Preparing for Indy’s Return
I’ve been on a Harrison Ford kick of late. Patriot Games has been on AMC, Air Force One is constantly repeating on TNT, and naturally when one of the films of the Indiana JonesTrilogy hits the air I cannot find the strength to get out of my seat. One actor has found himself in so many of the iconic roles of the late 20th Century — Indy, Jack Ryan, Dr. Richard Kimball, and of course, Han Solo — that it seems mystifying when a character Ford plays does not find its way into classic Americana.
Anticipation continues to build in the days leading up to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that film geeks such as myself are on marathon viewings of all three films.
There is always a danger of tampering with filmgoer’s favorite franchises; it will be overly criticized, the chances of ruining someone’s childhood hero are high, and Internet backlash is pretty much a certainty. In this age, everyone is a critic and has access to a medium where they can lay praise or vent their frustrations. Thus it seems natural that many people are headed to this weekend’s premiere of Crystal Skull with a mindset to critique.
Unfortunately, this leads to every minor detail finding itself under inspection and every plot point being dissected for plausibility. Would the original trilogy have held up to that kind of scrutiny? If we all inspected the details of the Lost Ark’s face-melting powers, or considered the plausibility of ripping a man’s heart out just to see him go on living, would the films have been as popular?
The action/adventure films of Indy’s original age did not suffer the skepticism applied to the films that enter the genre today. Fewer voices were heard and there was not a readily available source to hear perspectives of hundreds of different viewers. While slightly flawed and somewhat implausible, the original Indiana Jones films continued to gain an audience through the years because they found their way to the youth of the world, free of skepticism and preconceived notions. By the time a viewer was old enough to scoff at some of the finer points of the storyline, Dr. Jones had become so embedded in their mind that any new found rationality was put aside for a step back in time to their youth. Indy’s whip and fedora were just cool and that was good enough for kids of my generation.
This weekend when you see Harrison Ford reprise one of the classic roles of American Cinema, hold onto your box of popcorn and let your mind once again be mesmerized by a faded map and a morbid fear of snakes, because one thing is certain; Jar Jar Binks is not listed on Crystal Skulls’ IMDB page as a character.
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