"Beam me up, Scotty" é a frase da série televisiva Star Trek que William Shatner, o Capitão James T. Kirk da nave Enterprise, nunca disse a Montgomery Scott, o tenente-coronel com sotaque escocês. Aliás, Scotty nunca irá ouvi-la, pois o actor James Doohan que durante anos encarnou a personagem (e continuará a fazê-lo, como previu o seu dentista: Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow.) morreu o ano passado de pneumonia e Alzheimer.
Isso não quer dizer que William Shatner esgote aqui o seu talento para pronunciar frases marcantes com uma compostura que não trai a sua insegurança artística, insegurança essa tantas vezes criticada a par com a sua arrogância e egocentrismo. Como afirmou o falecido Doohan, I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself. E, de facto, se passarmos os olhos por algumas das sentenças que Shatner foi proferindo em diversas entrevistas, talkshows e afins, sentimo-nos traídos ao descobrir que o imortal Capitão que idolatrámos em tempos se tornou vulnerável à chacota e ao ridículo. Vejamos algumas destas pérolas:
For commercial reasons, we stayed away from advancing the theory of God.
I enjoyed reading all the classic authors like Isaac Asimov and Bradbury.
I think of doing a series as very hard work. But then I've talked to coal miners, and that's really hard work.
Há, no entanto, alguma dignidade no ridículo, e a noção de que quem é palhaço o é por opção. É o próprio Shatner que o diz:
If you make a fool of yourself, you can do it with dignity, without taking your pants down. And if you do take your pants down, you can still do it with dignity.
O tipo de comentários que hoje ouço sobre Shatner é sempre em tom paternalista e de piedade com uma pancadinha amiga nas costas, do tipo pois é, já teve o seu tempo e admiro-o por isso, mas agora o melhor é fechar a boca. Pois bem, Shatner não fechou a boca (e a meu ver, fez muito bem) e em Outubro de 2004 lançou o CD Has Been. Em 1968, Shatner tivera já uma primeira experiência para demonstrar o talento vocal, intitulada The Transformed Man, em que os críticos ficaram sem saber se Shatner estaria descontraidamente a divertir-se (será isto o tal baixar as calças com dignidade?) ou se estaria a cair na situação embaraçosa de ostentar uma pose intelectualmente séria (até Hamlet faz uma aparição no álbum) num contexto que é afinal cómico. Shatner justifica o facto de o disco não atingir um estatuto mais mainstream na época explicando: The Transformed Man - good, bad or indifferent - didn't work because the cuts were too long. Apesar de tudo isso - ou talvez por causa disso - tornou-se num álbum de culto para a legião de fãs.
36 anos depois, Has Been não confirma nem desmente o muito que já se falou sobre o talento vocal ou a excelência artística de Shatner. Não há dúvida que deixa no fim o mesmo sentimento de estranheza que o seu antecessor The Transformed Man, mas o facto é que o resultado final, ao contrário deste, é sólido e coeso. Claro que não é alheio a isto o facto de Shatner se ter rodeado de talentos realmente comprovados. Ben Folds, Brad Paisley, Aimee Mann, Joe Jackson, Henry Rollins (!), entre outros, compõem uma ficha técnica de antologia. O álbum abre com a cover de Common People, dos Pulp (o único tema do álbum que assume abertamente uma raíz mais pop) e Shatner, com o apoio vocal de Joe Jackson oferece-nos uma leitura vigorosa do tema que não deve ter desagradado a Jarvis Cocker, apesar do coro infantil. O registo vocal - neste e nos outros temas - é sempre mais spoken word que composição melódica, e quem já ouviu Shatner cantar sabe que essa é a opção mais sábia. A nível musical, não há qualquer pretensão ou aspiração a um estatuto mais enigmático ou bizarro (como acontecia com The Transformed Man, mas não podemos esquecer que em 1968 o psicadelismo estava em plena força) e as abordagens são claramente influenciadas pela música tradicional americana, blues, jazz e rock.
Quer queiramos, quer não, William Shatner conquistou à sua maneira um lugar na cultura popular da segunda metade do século XX, e já no século XXI mostra-nos, com a ironia patente no título do CD, que ainda mexe e que não assume o estatuto de ultrapassado e decadente. Não seria possível baixar as calças com mais dignidade.
"Beam me up, Scotty" is the line from the TV series Star Trek that William Shatner, Captain James T. Kirk of Starship Enterprise, has never said to Montgomery Scott, the lieutenant commander with Scottish accent. Actually, Scotty will never hear that, since the actor James Doohan, who incarnated the character for years (and will keep doing it, as his dentist had predicted: Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow.) died last year of pneumonia and Alzheimer.
That doesn’t mean that William Shatner has run out of talent to pronounce striking remarks with a composure that never betrays his artistic insecurity, which has been so many times criticised along with his arrogance and selfishness. As the late Doohan said, I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself. In fact, if we browse through some of the sentences that Shatner has said in several interviews, talk shows and the like, we feel betrayed by discovering that the immortal Captain whom we once idolised has become vulnerable to laughing stock and ridicule. Let’s see some of these treasures:
For commercial reasons, we stayed away from advancing the theory of God.
I enjoyed reading all the classic authors like Isaac Asimov and Bradbury.
I think of doing a series as very hard work. But then I've talked to coal miners, and that's really hard work.
There is, nevertheless, some dignity in ridicule, and the notion that he who’s a clown, chooses to be one. It’s Shatner himself who says so:
If you make a fool of yourself, you can do it with dignity, without taking your pants down. And if you do take your pants down, you can still do it with dignity.
The kind of remarks I hear today about Shatner are always patronising and pitiful, the kind of pat in the back, like, yeah, he’s over the hill now and I admire him for what he did once, but now he’d better shut his mouth. Well, Shatner hasn’t shut his mouth (fortunately, from my point of view) and in October 2004 released the Has Been CD. In 1968, Shatner had already had a first experience to show his vocal talent, entitled The Transformed Man, on which the critics couldn’t decide whether Shatner was just relaxing and enjoying himself (could this be the so-called taking down the pants with dignity?) or falling into the embarrassing situation of grasping an intellectually serious posture (even Hamlet makes an appearance in the album) in a context that was, after all, tongue-in-cheek. Shatner justifies the fact that the record didn’t reach a mainstream status at the time explaining: The Transformed Man - good, bad or indifferent - didn't work because the cuts were too long. In spite of all that – or maybe because of that – it has become a cult album for the legion of fans.
36 years later, Has Been neither confirms nor denies all that has been talked about Shatner’s vocal talent or artistic excellence. It undoubtedly leaves in the end the same feeling of strangeness as its predecessor The Transformed Man, but the fact is that, unlike that one, the final result is solid and coherent. Of course, the fact that Shatner surrounded himself with truly proven talents helps significantly. Ben Folds, Brad Paisley, Aimee Mann, Joe Jackson, Henry Rollins (!), among others, make up an anthological credit list. The album opens with the cover of Pulp’s Common People, (the only song that assumes more openly a pop foundation) and Shatner, with the vocal support of Joe Jackson, offers a vigorous reading of the song that might have gratified Jarvis Cocker, in spite of the children’s chorus. The vocal range – in this song and in all the others – is always more spoken word than melodic composition, and if you’ve heard Shatner sing you know that’s the wisest option. Musically speaking, there is no pretence or aspiration to a more unfathomable or bizarre status (as it happened with The Transformed Man, but we mustn’t forget that in 1968 psychedelia was at its peak) and the approaches are clearly influenced by American traditional music, blues, jazz and rock.
Whether we want it or not, William Shatner has conquered his own way a place in popular culture in the second half of the 20th century, and in the 21st century he shows us, with the irony offered by the CD title, that he’s still shaking and doesn’t assume the status of a decadent has been. It wouldn’t be possible to take down the pants with more dignity.
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