I figured I'd repost this from another thread, as I am sure I am not the only one who hates Henry "Mutt" Jones/Williams III. I think his character, being as important as it is in KOTCS, deserves his own thread. I'll respond to it, don't worry. But here's my OP, taken from the "How Old is Mutt" thread. I figured I was in inadvertently veering off that topic's original idea. So yeah....
Does anyone else HATE Mutt? I kinda do, and I'll tell you why:
Did no one in the cast, crew, or screenwriters facepalm when the name Mutt Williams was touted? His name is so disgustingly cheesy that my cholesterol levels get even higher just hearing it. I mean really...Henry "Mutt" Williams? Come on. What next, are we going to hear that Henry Sr's nickname was "Mad Dog Jones"? I mean cripes, the "Indiana" gag worked in LC because it was grounded in both a real life in-joke and because it explained the professor being named "Indiana." It also has a legitimate in universe explanation: Indy loved that dog. He had a lot of adventures and hijinks with that dog and honored him by taking his name; He also did this to separate himself from his father who he was named after, someone he never wanted to be like. All sound, good reasons. It's also a cool name: Indiana Jones. Mutt Williams is just...just killing an already told joke.. There's no point in having Indy's son have a dog related name. There's no sound reason for it, in or out of universe. It's just a cheesy, half thought out, crappy wink at the fans. Just another example of poor and contrived fan service.
I mean Short Round's name was cheesy but at least Short Round's character surpassed his name. He wasn't some effete Disney channel tool who combed and played with his hair like a Parisian Dandy. He was a fearless little kid in many respects.
I mean "Mutt" gets kidnapped by Soviet soldiers and all he cares about is his bike missing? He has a sword at the base of his throat and all he can do is exclaim "Stop-stop-stop-stop", pull out his comb and make sure his Duck's Ass haircut is in good order? Ugh. If I was Spalko, I would've just stabbed him on general principle right then and there. This is a character who has no depth, no real redeeming qualities; A character who is a wannabe toughguy, a wannabe clone of Marlon Brando, a character that spouts off the most cliched nifty '50s phrases as if he's a walking book of 1950s Greaser Lexicon.
People complain about Short Round, but at least the relationship there between he and Indy had some heart. Shorty at first seemed like an annoying '80s card board cut out kid character, but the kid showed real grit. HE SAVED INDY'S LIFE! He took being whipped! He fought huge Thugee guards! He kicked the Maharajah's ass! He helped Indy save an entire village worth of enslaved children! Mutt got his ass kicked by a woman.
Some complain about SPF as Young Indy, but he had quite a few dark moments. He kicked ass when he had to, killed when he had to, and was both a SOLDIER AND SPY in World War I! He wasn't combing his hair every five minutes or whining. His grievances with his father had depth and reality to them. He was learned. He was tough when he needed to be.
Even compared to the younger, more naive, less hardened version of his father at the same age, Mutt sucks. Mutt is supposed to be 20 or 21 in KOTCS. Well, when Indy was 20/21, he was just finishing up/finished two and a half years of war and death. He had had a woman he loved, his fiancee, die in his arms, a murder which was indirectly his fault; He watched friends and lovers die and saw the insanity, barbarism and betrayals of World War I; He fought vampires; He escaped from one of the most well crafted prisons ever. What did Mutt do? Dropped out of school and learned how to comb his hair and took fencing lessons.
"Mutt" is just a petulant man child, a boy in a man's body, played by a Disney Channel tool of an actor. The high point of his character is being hit in the nuts repeatedly in a horrid gag aimed at little kids while having a swordfight with Spalko. Shia, despite Spielberg's creepy pederast-esque infatuation with him, was a flash in the pan actor who doesn't even have real chops or real talent; Little more than a pretty face that delights 11 year old girls; He's no River Phoenix, for an apt comparison. River was more than just a pretty face and teen idol of his time; He had real depth and talent as an actor, and a raw edge to his skills which made him a very credible Young Indy. Both Shia the actor and Mutt the character have no EDGE, which is something you'd think the son of Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood would have.
He's quite possibly the worst character in the entire franchise's history, perhaps next to Mac. Even Remy was less annoying.
And they (or at least Lucas) actually considered the idea of this Disney Channel tool taking the mantle over from Indy in a future film, relegating Indy to the role of a Henry Sr, in his own series? What the hell was Lucas smoking?!? What has he been smoking since 1997? It must be some really good stuff to put his head where it's been all these years.
"Smog in the Noggin"
"Don't give these pigs a thing."
"Daddy-O"
