Indy IV stuff and thoughts

[lazypadawan]

Harrison Ford, in an interview with McPaper a couple of days ago, had this to say about the character who ended his full-time career as a carpenter:

"He gives "no credit to the culture for embracing (Han) as a hero. He's dumb as a stump! He's certainly got a good heart, but I think he's certainly a much less interesting character than Indiana Jones.

"The breadth of his story utility was never extensive. He was the foil between the other more compelling elements of the film. There's not breadth of character to explore beyond what we got out of him."'

For us long-time SW fans, this is nothing new. Ford has expounded on the shallowness of Han Solo for at least 25 years if not longer. I just don't know why he thinks Indy is somehow more complex than Han, except for perhaps the fact that Indy is the main character while Han is not. I realize Han isn't packing a lot of PhDs and he's one of those guys who acts first and thinks about it later, but I don't think he's dumb as a stump either. Moreover, people like him for the following reasons:

1. He holds his own even with characters who have powers and abilities he doesn't have.

2. He has his own ship.

3. His best bud is Chewbacca, and everybody loves Chewbacca.

4. He's not entirely good, but not evil or a heartless son of a bantha like Boba Fett.

5. He is snarky.

Bonus like: Women think he is hot.

I know Josh Holloway (Sawyer on Lost) has said that his character is inspired in part by Han, but while watching ANH, ROTJ, and part of TESB last weekend, it's really obvious that it is the case. I sort of expected Han to call Leia "Freckles." Although she isn't as freckle-y as Kate.

In any case, TFN linked to a thing on that bastion of excellence in journalism, contactmusic.com about Lucas's hopes and dreams for Indy IV:

We're not gonna have adoring fans sending us e-mails saying how much they loved the movie. We're gonna have a bunch of angry people saying, 'You're a bunch of a**holes, you should never have done this. You've ruined my life forever.'"

Don't forget about raped childhoods! From my standpoint, of course there are people who are going to complain no matter what, but I don't foresee a backlash a la post-TPM. There isn't the same crazy buildup to the movie nor is there as many people who have pinned their whole lives on Indy. The worst it'll get is whining over Ford's age or the way Shia LeBeouf's hair is parted.

But it does show how much the overdone hatefest on the part of a vocal minority really got to Papa George. Geez, if it bothered me, I can't imagine how it felt to the guy who created the whole thing, even with the money it made.

Indy stuff has been hitting the stores too. The LEGOs came out a while ago, now I'm finding Dr. Pepper with Indy boxes. Good thing I'm not much of an Indy collector!

Comments

[sreya.livejournal.com]

Besides which, HF has more in common with Han than with Indy -- Han is clearly a self-taught man in terms of flying a ship and maintaining it, much as HF taught himself carpentry from books. So does Harrison consider himself "dumb as a stump" too?

It's funny, before coming in and reading the comments I thought to myself that Harrison sounds a lot like Han Solo when he makes comments like that - the cynicism is so much alike.

Eh, in my "old age" I'm starting to think Harrison's just grumpy because Mark Hamill had a bigger role than he did, and Harrison's turned into a standard Hollywood elitist. :~(

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

I think Ford is just a grumpy guy period.

[may-child.livejournal.com]

Heh...according to the "Behind the Magic" DVD, Han was literally created with NF in mind -- while fleshing out the character, Lucas thought about HF's cynical, wisecracking demeanor on the set of "American Graffiti."

And as lp said, HF is and pretty much always has been grumpy. At Celebration 2, when Anthony Daniels interviewed Carrie Fisher, Daniels mentioned what a grouch HF is. She agreed he's a grouch, "but we love him anyway."

Although that last is probably not true for Daniels, who refers to HF as "the movie star," NOT meaning it as a compliment. I don't suppose his encounter with HF at a restaurant a few years ago, where he'd gone over to say hello and HF mistook him for a waiter, did much to endear HF to him either.

[sreya.livejournal.com]

I'd almost have pity for Daniels over that one... but Daniels can be a first-class jerk, too. He was a guest at a convention I went to, and it was pretty disappointing. His entire presentation was very nasty and cruel to George Lucas and his co-stars. :~( Maybe he thought he was being funny. But he wasn't.

Anyway - yeah, Harrison's definitely a long-time grouch! I went to his alma mater, Ripon College, and he has a reputation among the alumni. Pretty much the ONLY contact he keeps up is with his fraternity, and even that is shaky.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Refer to my Celebration IV report about an acquaintance of mine who had to contend with a rude and grumpy Anthony Daniels while getting his autograph.

Given how Harrison is with SW, I'm not at all surprised he's not an enthusiastic alumni of his alma mater.