superado
Super Freak
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2005
- Messages
- 734
- Reaction score
- 27
Some iconic characters transcended the actors that made them, with mixed opinions on their success (James Bond, Han Solo, Star Trek and Magnum P.I.) For example, I think that Capt. Kirk was bigger than William Shatner, allowing the new guy to pay homage to Kirk while still making the role his own. On the other hand, I am trying to love the new Han Solo and that love is wavers from time to time, but what makes it possible to accept the new actor is that Han Solo as a character is not as complex as Indiana Jones, IMHO.
To me there's a theoretical range for fictional characters with a varying correlation with whoever portrays them and there's a red line beyond which the character and its establishing actor become inseparable. For Harrison Ford, Han Solo falls short of that red line, while Indy goes over it. James Bond is a paradox, because Sean Connery created and owned it, yet the producers managed to reinvent the character over and over again so that the film series is not just the most successful in history, but that it’s still going strong to this day.
Therefore, either continue Indy with Ford, no matter how old he'll be, or just stop it altogether. The first three and for some, also the fourth, have given us spectacularly brilliant adventures that will live on forever and if 2008 becomes the end, I'll still be happy.
To me there's a theoretical range for fictional characters with a varying correlation with whoever portrays them and there's a red line beyond which the character and its establishing actor become inseparable. For Harrison Ford, Han Solo falls short of that red line, while Indy goes over it. James Bond is a paradox, because Sean Connery created and owned it, yet the producers managed to reinvent the character over and over again so that the film series is not just the most successful in history, but that it’s still going strong to this day.
Therefore, either continue Indy with Ford, no matter how old he'll be, or just stop it altogether. The first three and for some, also the fourth, have given us spectacularly brilliant adventures that will live on forever and if 2008 becomes the end, I'll still be happy.