What are the positive and negative aspects to this film?

The most dominant positive aspect of this film is its entertainment value. Of course the film “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is often incorrect and stereotypical, but we must remember that it is just a film and that without guns, explosions, and girls, the movie would not be attractive to movie-goers. With this in mind, let’s explore a few positives and negatives of the film.

Negatives

Chauvinistic The film is clearly male oriented in its portrayal of the archaeological profession. Strong male figures such as Indiana Jones do the ‘heavy-lifting’ in carrying the movie’s plot and progression. Males do the vast majority of the exploring, battling, and rescuing. The few material female roles are filled by either tricky conniving women and/or women who are dependent on males.

Overly Adventorous “Raiders” focuses on the adventure involved in archaeology and largely ignores the actual goals of archaeology, namely the understanding of other cultures. Instead of really seeking to secure valuable knowledge about past cultures, “Raiders” portrays archaeologists as animals driven by the thrill of the capture. There is little or no air of cooperation, and instead the field is portrayed as hyper-competitive. And contrary to the images promoted in the movie, few if any homicides are committed in the pursuit of archaeological excavations.

Object Orientation Rarely if ever do archaeologists set out on an excavation to acquire a specifice artifact. Instead, the fact of the matter is that exploration of any particular site usually hinges on uncovering the truth about the culture being explored. Hardly ever do we encounter real archaeologists who enter the field for money or fame. It is my belief, however, that a strong motivation in archaeology is museum influence and that this can sometimes distort the true mission of the profession.

Positives

Academic While the movie does not emphasize the academic aspects of archaeology enough, it does show Indiana Jones in an academic setting to a certain extent. Obviously the balance between class, laboratory and site are not correct as 70% of archaeological work is academic, but we must remember that movie with 70% academic content are almost never blockbusters.

Historical Context While “Raiders” is by no means a historical documentary, it is set in a time vastly different from the 21^st century, the 1930s. While clearly archaeology was not quite as stereotypically adventurous and male oriented, the odds are that it was more so than today. Clearly the time was more hospitable to adventurers such as Indiana Jones, and was clearly a more male dominated time.

Promotion of Archaeology “Raiders of the Lost Ark” does do a good job of promoting interest in archaeology. While a low percentage of American archaeologists are active outside of North America, and instead do more work in the classroom, the movie clearly promotes the field of archaeology. This fun adventure movie may spark a young child’s imagination and lead him on a career path involving archaeology.

So forget any ideas you’ve got about lost cities, exotic travel, and digging up the world.

Exposition

Retired archaeologist K. Kris Hirst explains the stereotypical depiction of archaeologists in an interesting article on about.com:

“Do we really expect science from the Fox News Network? Does Maury Povich have any expertise or any real interest in the study of archaeology? The tabloid press (perhaps this is becoming redundant these days) has never been a particularly appropriate place to obtain information on any subject, let alone one that has been hyped over the past few years by the Indiana Jones movies. The pyramids in Egypt have always been fascinating to people, and will continue to be, in spite of the occasional terrorist attack on tourists. Curses and Howard Carter; that's what the general public thinks of when they think of Egyptology; that's bad for all of us.”[ii]

While this general perception may be prevalent in our society, the effects of the Indiana Jones movies can not be underestimated. Even to this day the movies have an extensive cult-like following which has spawned numerous fan websites glorifying Harrison Ford’s character. Fans seem to be attracted to the adventurous persona of Indiana Jones, erected detailed websites including movie summaries, trivia, awards, actor bios, and messaging boards. My personal favorite is TheRaider.net which has all the khaki-feel of an Indiana Jones movie.[iii]

While we may not agree with the Indiana Jones Trilogy 100%, we must remember it is an influence over people that archaeologists will likely encounter during their careers. Raiders itself is responsible for becoming the #1 film of 1981, and high upon the all-time list. Raiders earned 6 Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Set Decoration, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing. The film is another crown jewel for Lucas; in 1999 Raiders joins Star Wars in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.[iv]

“Indy is more of a fortune hunter than a traditional scientist, but one who would only hunt for museums, so it had an air of legitimacy.”

[i] Indiana Jones. 1989. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Screenplay by Jeff Boam, story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes.

[ii] http://archaeology.about.com/cs/publicarchaeology/a/povich.htm

[iii] http://www.themovieportal.com/frame.asp?url=http://www.theraider.net&rl=subpage%2Easp%3Fnode%3D138700%26CTitle%3DIndiana%5FJones%26Loc%3D%5CSeries%7C41803%5CIndiana%5FJones%7C138700%26pos%3D3%26type%3Dfull&s=Movie

[iv] http://www.lucasfilm.com/history_top.html