Was Indiana Jones a Hero or a Zero?
By Jon Therkildsen
Did Indiana Jones Make Any DIfference in Raiders of The Lost Ark?
The popular TV sitcom; The Big Bang Theory (2007 - 2019) has an episode where they discuss how Indiana Jones did not make any difference throughout the story of his first film: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) —making it sound as though he is no hero at all. The idea has gotten quite a following, and you will often meet this interpretation on different movie-discussion-forums.
You can watch their clip here.
The abridged version is that The Nazis would get the Ark if he was involved or not. And they would die on the island when they open it, whether he was involved or not. And his involvement even blocked Hitler to ever “see” it, and so blocked Hitler from being killed by it. In other words, Indy made no difference, and in a way, his involvement prevented the Ark from ending the war before the war even began. At first, it sounds sensible?
The thing is, they are wrong. And they are wrong about two things.
1. The story is a race.
Dr. Indiana Jones is contracted by the US Government to get the Ark before the Nazis. A box of potential mass destruction. And he did. Well done. The end.
The race, one may say, ran like this:
Ark lost for thousands of years.
The Nazis start digging for the Ark.
The Nazis know more or less where it is (but not exactly). They have a full miniature map of the buried city of Tanis, which they were excavating completely, so it was just a question of time (with or without the medallion).
Indy finds it first (because he has the medallion).
The Nazis steal it from him.
Indy takes it back from the Nazis.
The Nazis steals it again from Indy.
Indy again takes it back from the Nazis and hereafter finally brings it to the US for safekeeping.
Mission accomplished.
Race won.
Of course, if Indy was not involved, someone else would have won this race. Likely René Belloq, the French archeologist that was working for the Nazis. Someone always wins a race, such is the nature of races. Though, was it not for Indy and his hard work, losing this race to Belloq would have given the Nazis access to a very powerful item.
Further, the Nazis researchers would never take it directly to Hitler; they would (as they did in the movie) analyze it first; to see if the legend held true or if it was just a box of sand. Or, as Belloq adamantly argues: first, they need to know “whether [we] have accomplished [our] mission” and hereafter present it to the Nazi high command. Hitler would likely see it, but not until Belloq had had his time with it. And this makes it certain that the Nazis would learn of its destructive power before ever taking it to high command.
With Indy: We got it. The Nazis didn’t.
Without Indy: The Nazis would have found it later*, and then they would learn about its deadly force by its destruction on the island* (or a similar nazi research facility near Berlin) and lastly, somehow likely weaponized this force in the war, and kill all good in the world.
How is that for “not making any difference”?
2. the Ark is a weapon of potential mass destruction
Thinking that the Ark is only killing evil - and, thusly, can only be used for good - is naive, or, at best, extremely risky.
The truth is, we do not know much about what is in the box? To understand it, we must separate what we know and what we think we know. It is clearly an ancient magical force, and we know from the other movies such forces exist in this universe. And not all are Judaic; this world is not a world of a singular beneficent God. It is a world of mystical forces.
To me, it did not look like an Ark of good. Even the flying angels display daemon like characteristics. And as the ancient texts said;
Dr. Marcus Brody; “The Bible speaks of the Ark leveling mountains, and laying waste to entire regions. An army which carries the Ark before it... is invincible.”
It sounds like an omnipotent weapon. Not a “transmitter” to a benevolent God. Whatever it is, we are not exactly sure.
Boiled down and what we do know is that this box holds immense power. And we also know Indy cries to keep their eyes shut not to be vaporized. This worked because it evidently kills indiscriminately*, provided one does not close one’s eyes... it is not a question of “evil” or “good”, it is a question of rituals.
That is it. It is a box of mass destruction.
If the Nazis were to smuggle it to Trafalgar Square in London and open it, wait a few minutes while having their eyes closed, then most of the seeing population of London would be gone. If it only kills non-Judaic followers (which it might), the Nazis could use it to clean out a lot of Russia, Africa, Middle-east, etc. too.
Indeed, it did not like the Nazi symbol, as it burns it off, but know that the original cinema release had a post-credit scene where it also burned off the US Army symbol on that final crate. Alas, the evidence tells us that the power within (whatever it may be) does not discriminate - be it Nazi symbols, or US Government symbols.
In conclusion, the “not knowing” what it exactly is, is simply too big a risk to have in the hands of evil men. A box of mass destruction, no matter how it works, must be under our control. For as Brody said: “An army which carries the Ark before it... is invincible”.
Think of it like this: Would you give a loaded gun to a psychopath just hoping he may misfire and kill himself and never use it successfully on others? I wouldn’t. When it comes to psychos and weapons of potential mass destruction; I prefer to be in control.
With Indy: We are in control.
Without Indy: The Nazis are in control, potentially risking a global rule of The Third Reich.
Thank you, Indy!
The abridged version
There is a box that has this indiscriminately destructive power.
We know little about it.
Once opened, it seems to kill all, unless your eyes are closed.
The ancient texts claim that whoever holds it, will win any war.
The sensible advice is to get this box before our enemy, at any cost.
And once we have it, we can figure out how to use it on our terms. We cannot allow for even a slight chance that the Nazis may get it and weaponize it for evil deeds.
Dr. Indiana Jones took this box from the Nazis and brought it to us.
Our hero!
My thoughts are that Indy pretty much saved the world. Indeed, the American Government did not analyse it and give it the respect that the Ark deserved, but that is another story for another time.
“Footnotes to “Reason 1”:
*/ It is often argued that the Nazis may find the Ark sooner, had Indy not been involved, as they would get to the medallion sooner had Indy not taken it. This is not the case. The only reason the Nazis found Marion (and her medallion) is because they followed Indy when he left San Fransisco to visit her in Nepal. If not for Indy, they would possibly never have found the medallion. However, since they were excavating the whole city of Tanis, it was just a question of time before they would have found it. The tomb that held the Ark was already nearly excavated by the time Indy arrived. The medallion was a shortcut; it was not a necessity.
*/ It is often argued that the only reason they opened the Ark on the island was that Indy blew up the plane. Had he not, it would have been flown to Berlin. While this is true, the plan was still to analyze it. The destruction that happened on the island would have occurred in some other research facility inside of Germany - and likely under more controlled circumstances (fewer casualties). Indy’s involvement sped up the inevitable misfortune of this research. It didn’t save Hitler, by default. Further, Belloq wanted to fly the Ark to safety only because of the heat from Indy (and the US Government). Had he found it in his own time, and without Indy meddling, he would likely have analyzed it in Tanis, on-site. There is a scene showing that this was indeed Belloq’s mindset. I submit that without Indy, it would have been analyzed on-site, teaching the Nazis of its destructive capabilities, far away from the high command.
Footnote to “Reason 2”:
*/ The actual bible has stories about how it causes disease for the Philistines and everyone near it. Also, those innocent. It further has the story of Uzzah, a Jew (an Israelite), a good man who dies when he accidentally touches it (to protect it). By all accounts, even in the real bible, it seems quite indiscriminate in its mayhem.”
Photos via Google - © 1981 PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION