[UA] Harrison Ford rescues missing Wyoming hiker

[Matthew Rowan Norwood]

> UA story: The PCs investigate a mysterious rash of disappearances and
> illnesses in Idaho.  There's no malevolent wendigo or violated indian
> burial ground: Just a bunch of celebrity-struck dumbfucks hoping to get
> rescued by Han Solo.
> 
> -G.

That's good. My first thought was: how long before publicists start
staging these kinds of events to enhance their clients' images as tough
guys, nice guys, crazy guys, etc?

Celebrities are often cited in UA as potential avatars because of their
high profile and their frequent mythologization by the public. I like
the Iconomantic conceit of celebrities as "gods", but I prefer to keep
it tied to archetypes instead of magic. 

So what happens when an actor starts to _become_ his character out of
some vague understanding of the IC? As embarrassing as it is to admit, I
kind of liked the "Johnny Cage" character from the Mortal Combat
(Kombat?) movie(s?) -- an actor who is, in fact, the ass-kicking,
monster-fighting playboy from his movies. Maybe that's what Ford is
trying to accomplish here.

Of course, it gets a lot more interesting when the avatar's delusions of
grandeur exceed his actual powers... you get a Quixotic situation where
a man, deluded about his own abilities, still manages to accomplish
quite a bit on confidence alone.

-Matt Norwood

PS - I'm just finishing "The Satanic Verses", the best book I've read in
a long time and guite UA-able too. It explores a lot of these themes,
particularly the idea of an actor becoming his characters: in this case,
an actor who portrays gods and angels on-screen begins to transform into
an archangel. "But," as they say on Reading Rainbow, "don't take my word
for it: read the book!"

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