Discuss: The Women of Indiana Jones
Filed under: Action, Classics, New Releases, Paramount, Fandom, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Remakes and Sequels
If there is one thing I want to learn from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- one damn thing -- it's why the hell Dr. Henry Jones Jr. didn't end up married to Marion Ravenwood. Was she just too much for him? Or did she dump him, fed up with a man who was not only a scattered academic, but a fly-by-night adventurer? Really, that has to be a tough combo when you just want him to take you out to dinner.
With Kingdom of the Crystal Skull not only bringing back Ms. Ravenwood, but introducing the domineering Irina Spalko, I think it's high time we discussed Indy's women. Where would Dr. Jones be without the ladies? Without Marion, he probably would have been in an early grave, without Willie Scott and Elsa Schneider, he may have been spared a few extra scars.
I don't really need to sing the praises of Ms. Ravenwood here. We already know how she was the coolest sidekick of all, the sort of kickass chick who was not only unusual in 1981, but still pretty rare today. She rivals Princess Leia as one of George Lucas' finest characters. (It's rather sobering that the man who gave us Leia, Marion and Sorsha could only conjure up the broken-hearted Amidala years later. Seriously, Lucas, you burned your geek girl cred on that one.) I give Lucas the credit because my gut says it is owed him. When it comes to his action-adventure movies, Spielberg never quite spent the kind of time on his heroines like Lucas did. But he gets major props for the way his moms shine -- Spielberg knows that when you have kids, you don't immediately become a screeching moron -- even if your kids do surprise you with an extra-terrestrial.
With Kingdom of the Crystal Skull not only bringing back Ms. Ravenwood, but introducing the domineering Irina Spalko, I think it's high time we discussed Indy's women. Where would Dr. Jones be without the ladies? Without Marion, he probably would have been in an early grave, without Willie Scott and Elsa Schneider, he may have been spared a few extra scars.
I don't really need to sing the praises of Ms. Ravenwood here. We already know how she was the coolest sidekick of all, the sort of kickass chick who was not only unusual in 1981, but still pretty rare today. She rivals Princess Leia as one of George Lucas' finest characters. (It's rather sobering that the man who gave us Leia, Marion and Sorsha could only conjure up the broken-hearted Amidala years later. Seriously, Lucas, you burned your geek girl cred on that one.) I give Lucas the credit because my gut says it is owed him. When it comes to his action-adventure movies, Spielberg never quite spent the kind of time on his heroines like Lucas did. But he gets major props for the way his moms shine -- Spielberg knows that when you have kids, you don't immediately become a screeching moron -- even if your kids do surprise you with an extra-terrestrial.
Unlike a lot of fans, I was never too perturbed that Marion never returned. It made sense he had a different chick in each movie, it was a throwback to the serials, and it kept you guessing. For me, it was clear Marion was destined to be with Dr. Jones and in my own imagination; they went back and forth for years before finally settling down together. I always figured that's why she was absent from his adventures – she had a life, and didn't need to tag along. He knew where he could find her. (On the other hand, this article in Newsweek is a little alarming. How were audiences the only ones who fell for her?)
But I digress. I think it's time we examine the other women of Indiana Jones -- and I'm going to shock you all by defending the two everyone love to hate (especially the one named Wilhemina Scott).
I won't lie. As a kid, I loved her. I thought she was hilarious. I loved her musical entrance – and I still covet that dress. (And the ability to sing Anything Goes in Chinese. I think it could come in handy.) Even in adulthood, I can't muster up the incredible hate everyone feels towards her. She is annoying, certainly; she is shrill -- but she's also a throwback to the 30's, an homage to screwball comedies. She's the one average chick Indiana Jones encounters in his adventures and as such, you have to feel bad for her. She has a nice gig at Club Obi-Wan, an apartment in Hong Kong, dresses from Paris – and she somehow gets sucked into one nightmare of an adventure. How is a nightclub singer really supposed to cope with jungles, monkey brains, and tunnels full of bugs? I defy any chick, even Marion Ravenwood, not to totally flip out when someone tries to rip out your still- beating heart. Especially when the handsome archaeologist you were kind of into is just standing there watching. Knowing he was brainwashed with the Blood of Kali just doesn't make that situation any easier to tolerate. We would all be shrieking – in fact, I'm pretty sure most of us would be in the fetal position, weeping. Willie Scott manages to survive, sanity and scathing retorts intact. Maybe she even became a better person after.
And then there is Elsa Schneider. I don't particularly like Elsa, but I think she's well written. It's easy to forget that in her own way, she's a rebel. It says much about the times Indy lives in that he immediately assumes the Dr. Schneider he is to meet is a man. You could even imagine that with her cool practicality, she played on that every time she submitted a paper for publication. While she shamelessly used sex and beauty to get ahead, I'm not willing to believe she slept her way to a doctorate, because she knows her facts. She struck me as a solid academic – and one who enjoyed subverting the male expectations of a female brainiac by looking like Veronica Lake. She knew what idiots men could be – and that is how she manages to play every single man in the movie, from Donovan to Jones.
Action wise, she's just about as tough as Marion; handling fire, rats, and high-speed water chases with aplomb. Oh, she has terrible political leanings. But like Belloq, she tries to play the Nazis to get the prize, seemingly not appreciating what kinds of monsters she was dealing with. (Both scholars are what Indy could become, except that his conscience and beliefs override his desire for fortune and glory.) Unlike Belloq, I think she actually realizes it, but far too late. Like Anakin Skywalker, there is still good in her (you see it when she cries over the slain Knight of the Cruciform Sword), but she is in too deep. I think her complicity in killing Donovan is her way of atonement, as chillingly horrific as it is – and for all Indy's disapproval, it isn't like he stopped her.
To bring this all to some kind of unwieldy close, I think that when it comes to women characters, you have to give a nod of approval to Indiana Jones. The women in all three movies could have been vapid love interests, like so many Bond girls. But three films produced three unique women – and love them or hate them, they were at least recognizably human. But most of all, they held their own against Dr. Jones ... which is an adventure all by itself.
Who is your favorite?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-21-2008 @ 12:39PM
Alana said...
There really is no rivaling Marion. I love how depending on her situation or her mood, she'll either kiss Indy or slug him.
Raiders was release when I was the ripe old age of two, so I didn't see the movie until I was close to ten. It was one of my dad's favorites, and remains so, and as a result I not only got to see it, I got to see it often. I've loved the movie since the first time I saw it and the same goes for the character of Marion Ravenwood.
She's badass, drinks men under the table, quick on her feet, can get herself out of MOST situations, but occasionally needs a scruffy, fedora wearing archeologist to step in and give aid. I love that.
Upon hearing that they were going to make a new Indian Jones movie I cried out, "No! You'll taint it!!!" Then they had to go and bring Marion back. Now I'll love it whether I want to or not.
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5-21-2008 @ 1:29PM
Moo said...
Good points about Elsa. It's hard to like her (except...y'know...for the hotness) but I think she is kind-of a bizarro-Indy.
Marion is a badass and yet still sexy, probably my first movie crush. Neither of the other two compare to her.
Willie is Willie. She's grating, but you have to give her some credit for maintaining throughout. Think about it, how would any person react to going from singing in a swanky club to falling out of a plane in a rubber raft within a matter of a few hours? Then, as you say, brains, bugs, hearts ripped out, minecars. There's sterner stuff under her whining.
Great post.
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5-21-2008 @ 1:49PM
Eric D. Snider said...
Willie is among the four or five most irritating female characters I have ever seen in a movie. She almost completely ruins "Temple of Doom" for me.
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5-21-2008 @ 2:25PM
Jeffrey M. Anderson said...
It's all about Marion. I think Lucas and Spielberg payed her the ultimate compliment by giving her the ability to out-drink a grizzled mountain thug twice her size. I was always impressed by the way she banged down those shot glasses! In the new movie, she hasn't lost the edge, doing a terrific screwball comedy-style verbal battle with Indy...
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5-21-2008 @ 3:11PM
Christian said...
I will never understand why people don't like Amidala. She was the HERO of the prequels. In Episode I, she threw the Trade Federation off her planet (I laugh every time I see her telling the Viceroy "Now we will discuss a new treaty" when she only comes up to his waist).
In EpII she handled herself well in the coliseum - with NO JEDI POWERS.
In EpIII, she was in love with a whiny little brat and couldn't do too much while pregnant.
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5-21-2008 @ 3:46PM
janitor said...
The only way to watch Temple of Doom is to mute the sound whenever that woman is on-screen. It seems like all she can do is scream! I don't know why Indy didn't ditch her at his first opportunity, and go off on his adventure without her.
I like the other two, especially Marion.
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5-21-2008 @ 4:09PM
Denise said...
I'll hop on this particular bandwagon and say that Marion is, by far, my favorite. My friends and I have this game we play where we try to assign characteristics of certain people to ourselves. We say, "if we were in Lord of the Rings, I'd be Pippin and you'd definitlely be Merry,"or, "Clearly I'm the Jables to your RageCage" in reference to Tenacious D. When it comes to the women of Indiana Jones, my friend Jess and I clearly agree that I am Marion Ravenwood and she is Willie Scott. Thing is, she doesn't mind being Willie Scott-not at all. She's loud and goofy, and does have the frightening tendency to be shrill, just like Willie. But, she can also roll with the punches like Willie, make me laugh with her flailing like Willie, and has a great heart, like Willie. You can't deny that for all her bluster and absurdity, Willie Scott was alright underneath it all.
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5-21-2008 @ 4:56PM
Elisabeth said...
Denise gets it. :D
I have a Willie Scott or two in my family -- so perhaps it makes me more sympathetic too. You might want to kill them sometimes, especially if you're stranded in a strange city, but they mean well...
5-30-2008 @ 2:17AM
Rosie said...
"I don't really need to sing the praises of Ms. Ravenwood here. We already know how she was the coolest sidekick of all, the sort of kickass chick who was not only unusual in 1981, but still pretty rare today. She rivals Princess Leia as one of George Lucas' finest characters. (It's rather sobering that the man who gave us Leia, Marion and Sorsha could only conjure up the broken-hearted Amidala years later. Seriously, Lucas, you burned your geek girl cred on that one.) "
I'll give you points for defending Willie Scott, who's a favorite of mine. But for God's sake! What was up with that crappy remark about Padme? So, she died of a broken heart? So what? Do ALL Lucas females have to be obvious tough-girl types to be worthy? Aren't they allowed weaknesses?
I get so tired of people insisting upon dumping these cliched views on how fictional women are supposed to be. They either have to be the submissive type or they "kick-ass", tough-talking type. Talk about lack of originality . . . and sexism.
What I liked about Padme was that like the other characters in the SW Prequel Trilogy, she could be both strong and weak. And yes . . . even strong willed people are capable of succumbing to their personal weaknesses and demons. No one is indestructable.
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5-30-2008 @ 2:34AM
Elisabeth said...
It isn't lack of originality, or sexism. It is poor writing on the part of Lucas, and I refuse to defend it on grounds that it somehow shows a multi-faceted woman.
No mother dies of a broken heart, leaving two newborn babies to fend for themselves -- I don't have children, and I wouldn't die leaving my dog undefended. But Lucas can no longer understand something as deep as love. (I'm not even kidding, look at how he writes romance in Star Wars AND Indy 4.)
For two movies she was an intelligent, strong, quiet, elegant and capable character. Hampered by bad lines and clunky costumes, but admirable.
And then comes movie three, when she loses all of that and becomes a cipher of herself. Amidala would have gone down swinging for her children -- everything we had seen up to that argues that, NATURE itself argues that. And let's not forget that Leia remembers her mother, which means there was no good reason to kill her so sloppily anyway.
If they had left in the scene where she begins the Rebel Alliance, I may have backed off my criticism. But they didn't.
There are plenty of ordinary women in movies and books that I absolutely adore -- everyone from Lara Antipov in Doctor Zhivago, to the fragile Lily Bart in the House of Mirth. I can appreciate a well-written woman even if I agonize over her choices. Amidala doesn't fit into that category.
6-10-2008 @ 8:04AM
Ide Cyan said...
...quick point regarding Spielberg's mothers, specifically the one whose kids bring home an alien: E.T. was written by Melissa Mathison, not Steven Spielberg.
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