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Those of us who think of ourselves as educated in a Western sense often find that the things we consider the best things in life are not widely known about or liked. Especially when we're talking about the entertainment industry. I think I may have said it before, but for some people (media junkies) there's a certain virtue in obscurity.

Then there's Harrison Ford. Its an empirical fact that he's a great actor, and everybody likes him. If you don't admire his work, please write to me and give me a good reason, with footnotes and bibliography, hee hee.

I just watched the best episode of Inside the Actors Studio I've ever seen. And of course, they were interviewing Harrison Ford. So I jumped up after it was over and came in here to write about Harrison Ford while I could still remember what was so great about the interview. Let me say, his personality when he's not acting is everything wonderful I imagined it would be.

I'm gonna start with the short answer questions. He said the thing that turns him off (not in a Playboy turn on/turn off kinda way) is meanness. His favorite word is "perfect" and his least favorite word is "no."

About Star Wars, he said it was grueling. He said Indiana Jones was smarter than Han Solo. He made a theme throughout the interview that he had read a biography of himself before the interview so he could remember his past! He spoke twice about the idea of acting as simply telling a story, and that an actor is assisting in telling the story. An actor is not in charge, and Ford doesn't want to be in charge. This shows how humble he is, that he didn't say that he was humble. It simply isn't within his mental framework to imagine the actor is solely responsible for the success of a film. Later an audience member asked for advice on how to stay humble in the world of egos in acting, and he told her that he could tell she was humble simply by her having asked that question! What an insightful person he must be!

I know anyone who's read my diary before knows I'm not usually this sincere in my admiration of anything, so let me be a smart ass and ask, who is that James Lipton guy anyway? I mean what qualifies him to ask all those questions in such a prissy manner? And now back to my glowing review. Harrison Ford would be turned off by my meanness, after all.

The Mosquito Coast is one of Ford's favorite projects because of the book by Paul Theroux (I'll get right on reading that one; didn't know about it). It was not a commercial success. He has, he admitted, had an unprecedented number of successful films. But some of them he never expected to be successful. I remember not liking that movie because it wasn't the kind of character I expected him to play. This was when I was a kid, a couple of years after I yes, I really did at eight, believe I would someday make Harrison Ford fall in love with me when I grew up. That was only three years after I believed the job of Wonder Woman was a viable career choice, but I think I'm closer to that one now. As my friend Joe once said, all I need are the bracelets.

So anyway, I'm gonna go out and rent all his films in the next few weeks. My favorite is Frantic. Not only because you see him almost naked. I can't even tell you why right now. But I'm starting in a few minutes with Star Wars, which I actually had to go out and rent cause I don't own a copy. The clerks actually laughed at me. Then they asked if I'd like to rent Hoffa too. Then I laughed at them. I haven't seen Star Wars since it was re-released about five years ago in theaters, but for some reason (and I rented it before I watched the interview) I believe that I'm gonna get something more out of it this time. See, I never got into that thing with most geeks my age where Star Wars espoused my philosophy on life. And I know you all know a number of people who feel this way. I love those kind of people. The trekkies, the D and D players, those are the people I fall in love with. Some girls dated guitar players in high school or football players, I was a groupie for DM's. They're the smartest, most creative people, those sci fi enthusiasts. And they base their weltanschauung (gimme a break, that word was the only thing I learned on my first trip through college) on Star Wars. They feel about it the way the men of our parents' generation feel about the Godfather. Anyway, I'm gonna try it again and see if I feel something this time.

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