The Indiana Jones Series Is Han Solo’s Carbonite Dream
Asleep Or Awake?
When I was a kid, I had these dreams where it felt like I woke up and started getting ready for school. I would drag myself out of bed, shuffle around doing all the usual mundane tasks of the morning, and then head off to ride my bike to school. And since it’s a story about my childhood, you know that I had to ride my bike uphill. Anyway, as I’d be pedaling along, suddenly I would hear a strange car horn. I would turn to see that it’s…my alarm clock. Ugh! The agony! Not only did I have to do all the boring morning crap again, but now I was probably running late because all this happened after I hit the snooze button one too many times. What’s the point of all this, you ask? Well, what I was thinking about was how vivid and realistic the dream was. That got me thinking that maybe I wasn’t the only one. More to the point, as the title says, this theory is that maybe the entirety of the Indiana Jones series is really just a vivid dream in the mind of Han Solo during his time frozen in carbonite?
Life In the Dream
So, my story is all about how the real world manifested itself in my dream. The same might be happening to Han Solo. For example, in Raiders of the Lost Ark, as Indy is escaping, during the opening sequence, he climbs aboard an airplane with the tail markings OB CPO. If this theory is correct, this is Han thinking about (OB) Obi-Wan, and (CPO) C-3PO. Is that too vague? Those letters could mean anything…or nothing at all, right?
Visual Proof
Maybe this will be a little clearer than the plane thing. As Indy and Sallah lift the ark out of it’s crate in Raiders, there is a hieroglyph of C-3PO and R2-D2. Really, it’s there. See for yourself. It’s a “blink and you’ll miss it” moment but, as the camera looks to Indy, over his right shoulder (your left side), it’s there, plain as day. That’s just one instance though, it could just be an homage to Star Wars. How about the beginning of the second installment of the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? The big sequence that opens the film happens in the Club Obi-Wan. You can see this in bright blue neon as the titular hero escapes from the bad guys. So, now we have a subtle reference, a quick picture and the name of a major character from Star Wars in giant letters on the front of a building. Any one of these things I would agree could be, at best, coincidence. All three, however? Come on. This is Han’s mind trying to remind him of who he is, and shake him free from the dream.
Indiana Solo or Han Jones?
Are you asking what that means? I thought it was pretty clear. As I watched the Star Wars movies, I couldn’t help but enjoy the Han Solo character. He’s portrayed as a guy who’s looking out for himself, but when the chips are down, he keeps doing these selfless things. Han has a surety and a swagger that, as a child, I thought was so cool. There was a great scene where, to save his friends, Han grabs a blaster and charges headlong after some stormtroopers. In a turn of humor, he runs back towards his friends. It turns out there were a lot more stormtroopers than he expected. I got the same feeling watching the Indiana Jones movies. Indy has a charisma that makes him quite affable, even though he comes off like he’s, “looking out for number one.” Despite his gruff demeanor, Indy will always throw down to save his friends. There was this one time that he went running, like full tilt, after these bandit types, to chase them away. In a humorous turn, he comes running back, a moment later with a whole bunch of the bad guys hot in pursuit. It turns out there were a lot more bandits than he expected. Did you catch that? I know! It’s the same scene! So, yeah, try and tell me that Han Solo and Indiana Jones aren’t the same character.
Last Thoughts
Well, that’s about the last of it. Oh, there is use of the, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” line by Indiana Jones, but I figured it was too much to ask you to think that a line of dialog was tantamount to a confession that this theory is gospel. Just the same, the references to Star Wars characters, the behaviors, the personality similarities…It all screams that this is more than a coincidence. The theory that this is all in Han’s carbonite addled mind is the only thing that makes sense to me. Whether you agree or not, leave your take in the comments. For more work from the professionals in the Reel Theories labs, click here. I promise, it’ll have something to do with Han Solo.
Oh, I just thought of this…Handiana Jones! Ha! Yeah, yeah. Corny, right?
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