A lot of celebrities are given honorary badges by police departments, mainly for publicity. Shaq had or has one in Florida, if I am not mistaken and Presley, as archangel said, collected them.Yes, I think that if an actor were to agree to star in a reality television show, we would be justified in assuming that they were seeking attention of some form. I do not think that is any particularly esoteric or underhand fact though? From the short write up in the link, I had thought that gaining a little attention for his particular police dept. was the whole premise? Perhaps I have misunderstood?
I am not certain how good that analogy is as I am not aware whether Elvis and/or Shaq were trained police?
And but irrespective, I do not get the "ha ha" or "oh no" of a genuine, trained police who is also an MA actor doing such a show? If he were untrained, I would understand - is that maybe what you are trying to say? I had assumed that having served the police department for those years that he would have been adequately trained in carrying out that role? I appreciate that Seagal has his detractors for myriad and well-documented reasons. Perhaps your arguments are as simple as that?
Not seeking an argument, just had wondered if I was not party to the joke because I was missing something pertinent re Seagal in this role
I have no clue if Shaq actually went through the academy training, though given that he is still a starter (or was at the time) on an NBA team, I would think that he probably could have.
Presley was trained by Ed Parker, Kang Rhee, and a number of other highly regarded trainers in various styles of karate and kenpo. He was reportedly quite good for a guy who's main job was singing and making movies and there are numerous documented instances of him defending himself in real life. Certainly, at any point much past seventy three, Presley was in no condition to do LEO work, mainly because he struggled with a prescription drug addiction and weight issues, both of which ruined his health and ultimately killed him.
As far as Seagal goes, I doubt that he could survive the academy, but I have no doubt that he could handle himself making an arrest. Unlike Presley and Shaq, the man is a career martial artist and certainly still has the moves, though he looks less impressive on screen that he used to.
I have no opinion of him professionally, but as a moviegoing martial arts practitioner, he always amazed me. Even in his recent movies, he still looks pretty good for a man of his age.
On the other hand, take a look at Dolph Lundgren. You would never know that he is fifty one. The man still moves impressively and is very, very in shape. Both he and Seagal make direct to video movies of varying quality, so it is not as if Seagal is in some profession that prevents him from doing doing the same.
Daniel
