Indiana Jones and the Legend of Short Round

Ahead of the latest instalment of Indiana Jones films, Terri Psiakis marvels at how one so small can leave a legacy so big.

The latest instalment in the Indiana Jones films is about to drop. How do I know? Not because of the previews on at the cinema. Not because of the articles in the newspaper and all the media publicity. No, I know because my Bloke has turned into a young Asian boy.

I’m serious. He’s been going around the house spouting lines like “Ha, ha. Very funny, Dr Jones” and “No fair, Dr Jones, you cheat!” in a very bad, very non-descript Asian accent. Last night at dinner when I stole a chip from his plate, he gave me “I’m very little! You cheat very big!”

Let me explain: my Bloke thinks he’s Short Round.

Harrison Ford’s young sidekick in the 1984 film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, has become somewhat of a nostalgic obsession for The Bloke since the media hype for the new movie began, but he’s not the only one. Another mate of mine was recently inspired enough to ask “Don’t you think it’s weird that nobody was ever suss on Indy for traveling to Shanghai and India with only an 11-year-old Asian boy as his companion?” Maybe. Although I think it’s even more intriguing that my mate and my Bloke have both become so fixated on Short Round.

And it’s definitely the character Short Round, and not the actor Jonathan Ke Quan that these guys are obsessed with. Ke Quan also played Data in The Goonies but I’ve yet to hear The Bloke pay tribute to that by shouting “Saved by my pinchers of peril!” at any stage.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the new Indy movie and to my knowledge, Short Round doesn’t get a Guernsey. From what I can tell from the previews, Shia LeBeouf is Indy’s latest sidekick. Although how a guy named Shia LeBeouf gets any gig not in a hair salon is beyond me. But regardless of who Shia actually plays or how good he reckons he is in the movie, the only true measure of his performance will be whether or not grown men find themselves moved enough by fond nostalgia to reminisce about him 24 years from now…