Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 2, August 2001 | Page 116

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Popular Culture Review

adventurer as a pirate for museums. In essence, the quest for valuable objects
required to fill a museum may serve as a metaphor for imperial exploits. The position
of the museum in all three films is relegated to minor, background status in the
text, yet it is the museum’s acquisitions’ policy that motivates most of the action.
The creation of the character Indiana Jones, was derived from producer
George Lucas’s interest in and fascination with the cliff-hanger movie serials of
the 1930s and ‘40s, which he watched on television in the ‘50s. (Kael 132) Before
these jungle adventures became Saturday afternoon serials, they were preceded by
travel exploits, white hunter stories and Tarzan novels which were written during
an era of imperialist expansion and often from a racist point of view.
Subsequently, in creating a modem version, Lucas resuscitated a known
adventure tradition, complete with the same motifs and stereotypes. From the jungles
o f South America, to the deserts of the Middle East, to the mountains of India, to
exotic temples, the Anglo-American maverick roams, fights and pillages. Regardless
if he is portrayed as saviour or hero, especially to child-like, sycophantic natives,
only Indiana dares to do what they are afraid to attempt. Indiana has no fear of
their religions, myths and taboos. He shrugs off superstitions, and has no fears
whatsoever, except from nature's offerings.
The “Other” inevitably falls into a familiar role: either a trustworthy
innocent willing to help whatever the cost, or a truly evil creation, preying off ageold superstitions. Like Tarzan, Indiana Jones masters the “savage environment”, is
deified, and comes to stand as a symbol for white supremacy and benevolence
(Newsinger 60-62). The cultures he invades are represented, objectified, by people
who are little more than entertaining or exotic scenery, usually expanded versions
of stock figures of ages gone by. There is the “howling savage”, the faithful servant,
the sinister woman, the superstitious aide, the duplicitous former comrade and of
course, the ever-present porters, lugging the trappings of Western civilization into
the most inaccessible geography imaginable. The villagers of The Temple o f Doom;
Sallah, the Egyptian front-man in Raiders; and the porters and soldiers in The Last
Crusade are all examples of the richness of the cinematic stereotype.
The negative portrait of “natives” is usually illustrative of the fact that
they need the white man’s help. Western know-how and expertise are the keys to
modernization and tools to help them accomplish their goals. Historian Michael
Adas has written that “as evidence of their material achievement multiplied and
pervaded throughout all aspects of life in industrializing societies, Europeans, and
(increasingly) Americans grew more conscious of the uniqueness, and they believed,
the superiority of Western civilizatio