¿ Ser / Estar / Jugar ?
I've been playing a two-player compuer game with my son in which the players play the roles of characters from the Indiana Jones films. My son always wants to play Indiana. Should he say 'Quiero ser' or 'estar' or 'jugar' Indiana. And does he need to put 'a' between the verb & Indy's name ?
I relaise 'ser' indicates permanent characteristic while 'estar' describes temporary status or location, but logically it could be either in the context of this game, while 'jugar' removes the problem posed by the other two verbs' distinctiveness.
3 Answers
Hello
I think you would say something like Quiero hacer el papel de Indiana Jones or possibly quiero ser el personaje (de?) Indiana Jones (en este Videojuego)
Hacer el papel de = to play the part of is usually an expression used when talking about an actor playing the part of a character in a play. (Which, like video games, is a fictional character)
Ser is used to describe a person's characteristics but I am not sure whether this extends t taking on the characteristics of a fictional person.
Jugar could be a more likely option since it is used to talkk about playing video games, cards and chess!
The problem with the ser (permanant) v estar (temporary) idea/rule is that is there are many exceptions so it breaks down and causes unnecessary confusion.
Practically speaking: Ser is used for telling the time , talking about occupations, descrbing a persons chracteristics, the passive form (el edifico fue construido) among other things and to classify and define. Estar is used, amoung other things, for describing position and location, expressing emotion (eg: está feliz = He is happy) forming the gerund: estamos comiendo = We are eating)
However, I am not 100 % sure which verb should be used at this stage so please wait for confirmation from a native since I am not a native (I am only a high Intermediate level student)
Urgent update: (Please read) I have just spoken with a native friend from Colombia in Viber on my phone, who is University educated and an advanced English speaker and, after reading my explanation that your son wants to say that he is playing a certain character in video ganes, she says you can say Quiero ser como ...Indiana Jones (or anyone else)
I hope this helps. 
Corrijan mi español, por favor
If he wears the mantel of Indiana's character, then 'ser' would seem more immersive. During a holiday to Spain I remember flicking through the channels on the TV & happening on the Spanish-dubbed 'Spartacus' (the 1960 film with Kirk Douglas). I couldn't understand much of it except what is perhaps the most famous scene. When the Romans are hunting Spartacus & encounter a group of gladiators (including the eponymous hero), the Romans ask which one is Spartacus, & one by one each of the gladiators stands up & declares, 'I am Spartacus'. Well, in Spanish, they say 'Soy Spartacus' (even although in reality they were only 'estar-ing' him for a moment)...
I have heard "jugar como centrocampista" for "playing as a midfielder" in football. By (an arguably weak) analogy, the right phrase should be "Quiero jugar como Indiana Jones".
Dunno about 'ser' and 'estar'. I would hazard a guess that you can't use 'estar' here though since being Indiana Jones is not, well, a non-attribute. If you are Indiana Jones, being Indiana Jones is an attribute on you, meaning that it is unlikely you can 'estar' Indy in the first place. Don't take my word for it though.
