Re: A statement.

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Posted by Abner from user-2ive8aa.dialup.mindspring.com on April 24, 1999 at 22:07:25:

In Reply to: A statement. posted by ~The Raider~ on April 24, 1999 at 21:41:29:

: I've been working lately, and haven't had the chance to post for a while, so hey again.

: I've noticed that we seem to be getting some flack from outsiders who don't think we should be allowed in society because we care the colour of the strap for the Mk VII gas bag Indy wore in Raiders. This has got me thinking...(prepare yourself)

: As those of you who have read my precious posts may have noticed, I was in Germany and Switzerland for the Easter week. I did something on that trip no one in this decade would have done: I wore the fedora.

: To my surprise, I was never really bugged about it. Sure, people would refer to me as Indy, Arkraider, or Mr. Jones, but it was all in fun. (and some of those German girls I met actually kind of liked it. coupled with a leather jacket, I was unstoppable!)

: Then I come back, and people are asking me "why the hell did you wear that stupid thing?" "why'd you dress like Indy?" "Indy wannabe!"

: This from people who will wear Nike, Adiddas, and Tommy just because some celebrity does.

: I ask you: what's the basic difference? The whole get-up I wore cost about as much as the designer clothes they wore....but that's not the issue here.

: These people are followers. Sheep, minds that can be manipulated. Somebody tries to stand out, and they berate him for it. I wore the hat for a multitude of reasons, one of them being, no one else would. I'm a non-conformist, and for years that had made me a geek with no life. But this Germany trip, something happened. I went with the jokes, laughed at myself, shrugged, and went on. The people laughed, stopped, then followed. Is this all it takes to be a leader? Individuality? What is wrong with our social envirnoment? This may sound like rambling, but I'm here to make this statement:

: Be yourself. I'f you're an Indyfan, be proud of it. But don't, please, carbon-copy yourself after Indy. Add something of you to it. I gave it the black jeans and a hat band pin of the Canadian flag. Do something that says YOU. That's what Indy did.

: ~The Raider

I think its great you wore your Fedora on your trip. I wore mine all around NYC, and it looked really sharp with a suit. Only once or twice did someone say "Hey, It's Indiana Jones" or something like that. But so what? There were plenty of people around with much more "unique" styles of clothing on. It's interesting that only the hat gets comments, though. You could wear everything else- the jacket, pants, shirt, bag, shoes, whatever- and no one would think anything of it, but once you put on the hat with just jeans and a t-shirt it's "Indiana Jones" time again.

I remember reading that in the designing of the costume, George Lucas was determined the Indiana Jones character should have a leather jacket (my favorite item), but it turns out that the hat became the signature item, a hat that would not have been much of anything special in the 1930s. In the old days all the real men wore hats and suits, but after Elvis, JFK, and the Beatles all we have left is the baseball cap and t-shirt. In my opinion, the revival of the real hat is long overdue!

Cheers,
Abner


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