"San Francisco--I was born there..." --Sulu (with his 'sexually seductive voice' as mentioned in "Futurama")
I saw it as as much of an in-joke as the "Oh, my!" tag. Takei, like Shatner - and, in fact, before Shatner - has learned to laugh at himself. It's all good.
He's obviously looking at a fish. Obvious to me, at least. Guess I can't speak for the penis-obsessed among us.
Jesus, George. I expected better. You wonder why ordinary people look at us like freaks--this is the image you give them.
Bill Shatner never learned to laugh at himself. That's why everyone hates working with him. Kinda like James Cameron. Kate Winslet said (in a nicer way mind you) she'd never work with an asshole like that again unless they offered a shitload of money. Apparently he was hell to work with on Titanic.
So what is it that bugs you? It's not like everyone in California doesn't wear loud shirts. The Vulcan salute has always been part of his shtick, decades before he came out, and I see he's got Brad doing it, too. It's the balloons, isn't it? Tsk, you really are a killjoy.
All right, then, let me rephrase that: He's learned to laugh at himself when the fee is high enough, q.v. the Priceline commercials, his various appearances as himself, etc. Off camera he's undoubtedly the same insufferable s.o.b. he's always been. Oh, the stories that could be told...
No. It's the flamboyant display of one's sexuality with (yes) the phallic balloons with staff and the rainbow, beads, bla bla bla. And the sad thing is, that's a tame picture compared to many "pride" parades. There are certain things better left in the privacy of one's abode. Can you imagine if they did a straight pride parade with young and old people acting like hippies up on floats grinding into each other in public. The indecency and lack of proper discretion sort of of makes you sick, doesn't it? This is no different.
Well, I will say that show he does now where he sits down with celebrities that comes on at like 11PM EST is enjoyable. Privately insufferable or not, I really enjoyed listening to Drew Carey talk about his battle with Depression, Fran Drescher talk about Ovarian Cancer, rape, and her career, etc. Having never met him, all I know is hearsay, but there's enough of it to tell me that the guy can definitely be an asshole, but he also does some good things, albeit when the price is right.
See, this is the thing: There's a realm of difference between some of the behaviors at some pride parades and an old married couple sitting together in a convertible waving to the crowd. That you can't see the difference says more about you than it does about them, IMO.
You're right. It says they don't have a problem showing off phallic gay symbols in public, and I'm more reserved. Jesus woman, look at that staff and the scrotal carving at the top and long shaft at the bottom. It's still a public sexual pride display. Now if two people want to walk down the street holding hands, that's fine. That's romance not sex. But imagine if a bunch of straights drove down Hollywood Blvd holding some figurine of something that looked like a vagina that blew bubbles or something out one end as the car went on symbolizing intercourse. People would be like "that's disgusting." This is no different. Jesus people. Grow up. There are things to be done privately...with dignity. And the same goes for over the top PDA. If you want to grope, fondle, grind, and tongue face each other, GET A ROOM.
Meanwhile, given how often that commercial's being run, George is laughing all the way to the bank...
In the commercial, George isn't being blatantly anything. A little strange to the average person, maybe. But he's Sulu to most Star Trek fans and that's what he was hired for. Now, if he was in his gay pride regalia, balloons and all, doing the commercial, he'd never have been hired or the mainstream consumer wouldn't want to be associated with his product. Same thing with Beck's point about blatant sexuality on the street. Most people don't want to see it. They're uncomfortable with it from either sex.
And yet, there's the title of this thread, which seems to imply that no matter what he does, the only thing some people are interested in is his sexual orientation. I'm not quite sure what "gay pride regalia" is. I do know if Lindsay Lohan did a commercial or even walked down the street in anything other than a burkha, Beck might be grossed out, but no one else here would be objecting to her just being who she is.
Separate from the point I was making... I can't speak for what you think Beck's standards might be but what he said here seems fairly reasonable. I have seen some gay pride parades and they get pretty blatant. It's that type of "in-your-face" stuff that bothers me the most - from anyone. It instantly ends the dialog, no matter who does it. Anti-war protesters, anti-abortion, doesn't matter. If you can't present your point in a reasonable, thoughtful fashion, you've already lost your argument.