Will New Indiana Jones Movie Be Good for Peru? Probably Not
Set for its world premiere today at the Cannes Film Festival, and then its wide release on Thursday, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will feature Peru prominently in its story. One preview for the movie shows a plane flying over the Nazca Lines and according to another the characters will also take their quest to find the Crystal Skull into Peru’s jungles. Looking back at the past Indiana Jones movies, Peruvians should hold their breath before cheering the arrival of Indiana Jones in theaters.
While the Indiana Jones movies are unquestionably exciting as movie going experiences, they also unfortunately have often portrayed developing and non-western countries in a very negative light. The most striking example of the tendency is how the country of India is portrayed throughout Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. If you’ve seen the movie, then you most likely remember the striking scene where Indiana Jones and his cohorts are offered monkey brains as a delicacy inside the palace of a local person of prestige. Soon thereafter, the heroes find themselves in a secret passageway teeming with insects right next to a bedroom.
These, of course, are just a few examples of how India is treated as a destination. Probably the biggest insult though is the most dramatic and memorable aspect to the movie. A cult leader in the Temple of Doom rips peoples’ hearts out with his bare hands, in preparation for human sacrifices. I was a kid at the time that I first saw the movie. I think if I had seen it as an adult, all of these things would have made me want to jump right on a plane to India.
If you still aren’t believing that the Temple of Doom and other Indiana Jones movies have had some, to put it nicely, cultural deficiencies, check out this scholarly assessment of how Indiana Jones movies have tended to be racist. Other critics have also seen the movies as pro-American propaganda:
The tales of Indiana Jones are tales of knighthood, modernizations of medieval chivalric romances in which America stands in for the Arthurian court, the Third World becomes the forest of adventure, and the Nazis or Thugees function as hostile knights to be defeated in an effort to recuperate and reaffirm America’s cultural destiny.
So what does this mean for Peru? If the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull portrays Peru negatively, this might create a downtrend in tourism to Peru. Tourism is vitally important to Peru’s economy, and also to conservation of its archaeological and natural treasures. According to Peru’s National Institute of Natural Resources, approximately 93% of international tourists visited at least one protected area (e.g., national park) during their visits in 2002. These visits help boost international awareness and support for conserving and protecting the world treasures found in Peru.
There are quite a number of potential ways that the Kingdom of Crystal Skull might slight Peru and its people. Given that part of the movie’s events will take place in the Amazon rainforest, it’s very possible that its ecosystems will be treated as exotic and foreign, teeming with unpleasantries such as dangerous insects, snakes, and hostile, savage natives. A preview for the movie, in fact, shows some form of indigenous-looking characters, that Indiana in narration refers to as the “living dead.” Of course, this probably won’t inspire many viewers to want to visit the rainforests of Peru. Nor will the film’s potential depiction of challenges in urban environments, transportation needs in the country (will we see llamas?), and its treatment of food offerings necessarily appeal in a positive way to viewers. Right now, I am imagining someone offering guinea pig to Indiana and his amigos and this being used as a point of grotesque humor for audiences. Can you believe they eat that? Gross!
The movie’s plot is also rumored to in some way to involve aliens. There are quite a few archaeological sites in Peru that have theories about aliens associated with them, such as the aforementioned Nazca Lines. I’m not sure how this potential aspect to the film would reflect upon Peru. Peruvians do tend to find amusement and interest in these alien possibilities. One example of such amusement is shown in this humorous commercial for a beer named after the famous archaeological site of Caral. It remains to be seen if this potential alien aspect to the Indiana Jones story might actually be something positive to inspire tourism and interest in Peru.
In the end, perhaps what audiences will care about most is whether or not Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull is any good, and if an aged Harrison Ford still has his Indy-mojo. Peruvians, however, should hope that millions of people around the world will walk out of theaters over the next few weeks with a positive feeling toward Peru, rather than a possible thought of “I’m glad I never have to go there.” I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.
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Photo Credit: David James/Paramount Pictures
I seriously doubt very many people will even realize that the movie is set in Peru. Even with an informative caption “Peru, circa 1957″ this probably will not register with most viewers. Also, who cares?
I loved Peru when I visted last year and have great respect for the people. I also love the Indiana Jones movies but have never based my travel plans upon any of them. Everyone knows that these movies are not contemporary “snap shots” of the countries in which they are filmed. They depict the era before and during World War II. The movies are not the issue. The issue for tourists is Peru’s ever changing political climate and whether or not they will be safe during their stay.
Everybody knows that movies, advertisements, and other types of media shape and influence our perception about the world. If you did not realize that, just think a little bit about what are the first thoughts (and from where they came from) that come to your mind about: Central Park in New York, or Hawaii or Colombia. There is nothing wrong to try to think out of the box and make a little mental exercise to think beyond “It is Just a Movie”, or “it is just for fun”.
It is hard to foresee the impact on the Peruvian tourism industry, without seeing the movie. However, based on Indiana Jones’ previous films it might have an impact on the subconscious of viewers about Peru. If this impact is positive or negative, it will depend on the way that the filmmakers portray Peru. I hope that the film will be great and that it will make a positive impact on Peru.
Levi: interesting article…..but don’t worry about Peru. Peru is on its way to being one of the leaders in Latin America….a magnet for tourism and foreign investments. I think tourists are looking for exotic, fascinating destinations like Peru. I don’t think this movie will have a negative effect on potential travelers to the “Land of the Incas”. Do you know we have the oldest city in the Americas?…that is Caral, approximately 5,000 years old! That makes Peru, my native country, a cradle of civilization. “Fill your six senses….come to Peru!” (from the PromPeru campaign).
India’s government refused to let Spielberg & co. film Temple of Doom in India because of the bits they thought were offensive. They had to do it elsewhere.
That said, it’s one thing to take apart the movies academically, but it’s another thing to suggest that its narratives would affect something like tourism. Movies like this don’t create new stereotypes, they reinforce old ones by dealing in shorthand. I don’t think Americans (b/c that’s who you’re actually writing about, no? Surprise: other people watch these movies/travel) have enough stereotypes of Peru to actually have bad ones. The only ones I can think of are 1) Ruins and 2) a very much indigenous population. You can’t really play the first one negative — if anything I would say you’ll see a jump in people visiting Machu Picchu, like James pointed out above — and in terms of the latter, some of the early reviews I’ve read actually credit Spielberg for ditching some of the eye-poppingly cringe-worthy portrayals of natives from the past movies. Yes, they seem like they’re out for Indy’s head, but if you were dealing with a guy who’s essentially a looter with a Ph.D., wouldn’t you be too? They look like they kick the crap out of the Americans, and I think that’s pretty badass. I have one Indian-American friend who likes to play the iconoclast in these arguments, and winkingly say that Temple of Doom makes his people look tough.
Anyways. Interesting analysis, but I think if this movie is going to do anything to tourism, it will bring more people to Peru.
Perú was protrayed like a central american country, not like a south american one. There are a lot of inaccuracies regarding the geography of the Nazca Lines, the music heard at the peruvian market, the languages spoken by the natives, the ruins found nearby the amazon river, etc, etc. It is just a movie, of course, but seriously, it’s not hard to do a little research. Not all spanish speaking countries look and sound like Mexico. Seriously.
I love guinea pig…cuy…yummy, yummy.
To Luis Morales, Danny Glover CHOOSE to play the part of a bad guy in the Color Purple. No one put a gun to his head. It was another payday for Mr Glover. Stop hating the white man, OK ?
Your comments are interesting, but the era that Indiana Jones was different then ours. To make modern morals and culture is wrong to the movie audience. In the end it is suppose to be entertainment not a college study course.
In an interesting turn of events, Harrison Ford rips his chest hair out to save the rain forest: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=KXOTgRH5uJY