The Mountain: Is Indy a LDS? Your thoughts requested.

Posted by Inbanana Jones from spider-wg083.proxy.aol.com on February 09, 2000 at 04:29:52:

Points of fact (in "movieland, anyway"):
*Indy is an archaeologist.
*Indy lived for some undetermined time in Utah (LC).
*Indy obsessed with occult, conversant with religious, esp. Christian traditions.
*Indy's poppa has strong religious convictions, hopes son will too (LC).
*Indy not overly dedicated to monogamy.
*Indy easily drawn to obsessive quests with finding the "truth" of history, elements of faith demonstrated in fact (esp. LC).
*Indy obsessed with carrying his interpretation of history to others (esp LC).
*Mountain motif common in films, as is penetration into mountains to gain knowledge/insight.

Ok, maybe I'm full of horse pucky, but the above (especially the apotheosis implied in "Last Crusade") makes me wonder: is Indy a Mormon? Of course this was never stated explicitly, but my half-cocked interpretation finds parallels with elements of Latter Day Saints, resulting in a picture of Indy that is almost a sterotype or parody of Mormon character. To wit: strong religious traditions propagated via male descent; extreme interest in archaeology as way to prove Mormon tenet that Native Americans were formerly an "advanced culture" that fell into primitivism when they rejected word of god; interest in religious traditions as means to find common threads originating in Mormon theology; flight from flat Midwest into the heart of the mountains of Utah to find paradise on Earth and refugia from persecution/ignorance.

This is NOT meant as an affront to any group or person; I was truly struck while watching LC by these thoughts. It almost seemed as though the film's writers were trying to project a subtle religious subtext to the character than went beyond the overt Christian display.
Any thoughts?

Follow Ups:

Re: The Mountain: Is Indy a LDS? Your thoughts requested. nitzsche 22:53:53 2/09/2000 (1)
- Came up as the real McCoy on my computer. No flag.(nm) Michaelson 13:46:13 2/10/2000 (0)
Scottish Ancestry GCR 14:15:56 2/09/2000 (2)
- Re: Scottish Ancestry graml 15:35:28 2/09/2000 (1)
  - atheism GCR 03:19:05 2/11/2000 (0)
Re: Nope, afraid not... the Fiddler 12:07:41 2/09/2000 (3)
- Corrections to above (read this instead): the Fiddler 12:17:24 2/09/2000 (2)
  - Re: Corrections to above (read this instead): outside observer 12:48:21 2/11/2000 (1)
    - That's not necessarily true... the Fiddler 15:26:29 2/11/2000 (0)
Re: Is Indy a LDS? Chantry 11:24:29 2/09/2000 (0)
Re: The Mountain: Is Indy a LDS? Your thoughts requested. graml 07:38:26 2/09/2000 (0)

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: Points of fact (in "movieland, anyway"):
: *Indy is an archaeologist.
: *Indy lived for some undetermined time in Utah (LC).
: *Indy obsessed with occult, conversant with religious, esp. Christian traditions.
: *Indy's poppa has strong religious convictions, hopes son will too (LC).
: *Indy not overly dedicated to monogamy.
: *Indy easily drawn to obsessive quests with finding the "truth" of history, elements of faith demonstrated in fact (esp. LC).
: *Indy obsessed with carrying his interpretation of history to others (esp LC).
: *Mountain motif common in films, as is penetration into mountains to gain knowledge/insight.

: Ok, maybe I'm full of horse pucky, but the above (especially the apotheosis implied in "Last Crusade") makes me wonder:  is Indy a Mormon?  Of course this was never stated explicitly, but my half-cocked interpretation finds parallels with elements of Latter Day Saints, resulting in a picture of Indy that is almost a sterotype or parody of Mormon character.  To wit:  strong religious traditions propagated via male descent; extreme interest in archaeology as way to prove Mormon tenet that Native Americans were formerly an "advanced culture" that fell into primitivism when they rejected word of god; interest in religious traditions as means to find common threads originating in Mormon theology; flight from flat Midwest into the heart of the mountains of Utah to find paradise on Earth and refugia from persecution/ignorance.

: This is NOT meant as an affront to any group or person; I was truly struck while watching LC by these thoughts.  It almost seemed as though the film's writers were trying to project a subtle religious subtext to the character than went beyond the overt Christian display.
: Any thoughts?

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