Empire of Dreams: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Films of Steven Spielberg by Gordon Andrew M

Author:Gordon, Andrew M.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780742578135
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2013-06-25T04:00:00+00:00

INDY’S SPLIT IDENTITY

Indy’s adult identity is split between that of the rogue and that of his father: we first see him as an adventurer dressed in the fedora and leather jacket, yet in the next scene he is an anthropology professor lecturing a class, dressed in a three-piece suit and bow tie, which is really the uniform of Dr. Jones, Sr. The stuffy professorial role feels false, his father speaking through Indy, and the rest of the film contradicts his stern lecture about anthropology as dull library research rather than adventures in the field. Trapped in his office, with a mob of students outside, Indy escapes out the window, quickly abandoning the campus for the world of adventure, and we never again see him as Professor.

Yet Indy’s inability to relinquish entirely the scholarly identity shows that, as much as he is the rogue adventurer, he still imitates and even tries to best his father. For one thing, he fancies himself a better teacher than Dr. Jones, Sr., whom he calls acidly “a teacher of medieval literature—the one the students hope they don’t get” and “Atilla the professor.” But the similarity of father and son is comically highlighted when a Nazi holds a gun on them and says, “Dr. Jones” and they put up their hands simultaneously and answer “Yes” in unison. Elsa mentions the resemblance between father and son, even though Indy persistently denies it. When they first meet, she says, “You have your father’s eyes,” and he counters, “And my mother’s ears.” Later she says, “You don’t disappoint, Dr. Jones. You’re a great deal like your father.” He replies, “Except he’s lost and I’m not.” When they discover the knight’s tomb, she tells him he’s “Just like your father—giddy as a schoolboy.” Indy says of his father, “He never would have made it past the rats. He hates rats—he’s scared to death of them,” neglecting to mention his own phobia about snakes. He keeps anxiously trying to distinguish himself from his father and to prove that he’s more of a man than him.

Indy also prides himself on being more skeptical than his father, who is a devout Christian and a firm believer in Grail lore. At first, Indy dismisses the Grail myth as a “bedtime story” and “an old man’s dream,” fit only for gullible children and the credulous elderly, not for real men like Indy. And he tells his students, “We cannot afford to take mythology at face value.” He complains to his father that Dr. Jones’s lifelong search for the Grail is an “obsession,” adding, “I never understood it. Neither did Mom.” Despite his complaint, Indy shows the same stubborn, obsessive desire to possess antiquities as his father; both are more passionate about ancient objects than about people. Indy blames his father’s faith in the Grail for his neglect of wife and child, leading to his mother’s death and his own alienation.

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