I'm working on it!

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Posted by Rundquist from adsl-63-201-187-189.dsl.lsan03.pacbell.net on August 16, 2001 at 12:52:20:

In Reply to: Well said! posted by Michaelson on August 16, 2001 at 10:44:40:

I got out of work late yesterday (after the bookstore was closed), But rest assured I'll swing by today. I'll let you know if I get my hands on it tomorrow. Actually, they'll be open in an hour. I'll call them and see what they say. Cheers

xxxxxx


: Once again, thank you for even taking the time! You've added even more information for us information starved Indyfans to dwell on. I'm at least VERY pleased to read that George Lucas is indeed aware of us and is still a fan of his own invention, Indiana Jones. Many times a creator begins to loath his own creation (can anyone spell "Frankinstein"? (grins)) I'm certainly glad to see that he does not fall into this catagory. Your work is much appreciated, and as soon as I get my hands on a copy, I may be contacting you offline myself. High regards. Michaelson

:
: : Good evening, forum. My thanks to those of you who wrote me directly regarding the forum in general and the Star Wars Insider article in particular. For those of you who have asked about having the article autographed, not only would I be flattered, I'd be very pleased to sign it for you (bearing in mind that, frankly, I'm no one of importance!). Please contact me at michaelr@wizards.com, and we'll arrange it.

: : As for reposting the original message that I'd like to reply to... well, my bookmark

: : www.indyfan.com/forum/messages/75504.html

: : which worked at the time of my original posting, now leads to an error page. Therefore, I'm afraid I cannot repost Austin Powers's comments, though I think you can discern from my reply below the gist of his comments, many of which are quoted or referenced. I hope I've maintained a sense of fairness in replying to the post. Please feel free to correct me if I've overstepped my bounds.

: :
: : My name is Michael Ryan; I was the author of the Raiders 20th anniversary article that appeared a few months ago in Star Wars Insider. Someone recently brought to my attention a series of critical posts from an Austin Powers regarding the article I wrote. The person who directed me here was particularly upset that the comments were not only critical but, in a couple of cases, simply wrong. After reviewing the entire chain of emails (and wading through an extremely surprising series of immature "I know you are but what am I?" kind of emails), I thought I should try to explain to the forum how the article was conceived and put together, in the event that other Indy fans feel that they've been someone insulted by the piece, by the magazine, or by Lucasfilm's support of the intellectual property.

: : First of all, Powers begins with the snappy "why don't we [meaning Michael G. Ryan] conduct our own damned interviews." Spoken like a man who has no concept of what it takes to arrange an interview with a busy and powerful individual like any of the three principals (Ford, Lucas, or Spielberg) involved in Raiders. At the time of the article, Mr. Ford was not giving interviews due to a recent debacle with a different interviewer who asked inappropriate questions about Mr. Ford's personal life; Mr. Lucas was in Australia, engaged in work on Episode II; and Mr. Spielberg was finishing post-production work on AI: Artificial Intelligence. While all three remain enthusiastic about the Indiana Jones property, we are talking about a property that's 20 years old (and thus the anniversary article!), and therefore not at the top of their collective priority list. Each has new work that they're far more passionate about than something they finished 20 years ago, regardless of our fan base. After all, imagine something you did 20 years ago, and no matter how proud of it you were, you'd still rather be praised for something you're doing *now.*

: : Without first-hand, brand-new interviews, we end up in the realm of research. Lucasfilm opened up their libraries to me; I used the Web (including sites like Indygear); I sought quotes from the interviews following the 1999 video releases as well as quotes from the "making of" videos, previous Insider articles, Derek Taylor's book, the Lucasfilm archives tabletop books, the official movie magazines released at the time of the films' releases, magazine and newspaper reviews of all three films, and dozens of other sources. I also talked to some of the clothing makers, spoke to the Kauaii film commissioner, chatted with the Magnum P.I. fan club president, used my own IJ pinball machine's manual for data, and obtained facts and figures from the American Film Institute. I also drew from my own collection of materials for the background to all the Indiana Jones books, comics, and roleplaying games. I'm sorry that Powers feels that, in identifying the source of a Lucas quote as being from after the re-released videos, is outraged; a strange reaction, given that the entire article had to pass approvals from Lucasfilm before it could be published. (In fact, they made me edit one Harrison Ford quote, remove a bit of information about a transitional scene in Raiders, remove all specific references to unlicensed merchandise, and clip a sidebar called "Indy on the Web," which was meant to guide readers to the best fan-based sites on the Web.) Lucasfilm was sufficiently pleased with the article that copies of the issue were given out to visiting licensors to the Skywalker Ranch for weeks following the magazine's release.

: : Next, as to Harrison Ford's height, which seemed to be a point of argument as to whether or not his was 6' 1" (or taller).... My source for Ford's height was a quote from Patricia McQueeney, Harrison Ford's agent/manager/friend. While the quote was not made directly to me, I thought the source was reliable and therefore worth trusting. Last month, I had the good fortune to meet Mr. Ford in person at a charity auction (July 21, the Museum of Flight auction in Seattle); he posed for a photo with me, and I *know* how tall *I* am at 5' 11"... and he's taller than me. It shows in the photo, and I could easily tell it in speaking to him in person.

: : Next, I feel the need to defend Indy fans to Powers (who suggested that the fan base was particularly weak and overshadowed by Star Wars) by noting that the last of these films was made years ago, yet Lucasfilm still feels it proper to give 20 pages, in a magazine devoted to an ONGOING franchise, to Raiders. Lucas loves Indy; he knows the fans love Indy. I find it disconcerting that Powers or anyone else would choose the fan forum of a franchise to tell the fans that the film they enjoy doesn't have much of a fan base. Odd... and insulting. It hardly fits my concept of community, nor do the repeated schoolyard barbs like "I don't know who you are, I've never seen you in here before, so your opinion is worthless. Why don't you go to English class?" etc., etc.

: : I believe there was a follow-up comment to Powers's criticism of the article which I'd like to reiterate: If you think you can do better, by all means, knock yourself out. I don't recall seeing the name "Austin Powers" associated with any book, comic, newsletter, website, or documentary about Raiders. In fact, I believe I've only seen the name "Austin Powers" associated with a film franchise owned by Mike Meyers, speaking of plagiarism (which you misspelled, by the way; you should be more cautious about attacking folks for their use and comprehension of English when you have spelling issues of your own).

: : Those who can, do; those who can't complain about those who do.

: : Lastly, as for "check out the ribbon on his hat; can anyone say 'photoshop'?" in reference to my "cheesy" hat in my author bio at the end of the article. No, it's not Photoshopped, Austin; that's my hat. I've had it since 1982. It's called a Country Gentleman, 100 percent wool, and the ribbon is the original that came with it. I bought it from a mom-and-pop hat shop in Urbana, Illinois, while I was a student at the U of I. I've worn in pretty much every day (including at my wedding reception)for 18 years. It's hanging near my desk in my office as I write this.

: : That was a cheap shot, Austin, especially given your ridicule of fellow posters for criticizing you personally. I won't hold my breath waiting for an apology or at least a concession that you might've overstepped your bounds; I'm sure your thought at the time was that you were spouting off about someone who would never know that you had insulted him.

: : But now I know. And you have my undivided attention.

: : Michael G. Ryan




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