The one thing Harrison Ford hates being called: “There’s no utility”
Despite our insistence that being a celebrity is the greatest thing in the world, the culture around fame and Hollywood appears to be one of the most toxic and normalised systems of abuse, with many horror stories about actors who have been cruelly destroyed through their time in the public eye and eviscerated by the media. It’s something Harrison Ford knows all too well, despite escaping the most tragic stories of the industry.
From the devastating story of Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood to the current harassment of Rachel Zegler and Millie Bobby Brown, mostly women and people of colour in the public eye have been obliterated through public scrutiny and an invasion of privacy, with people somehow still thinking of fame as a wonderful gift that leads you to have endless restaurant bookings and money.
However, to reach fame, you must sacrifice your privacy and find peace of mind in knowing that people will continually create their own ideas about your identity that go against who you are, losing a sense of self as people make assumptions about your life.
Over the years, many actors have fallen victim to this invasive system, with salacious rumours that vary from harmless to harmful and hoards of paparazzi that stalk your every move. If you are caught on a bad day or simply not in the mood to pretend to be grateful when people follow you around and ask for photos while buying groceries, then people will immediately label you as ungrateful and rude, despite the fact that we wouldn’t expect gracious reactions from anyone else when met with this behaviour.
Harrison Ford has had his fair share of ups and downs in the public eye, playing some of the most iconic action heroes of all time and rising to fame when there wasn’t much protection for people in the spotlight, with many stories about bizarre fan encounters and the strange headlines that ran in the papers about all aspects of his personal life.
This is something that Ford has always expressed his discomfort over, sharing his dislike for being a celebrity and the dangerous world it creates for you, expected to live up to a perpetually unattainable and dehumanising image that slowly corrupts your sense of self. It is completely unnatural to live in a world that seemingly revolves around your existence, living a life that creates a false narrative around your own importance and separates you from the world’s problems, and as a result, it’s hard to imagine that there are many celebrities who manage to stay grounded and uncorrupted through this fame.
Ford described his unique philosophy towards this and the image of celebrity, saying, “I don’t know what an icon does except stand in a corner quietly accepting everyone’s attention. I like to work so there’s no utility in being an icon.”
Ford hates being in the limelight, and he tries to avoid public appearances and press interviews as much as possible, but perhaps this idea of focusing on your work so that you’re not being unnecessarily rewarded for the mere status of being a celebrity is the best way to do it. Ford has undoubtedly earnt his success, and his continued hard work shows his own attempts to alleviate his guilt over this strange label.
