Orson Scott Card has an
interesting theory (don't worry, no spoilers, so it's safe to read) as to why some people are panning the new Indiana Jones film.
You ready for it? You sure? Okay... Because in
this movie, sci-fi coexists with the Judeo-Christian faith held sacred by most of American society.
At the end of
Raiders and again at the end of Last Crusade, the wrath of God is striking
down the enemies of righteousness. Made-up idolatrous gods just didn't do it
for us westerners in Temple of Doom. And it was not satisfying to see the
second movie show that the idol was just a powerful as the God of Moses and
Christ.
Now we have something even more outrageous than idolatry -- we have science
fiction. On one level, it's perfectly all right -- in fact, this movie makes a terrific
sci-fi adventure story.
But on another level, I was offended when, just in passing, we see the Ark of
the Covenant from the first movie turn up in this one. It isn't even important;
it seems to have lost all its power during its years in storage. It's nothing.
Belief in the God of Abraham is part of what made western society what it is --
and it's one of the best parts. It's the moral brake and the source of meaning
for our civilization. It doesn't always work, but when it doesn't, we wish it had.
Seriously, I love that man. When I read his reviews, I remember all over again why I like his books so much -- because while he's a man of faith (he's a Mormon), he's not averse to taking a different look at the issues in our lives and exploring new answers. I'm about to start reading one of his more recent books,
Invasive Procedures. Can't wait.
The last time I read anything by Card was the too-short War of Gifts, a Christmas story set in Ender's Game's Battle School. If you're an Ender's Game fan, I heartily recommend it, but wait till Yule season, mmkay?
Oh, and btw, even if you're not quite into someone reviewing Indy, Card also takes on American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, and the judges and hosts on each of the shows.
Yeah. Dude makes having an opinion look good.
In other Indy-related news, CK and I have been obsessed lately with reading this huge but well-worth it book,
The Complete Making of Indiana Jones. We've had to be careful about not reading too far, though, lest we read about the fourth film before we see it (hopefully captioned later this week).
But anyway, at one point, CK looked up from the book all glittery-eyed. "You remember that scene in the first movie where the rat crawls past the box with the swastika on it, and the swastika burns off?"
"Yeah?"
"The rat was deaf."
"Oh?"
"Yeah!"
"And?"
"The rat was
deaf!"
"Oh, is that why you're telling me about this rat, because she was deaf?"
"Yeah!"
"Because of the deaf thing and now you feel all gung-ho, like you can relate?"
"Yeah!"I snickered or rolled my eyes or some other typical
he's at it again reaction. But then I read that page myself today too, and I gotta admit I felt a bit of deaf whoo-hoo bubbling up in my gut too. Or maybe that was the leftover salad I had for lunch.
Anyway, the book really does rock. It's absolutely chock-full of background info, photos, stills, sketches, storyboards, transcript excerpts, script excerpts, and "how they did it" stuff, although my one little trivial complaint is that the book doesn't include the small factoids that make the making of a movie fascinating.
And the only reason I'm saying this is because we bought a couple of bags of
Indiana Jones M & Ms, and on the back were little factoids about both the candy and the movie productions. The only one I remember off the top of my head is that in one scene (in Tunisia?) they had to remove over 300 TV antennae from the roofs of houses because TV had yet to be invented at the time of the movie.
And, no it does not bother me one bit that a candy wrapper can make me go:
That is some cool shit.
