Get off Indy’s back!
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Newsflash, everybody! The Indiana Jones films are not an accurate depiction of archaeology!!! Gasp! I know, I know. I was shocked, too. I was also shocked to learn that the fateful battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader did not take place in the Emperor’s throne room aboard the Death Star but on a soundstage in California. Also, E.T. was really a monkey in a latex suit.
Seriously, folks, it is just lame when the Associated Press tries to make a news article out of this so-not-news piece of information. Just how lame? Check out this quote:
“The reality of archaeological field work is not a lone hero dashing into hidden chambers with a bullwhip and a pistol and coming away with a priceless relic. It’s large groups of academics and students painstakingly sifting through grids to retrieve artifacts as mundane as pottery fragments.”
Here’s a news flash for the writer, Mr. David Germain: nobody wants to watch a movie about academics and students sifting through dirt for pottery fragments. Lone heroes with bullwhips and pistols are cool; academics and pottery fragments are not.
Every time a big movie comes out, writers will try to make a story out of it by “uncovering” how unrealistic it is. These writers fail to understand the purpose of movies, especially summer action movies. Their purpose is not to act as a textbook; their purpose is to entertain and then, maybe, to enlighten, to depress, or to preach. The makers of Indiana Jones never claimed to present an accurate orientation film for future archaeologists. Trying to make a story out of a non-story by pointing out that they are inaccurate is futile and, let’s face it, cheap.
When all is said and done, this practice has nothing to do with bona fide journalism. These writers are just jumping on the Indy bandwagon to get seen by web search engine users.
Chest health statistics are not new, but they are now more readily available than they ever were before.
