I saw this commercial a few days ago and something about it rubbed me the right way. I couldn’t help but see the snark inherent in proclaiming that the glyphs on the wall were just pictures and not some “other” language that had to be deciphered. At the same time, the whole native wearing face paint and human body parts didn’t rub me so well. Anybody else see this? What did you think?
I saw this trailer when I went to see Ironman (which was overtly racist and sexist, but rather enjoyable if one can suspend criticism long enough), and was pissed about it.
It looks like they are trying to mimic the cinematography of the original movies, which is a cool concept, but it also looks like they aren’t making effort to move past the sexism and the intense racism & otherizing of “natives,” that so plagued the originals.
It’s really upsetting too, because a sequel like this would be the perfect opportunity to CONFRONT those problems, admit that things have changed in our society, in the realm of cinema, and in the diegetic world.
Oh well, maybe I am wrong. We shall see.
By: jackvalentine.net on May 21, 2008
at 7:03 pm
I’ve got really mixed feelings about the Indiana Jones series. On one hand its got a lot of really overt “isms” which are hard to ignore now that I’m older. The second one especially. They just feel so extremely pro-colonialism that its painful. Thank god this white man has come to save India. Though at the same time the series seems to stress that learning about other cultures and their history has great value rather than exploiting them. The sexism is bad on pretty much every level.
I’d like it if they tried to address the major problems from the earlier parts of the series, but I fear a lot of fans are going to give this a pass JUST because it’s Indiana Jones. I’m all for melting Nazis and stuff, but this kind of movie should raise a lot of eyebrows.
Then there’s the crystal skulls, which are another artifact that MUST have been made by aliens because the ancient Mayans COULDN’T have made by a primitive society ala the pyramids. I swear, if aliens come out at the end all hope is lost.
By: Matt on May 21, 2008
at 8:20 pm