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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Indiana Jones is a highly unsuitable film..

78 replies

seeker · 23/03/2008 21:44

... for anybody, never mind children. We watched it this evening, and I was amazed at the racism, the sexism - it was like something made in the 40s!

OP posts:
K999 · 23/03/2008 21:46

Well it was made in a time when being PC was hardly heard of!!!

ladymariner · 23/03/2008 21:46

Sorry seeker, but its a favourite in our house, love all the indiana jones films.

theyoungvisiter · 23/03/2008 21:49

I think they felt that by setting in the 1930s (or whenever it's supposed to be - I forget) they could kind of get away with ignoring all the modern sensibilities on those issues.

I agree it's awful when you analyse it. Let's face it, the whole premise is going to isolated societies and stealing their treasured cultural artifacts to take back to the West.

Best not think about it too deeply, I think

Original poster
seeker · 23/03/2008 21:53

Oh, was it? I thought it was made in the 80s. I take it all back then.

I'm not saying we didn't enjoy it - huge fun was had by all! I just wish there had been one gorl character who didn't scream all the time and have to be rescued by boys! And there hadn't been so much "ooh look aren't foreigners funny, they don't eat the same things we do!" Or am I being po-faced about it?

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Flamesparrow · 23/03/2008 21:56

Tis just a film - don't get too deep.

I found it a bit that The Mummy was on in the middle of the day though! (vaguely linked to this thread...)

ChickenSoupDragon · 23/03/2008 21:57

"Or am I being po-faced about it?"

Original poster
seeker · 23/03/2008 21:58

Sorry, I can't help it, I'm an unreconstructed 70s feminist.

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 23/03/2008 21:59

oh don't say that - have just ordered the trilogy so that dd knows the story for lego indiana jones on the playstation. Please don't tell me I'm remembering it all wrong.

theyoungvisiter · 23/03/2008 22:00

well there is a kickass female in the other one - can't remember which - they have all merged into one. But she wears red trousers and can drink all the men under the table.

(It was filmed in the 80s...? Or was that a joke? sorry am a bit confused I think!)

sleepycat · 23/03/2008 22:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ladymariner · 23/03/2008 22:03

Exactly, I don't really think you're meant to think too deeply about it, well we don't ( but that might just be us!) Just sit back, and enjoy it!!! They're fab films!!!

onebatmother · 23/03/2008 22:04

how very odd, seeker, I was just now thinking:
Hmm, I wonder if Indiana Jones (which I adored) is suitable for DS, 6?

Quite Literally Just Now. Quite Literally.

theyoungvisiter · 23/03/2008 22:07

Better still, Seeker, use it as a springboard for an interesting post-film discussion on racial and sexist stereotypes.

Like my mum letting me read Famous Five books and then saying "and what do you think of Ann being made to be the housewife while the boys get to go treasure seeking?"

Oh yes, it will be Seeker's Post-Feminist Deconstruction of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Womanhood.

Original poster
seeker · 23/03/2008 22:14

theyoungvisiter - I was genuinely thinking of doing that tomorrow. And I have already done something similar with Enid Blyton again!

Onebat - my ds, who's 7, was a bit scared, but he is a notorious wimp. Probably because of having a ball-breaking feminist for a mother. He did enjoy it a lot, though and didn't have to leave the room at all, which he often does.

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Nighbynight · 23/03/2008 22:22

The temple of doom is a ghastly film, and yes, v racist. YANBU.

KerryMum · 23/03/2008 22:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

theyoungvisiter · 23/03/2008 22:27

it is possible to not be racist and yet unthinkingly perpetuate racist stereotypes (which is what this film does IMO).

I still think it's a really enjoyable film but I don't think Seeker's unreasonable for wanting to scratch the surface.

It's a bit like King Kong. You can admire it as a film while still questioning the subconscious messages.

cornsilk · 23/03/2008 22:31

I love the Indiana Jones trilogy more than my ds's. Doubt they'd have been PG if they had been relaesed today though. Can't wait for the next one!

Original poster
seeker · 23/03/2008 22:31

I didn't say Spielberg was racist - I said the film was. A different thing entirely.

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KerryMum · 23/03/2008 22:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nighbynight · 23/03/2008 22:38

why is it impossible that Spielberg could be racist? [thik emoticon]
the film is very anti Indian, and makes Indians out to be backward and stupid.

Original poster
seeker · 23/03/2008 22:48

I know he is the writer/director. I know absolutely nothing about his personal views and philosophy. I do know that the film presents people from the Asian sub-continent as backward, criminal, superstitious and untrustworthy. I assume that this does not reflect Spielberg's personal beliefs - but you can't say that it's not racist a racist film because Spielberg is not racist.

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KerryMum · 23/03/2008 22:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cornsilk · 23/03/2008 22:55

Schindler's list was based on the book Schindler's Ark so Speilberg didn't actually write it.

Nighbynight · 23/03/2008 22:59

I saw ToD again (first time since teenager) a couple of years ago, and I must say I cant view Spielberg in the same light since then.