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

Posted by nitzsche from 1Cust130.tnt2.provo.ut.da.uu.net on February 09, 2000 at 22:53:53:

In Reply to: The Mountain: Is Indy a LDS? Your thoughts requested. posted by Inbanana Jones 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?

Very interesting. As a member of the LDS church I find all of these observations, including those within the many reponses, to be quite enlightening. As far as Indy being portrayed in the films' subtext as Mormon--I don't know. This theory can be supported as much as it can be refuted. I am just enthusiastic that many Indyfans are extremely educated and curious about religion, history, science, languages, etc. It says a lot for the films that they can entertain, but also drive people to educate themselves. Very cool.
--nitzsche (sorry if this is flagged as the work of an imposter; it isn't! ;-))

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Came up as the real McCoy on my computer. No flag.(nm) Michaelson 13:46:13 2/10/2000 (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?

: 
: Very interesting.  As a member of the LDS church I find all of these observations, including those within the many reponses, to be quite enlightening.  As far as Indy being portrayed in the films' subtext as Mormon--I don't know.  This theory can be supported as much as it can be refuted.  I am just enthusiastic that many Indyfans are extremely educated and curious about religion, history, science, languages, etc.  It says a lot for the films that they can entertain, but also drive people to educate themselves.  Very cool.
: --nitzsche  (sorry if this is flagged as the work of an imposter; it isn't! ;-))

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