth, language, etc., etc.
3. EB's fascination with Shatner and his adoration of Shatner are inexplicable. Yeah the guy's had some success as an actor, but so what? There are many actors who have had far more success. BTW Norma Shearer was a Quebec- born actress who won a Best Actress Oscar about 70 years ago...and my guess is that not many people posting in this thread would know much about her...or maybe even know her name. I hope that EB's suggestion of re-naming Sainte Catherine after the Shat is his attempt at a joke because otherwise it shows a very strange perspective on the important things in life. Shatner is a freakin' actor and in the opinion of many not even a very good one.
4. Fame does not equate to importance or goodness. As Rumples pointed out, Jack the Ripper is more famous than either Celine or Billy Boy. For that matter, so are Hitler, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, Mussolini and Billy the Kid. (Yes, yes I know - they aren't from Quebec.)
5. "Most famous person from Quebec"? Interesting conversation starter (as we have seen) but again, who gives a fuck? For what it's worth (which is approximately one penny less than a cent) my list - in no particular order - would include Celine, Bill, Mordecai, Trudeau and Rocket Richard.
6. Take a chill pill people.
Consider: 1. Money does not equal fame so who gives a fuck whether Celine or Willie has more $$$ ?
2. The question in the thread could only LEGIMITATELY be answered by polling every single person in the world...and certainly NOT by tiresome juvenile bickering about wealth, language, etc., etc.
3. EB's fascination with Shatner and his adoration of Shatner are inexplicable. Yeah the guy's had some success as an actor, but so what? There are many actors who have had far more success. BTW Norma Shearer was a Quebec- born actress who won a Best Actress Oscar about 70 years ago...and my guess is that not many people posting in this thread would know much about her...or maybe even know her name. I hope that EB's suggestion of re-naming Sainte Catherine after the Shat is his attempt at a joke because otherwise it shows a very strange perspective on the important things in life. Shatner is a freakin' actor and in the opinion of many not even a very good one.
4. Fame does not equate to importance or goodness. As Rumples pointed out, Jack the Ripper is more famous than either Celine or Billy Boy. For that matter, so are Hitler, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, Mussolini and Billy the Kid. (Yes, yes I know - they aren't from Quebec.)
5. "Most famous person from Quebec"? Interesting conversation starter (as we have seen) but again, who gives a fuck? For what it's worth (which is approximately one penny less than a cent) my list - in no particular order - would include Celine, Bill, Mordecai, Trudeau and Rocket Richard.
6. Take a chill pill people.
This is an odd post coming from a guy who has been suspended by MERB moderators multiple times for arguing in the hockey threads about hockey players many people have never heard of, and who are far less famous than William Shatner.
By the ways it was 156 posts, not 155, but who's counting.
1. It was 155 when I started writing it. By the time it was posted, it was 156, but I guess the mechanics of posting never entered your universe.
2. What do hockey threads - or the relative fame or lack of the players mentioned in them - have to do with this? As for your calling it an odd post, a) it is not - it is actually right on target and very applicable to the subject matter, and b) your attempt at explaining why it is odd is characteristically off-topic, illogical, insulting, incorrect, and pointless.
3. Sorry if I've offended your idol.
4. BTW, please explain the reasons for YOUR suspensions (since you seem to feel that MERB suspensions have relevance to this thread).
5. Maybe Shakespeare was right.
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