Patrick Stewart to receive knighthood
From the World Entertainment News Network via the Houston Chronicle:
The 69-year-old star will be honored by the British monarch for his 50-year acting career, which spans the stage and screen and includes roles in sci-fi TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation and comic book blockbuster franchise X-Men.
More here.
Anybody who's followed his career even slightly understands that this has been due for some years. Indeed, Patrick Stewart, in my humble opinion as a Master of Fine Arts in acting, is at least as talented as his Royal Shakespeare Company predecessors Lord Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud. 'Bout fucking time. Sir Patrick Stewart. That sounds right.
On the other hand, the neanderthal comments left by Houston Chronicle readers make me shiver. Go check 'em out; if you think Stewart is a great actor, they'll make your blood boil.
Here's the comment I left:
kjblur wrote:A few others commented with me along the same lines, but how the fuck can people be so fucking ignorant?
"Knighthood for just being an actor?.....might as well give him a Nobel Prize too."
The Brits, unlike most Americans, understand that the theater is a four thousand year old art form dating back to classical Greek civilization. That is, unlike in the US, the English greatly value their culture, and reward and respect individuals who do great things to enhance and expand that culture. Have any of you naysayers actually ever seen any Shakespeare on stage performed by great actors? Right, of course not. You really have no place commenting on something about which you obviously have no understanding.
If you want to see some really great Shakespeare stuff, Stewart along with guys like Ian McKellen and Ben Kingsley, then track down the BBC series Playing Shakespeare, fun stuff, especially Stewart and David Suchet's dueling Shylocks. Fabulous shit!
Playing Oberon in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Or Puck.
I'm not sure which. Probably Oberon.
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