Harrison Ford is tremendous as Han Solo in the Star Wars movies. He also isn’t particularly invested in anything about them. So, while many of his co-stars jump in and speculate right alongside fans about where the franchise is going or why certain moments happened, Ford himself just carries on with his life, thinking about literally anything else. Occasionally, this makes for a funny interview in which a journalist asks him about a Star Wars deep cut and he either doesn’t engage or makes it obvious he doesn’t know and isn’t interested in knowing.
Earlier this year, perhaps the best example of that DGAF attitude toward Star Wars happened when a journalist from USA Today asked Ford if Han Solo was a Force Ghost and he responded with an all-time quote. Let’s just take a second to celebrate it below in a nice, shiny blockquote because it’s so good…
I have no fucking idea what a Force Ghost is, and I don’t care.
A lot of Star Wars fans got a good laugh out of that gem when it first dropped in February, but unfortunately, not every last human being on Earth heard it. Apparently some were busy with other life things and never came across it. Fortunately, the Twitter account Star Wars Facts tweeted it out yesterday, and it immediately went super viral. It’s already up to 180,000+ likes and 25,000+ retweets and shows no signs of slowing down. Not surprisingly, some of the responses from fans were excellent. There’s not nearly enough time in the day to shine a light on all of them, but I wanted to go over a few of my favorites, starting with this one from Hazel Wheaton…
I also like this a lot too. Mark Hamill, bless his soul, has really given everything to the Star Wars franchise. He’s of course had other projects outside it, but he’s been the biggest cheerleader, champion and voice for the fans. He drops heartfelt letters. He calls out bad behavior. Sometimes he even trolls on purpose, but it’s all because he truly cares about the movies and the fandom. He's always willing to show up for new appearances. He appreciates the unique role he’s found himself in and embraces that. It’s really something to be admired.
Then again, I don’t really think Harrison Ford is wrong either. He turned in a great performance as Han Solo, but he clearly just doesn’t like the movies as much as everyone else. I imagine a lot of other people would be sucked in and just pretend, whether it be for the money or not wanting to let people down, but he’s always been pretty open about his feelings, even asking to be killed off during the original trilogy. He’s not really mean about it, but he just has other priorities and other franchises he’s more invested in. Plus, when he brushes it off, he kind of sounds like someone else…
I mean… facts. If Han is going to shoot first and say “I know” when women say they’re in love with him, he’s probably not the type of guy to spend a lot of time thinking about Force Ghosts. Wouldn’t it seem weird and out of character if he was bringing nerdy new theories to the table? Yes, it would.
There are, of course, thousands of other great replies I’m not going to include here, but I would recommend clicking through the thread. I particularly like this one that talks about how “working actor” Harrison Ford is about most of his roles. There are also more than just a few making jokes and tying his quote into things like the lack of coherent planning for the new Star Wars trilogy, Ford’s mishaps as a pilot and how gangster his DGAF attitude is.
What do you think? Do you like Ford’s lack of interest in Star Wars or does it rub you the wrong way? Let us know in the poll below…
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