More Things in Heaven and Earth
Beginning with Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Indiana Jones series would consistently pursue a theme which suggests that there is more to life than that which can be explained by mere science. Dr. Jones, in his role as an archaeologist, is a man of science. He pursues history through scientific reason, yet is constantly confronted by the scientifically inexplicable. In his initial entry, the film pulls no punches and states assertively that the power of God is real, tangible and incapable of being explained or controlled by mere men.
Selflessness
Indiana Jones is smart, strong, clever, fearless and beholden to none. With all he knows and everything he can do, he could quite easily live like a king. Nothing is stopping him from holding any of the precious finds he uncovers on his adventures hostage to the highest bidder. For that matter, he could just as easily have offered his services to the Nazis once he realized Belloq is digging in the wrong place. Not only does Indy not give into the temptation of enriching himself as due payment for his hard work, but when he’s not cracking his whip and escaping enormous rolling boulders, he spends his days teaching at a small college. He is the ultimate example of the selfless individual who pursue his passion not for money, but for the betterment of the world.
Shutting the Doors on 1970’s Hollywood Paranoia
American film in the 1970s is dominated by a sense of paranoia. The revelation that the government lied about Vietnam and the subsequent scandals which forced Pres. Nixon to resign all contributed to a series of highly regarded films which reflect that a sense of paranoia about trusting those in power. These films are remarkably varied as they cross over period settings and genre categorization: from All the President’s Men to Chinatown and from the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers to even the Sherlock Holmes mystery Murder by Decree there can be seen in the cinema of the 1970’s a deeply ingrained distrust of the powerful. Raiders of the Lost Ark in a way seems to both literally and figuratively shut the door on that pervasive theme with its iconic final images of the dangerous Ark of the Covenant being nailed shut inside a box stenciled with the words TOP SECRET and carted for anonymous and forgotten safekeeping inside a massive government warehouse stacked with thousands of other such crates suggestively hinting at a government knowing far more than the people, but not necessarily understanding more. Placed in juxtaposition with Belloq's distrust of the Nazis he is forced to work in league with, the film ends on a note that such distrust has been motivated by the consequences of incompetence as much as outright evil.
