Patrick Scalisi's Blog - Posts Tagged "sci-fi"
In Defense of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I have a confession to make: I love Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Yet more than four years after its release, the film has taken a spot as one of the lowest points of the Indiana Jones franchise.
But I think the film is a lot smarter than most people realize.
Right about now, you’re asking what this has to do with writing, or even with books. The answer to this question reveals why Crystal Skull is such a smart movie. (Why I was prompted to write this “rant” now -- four years after the fact -- is simply a question for the cosmos.)
One of the major complains about the film is the fact that it ventured into science-fiction territory. Somehow, using religious artifacts from the Judeo-Christian tradition was fine in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But add aliens into the mix and suddenly everyone’s got their panties in a ruffle.
Consider this: The film opens in 1957, a very good time for sci-fi as a genre. Following the golden age of pulp fiction and the end of World War II, sci-fi truly began to mature. In his book The History of Science Fiction, Ron Miller writes: “Earlier science fiction usually concerned itself with how problems could be solved by physical or scientific means. There were few moral or psychological ambiguities…. Beginning in the 1950s, science-fiction writers made problems more complex” (46-7).
Is it any wonder, then, that Crystal Skull -- an Indiana Jones movie set in the 1950s -- would take on a sci-fi milieu? After all, this was the decade that saw the release of Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, and dozens of others. From the first shot of the “Atomic Café” in the opening sequence of Crystal Skull to the unearthing of a box from Roswell, N.M., we know that this is the world that our archeologist hero now inhabits. A story involving aliens (or “transdimensional beings, in point of fact,” as John Hurt’s character points out) is fine with me for a 50s Indiana Jones adventure.
Still other viewers complained that Harrison Ford was too old to slip on the fedora one more time. However, I feel that there’s a smart explanation for this as well.
Indiana Jones is nothing if not a pulp character, drawn from the imagination of George Lucas, who was practically weaned on stories that would today be considered part of the “pulp” canon. Indy is hard-boiled and has a clearly defined sense of right and wrong. Scratch deeper and you'll find that Indy is a pretty flat character, albeit a great one that we love to root for.
By the 1950s, the pulp sci-fi magazines were dying out, just as gruff Indiana Jones is running out of gas as well. Ford wears the character’s world weariness on his skin, commenting on how getting out of a jam isn’t as easy as it used to be. Indiana Jones -- just like the pulp magazines -- are barely holding on, almost ready for that great archive in the sky.
Considering this symbolism -- whether intentional or not -- makes Crystal Skull for me a rewarding and entertaining experience. Does the film have its weak points? Sure. Could I have gone without actually seeing the aliens? Absolutely. But if you’re not sold, perhaps we can still agree that Crystal Skull was still better than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
But I think the film is a lot smarter than most people realize.
Right about now, you’re asking what this has to do with writing, or even with books. The answer to this question reveals why Crystal Skull is such a smart movie. (Why I was prompted to write this “rant” now -- four years after the fact -- is simply a question for the cosmos.)
One of the major complains about the film is the fact that it ventured into science-fiction territory. Somehow, using religious artifacts from the Judeo-Christian tradition was fine in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But add aliens into the mix and suddenly everyone’s got their panties in a ruffle.
Consider this: The film opens in 1957, a very good time for sci-fi as a genre. Following the golden age of pulp fiction and the end of World War II, sci-fi truly began to mature. In his book The History of Science Fiction, Ron Miller writes: “Earlier science fiction usually concerned itself with how problems could be solved by physical or scientific means. There were few moral or psychological ambiguities…. Beginning in the 1950s, science-fiction writers made problems more complex” (46-7).
Is it any wonder, then, that Crystal Skull -- an Indiana Jones movie set in the 1950s -- would take on a sci-fi milieu? After all, this was the decade that saw the release of Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, and dozens of others. From the first shot of the “Atomic Café” in the opening sequence of Crystal Skull to the unearthing of a box from Roswell, N.M., we know that this is the world that our archeologist hero now inhabits. A story involving aliens (or “transdimensional beings, in point of fact,” as John Hurt’s character points out) is fine with me for a 50s Indiana Jones adventure.
Still other viewers complained that Harrison Ford was too old to slip on the fedora one more time. However, I feel that there’s a smart explanation for this as well.
Indiana Jones is nothing if not a pulp character, drawn from the imagination of George Lucas, who was practically weaned on stories that would today be considered part of the “pulp” canon. Indy is hard-boiled and has a clearly defined sense of right and wrong. Scratch deeper and you'll find that Indy is a pretty flat character, albeit a great one that we love to root for.
By the 1950s, the pulp sci-fi magazines were dying out, just as gruff Indiana Jones is running out of gas as well. Ford wears the character’s world weariness on his skin, commenting on how getting out of a jam isn’t as easy as it used to be. Indiana Jones -- just like the pulp magazines -- are barely holding on, almost ready for that great archive in the sky.
Considering this symbolism -- whether intentional or not -- makes Crystal Skull for me a rewarding and entertaining experience. Does the film have its weak points? Sure. Could I have gone without actually seeing the aliens? Absolutely. But if you’re not sold, perhaps we can still agree that Crystal Skull was still better than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
