[UA] Re: Harrison Ford etc.

[Timothy Toner]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Stolze" <holycrow at mindspring.com>
To: <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 7:54 AM
Subject: Re: [UA] Re: Harrison Ford etc.


> >I like the idea of people getting purposely
lost to be rescued by Han
> >Solo... I think I'll put that into one of my
games.
> >
> >Just this morning I had an idea the UAbility of
which I haven't yet
> >figured out, but here goes:
> >
> >Stephen King had this bad accident last year or
so - he was run down by a
> >car. >Subsequently he used the time of his
reconvalescence and the
> >experience itself >to write the book 'On
Writing'. Now let's say this book
> >is a bestseller as is >any other by King, and
let's further say that the
> >person who ran him over >decides to sue for a
share of the income,
> >reasoning that without him or her the >book
wouldn't have been written in
> >the first place. The person wins of course >and
gets millions of dollars.
> >(Hey, the way the US-American judicial system
is >portrayed here in
> >Germany I wouldn't be surprised if that had
already >happened!) In the
> >wake of that people begin actively hunting down
celebrities, >trying to
> >hurt them badly without killing them and then
cash in on everything >the
> >celebrities do after they're whole again the
moment they confess in
> >>interviews 'The role of X in movie Y helped me
to get over the shock of
> >Z'.
>
> Impossible.  (1) No way could this dimbulb yokel
afford better lawyers than
> King.  By the time king's lawyers were done with
him, the hitter would be
> saying "Gee, I guess you're right.  I guess I
did kidnap the Lindbergh
> baby."  (2) Juries love celebrities.  If Alicia
Silverstone broke a bottle
> of gin on a nun's head and put the nun in a
coma, she'd still get off
> cause, hey, she was so good in "Clueless."

(3) In an even creepier note, the dude who hit him
recently died.  That being said, it's not
inconceivable.  John Walsh, host of America's Most
Wanted, went on Dennis Miller Live and talked up
the Victim's Bill of Rights as a possible
amendment to the US constitution.  Part of it
makes it impossible to profit from a crime in any
way.  This was done as a result of John Wayne
Gacy's 'clown paintings,' which he produced while
waiting on Death Row.  While the paintings had
nothing to do with his crimes, per se, his
notariety made them incredible collector's items.
This is a double edged sword, because many people
landed in trouble as a way of getting some quick
cash to get out of a situation.  Plopping them
back on the street, penniless, only encourages
recitivism.  Paying them a pittance for their work
can be useful, but we've seen bizarre situations
where convicts in minimum security facilities have
been hired as telemarketers, handling your credit
card and personal information, all the while being
paid less than a worker on the outside would (thus
smacking of slavery).

And hey, maybe this is how Ford BECAME such an
icon.  He did these incredibly heroic things, all
anonymously up until this point, and casting
people just saw this 'quality' about him.  He's
just charging up for a new Indy movie.


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