Sinfully Good
Of Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones
(Tue 07/03/2007 03:04am)
So lately, I've been really bothered lately. I saw a picture (posted here on Mania) of Harrison Ford in full Indiana Jones gear and I thought he looked pretty good. Then I saw the recent images of him on the bike with Shia LeBouf (or whatever). These images bothered me.
Its not that it gives me a bad feeling about the movie. It doesn't. I am still really looking forward to it. No, this was something else. A sadness infused with nostalgia.
The truth is, I am sad to see Harrison Ford getting old. I know we all age and no one is immune to that. I am also sure that I am not the first person to feel this way. There is a certain sadness, however, in knowing that Ford is never again going to be doing a 30's era Indiana Jones film simply because he is too old. He's not dead, thankfully, as he remains one of my favorite actors, but I feel a loss anyway.
What does any of this have to do with Indiana Jones you ask?
Simply put, I don't think we like to see our heroes getting old. These larger than life characters are such a part of who we are and, to a certain extent, how we see things that I think that deep down, we want them to stay forever young. We always want to remember Indiana Jones with that lopsided smile, that determination to win through, to always come out on top.
I have the feeling that, watching Indy 4, I will enjoy it, but I am also going to be looking at an older Indy and thinking, fearing, and, perhaps, for the first time come face to face with the fact that I too will one day be 65 and that my days of 30's era adventures are over.
There are other media that have brought this up before, like Never Say Never Again with its aging James Bond or The Dark Knight Returns. Hell, even the early episodes of Young Indy had an old man with an eye patch telling stories of his youth.
This is different, however. This is the first time that such a truly mundane yet feared aspect of life will be plain to see in front of me.
I had briefly toyed with the idea of boycotting the movie. Of simply putting it aside and and continue my life in the continued belief that somehow I, of all people, am immune to time and its effects.
I could never do that, though. You see, Indian Jones is a hero I look up to and i know he would never pass up an adventure because of fear.
(Tue 07/03/2007 03:04am)
So lately, I've been really bothered lately. I saw a picture (posted here on Mania) of Harrison Ford in full Indiana Jones gear and I thought he looked pretty good. Then I saw the recent images of him on the bike with Shia LeBouf (or whatever). These images bothered me.
Its not that it gives me a bad feeling about the movie. It doesn't. I am still really looking forward to it. No, this was something else. A sadness infused with nostalgia.
The truth is, I am sad to see Harrison Ford getting old. I know we all age and no one is immune to that. I am also sure that I am not the first person to feel this way. There is a certain sadness, however, in knowing that Ford is never again going to be doing a 30's era Indiana Jones film simply because he is too old. He's not dead, thankfully, as he remains one of my favorite actors, but I feel a loss anyway.
What does any of this have to do with Indiana Jones you ask?
Simply put, I don't think we like to see our heroes getting old. These larger than life characters are such a part of who we are and, to a certain extent, how we see things that I think that deep down, we want them to stay forever young. We always want to remember Indiana Jones with that lopsided smile, that determination to win through, to always come out on top.
I have the feeling that, watching Indy 4, I will enjoy it, but I am also going to be looking at an older Indy and thinking, fearing, and, perhaps, for the first time come face to face with the fact that I too will one day be 65 and that my days of 30's era adventures are over.
There are other media that have brought this up before, like Never Say Never Again with its aging James Bond or The Dark Knight Returns. Hell, even the early episodes of Young Indy had an old man with an eye patch telling stories of his youth.
This is different, however. This is the first time that such a truly mundane yet feared aspect of life will be plain to see in front of me.
I had briefly toyed with the idea of boycotting the movie. Of simply putting it aside and and continue my life in the continued belief that somehow I, of all people, am immune to time and its effects.
I could never do that, though. You see, Indian Jones is a hero I look up to and i know he would never pass up an adventure because of fear.
That said -
I'm still not interested in another Indy movie, same reasons I wasn't in another Die Hard or another Rocky or Rambo.
But if Indy is your hero, I hope the film is amazing for you. And timeless enough to take the sting of years passing down a couple notches.