Re: Marcus Brody...Man of intellect..or moron?

Posted by Shawnkara from spider-we071.proxy.aol.com on November 25, 2000 at 01:58:49:

In Reply to: Marcus Brody...Man of intellect..or moron? posted by Indy Fan 02384023 on November 24, 2000 at 16:19:30:

Indy's obvious shift in values is an interesting point and worth discussing. I think he pretty much had the "fortune and glory" mentality all along, until LC at least. As with most of his discoveries (what the films deal with, anyway) the fortune is attained from the sale of the artifacts to the museum and the glory comes when the item is displayed and he is celebrated for having put it there. ToD had to find another avenue of motives since his options were either returning the stone to obscurity (the village) or stealing it from them and selling it to the museum. Indy is not a bad guy, but he was created to be as realistic as possible with regards to his humanity. Setting out with the intention of returning the stone to the village and risking not only his life but the lives of a child and a hapless women would have seemed a bit 'goody two-shoes'. Setting him out on a selfish quest and later giving him a change of heart made him more like you and me. I was surprised, though, to see him doing a bit of privateering in the beginning of ToD; it didn't seem like him. Perhaps the diamond was an even more significant relic than the urn and would be of greater value as an archeological find. Perhaps they should have elaborated in that direction to justify what he was doing. I know this would have made me feel better about a close friend losing his life (Wu Han) than thinking he died for Indy's pursuit of personal wealth. Because of the motives set down for ToD his "fortune and glory" mentality was far more obvious than in "Raiders", but I feel it has remained pretty consistent. LC does lean more towards the "it belongs in a museum" side of his character, but I think the path to fortune and glory I noted above is in the front of his mind when he says it. Think of the scene in Donovan's showroom when Donovan explains that the tablet outlines the location of the grail. Indy never points out what an important find the tablet itself is. He simply says, "What good is it? The entire lower portion is missing." This, to me, says, "If it can't lead us to the grail it's useless." I fully understand your point of inconsistency on this matter but, in my opinion, there's a thread of consistency there. I'll leave you with something that will really have you thinking. Indy did not believe in the supernatural aspects of either the the Ark or the Shankara stones, he only believed in their historical value, questing for each with great interest and enthusiasm. However, in LC, he did not seem to believe in the Grail AT ALL, what-so-ever. We know that, historically, the actual existence of the Grail has never been proven. Was Indy's disinterest based on lack of evidence? Or, did a lifetime of coming second to the Grail in his Father's eyes leave him so bitter that was willing to forsake his "fortune and glory" nature to wash his hands of the whole affair?

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: Indy's obvious shift in values is an interesting point and worth discussing. I think he pretty much had the "fortune and glory" mentality all along, until LC at least. As with most of his discoveries (what the films deal with, anyway) the fortune is attained from the sale of the artifacts to the museum and the glory comes when the item is displayed and he is celebrated for having put it there. ToD had to find another avenue of motives since his options were either returning the stone to obscurity (the village) or stealing it from them and selling it to the museum. Indy is not a bad guy, but he was created to be as realistic as possible with regards to his humanity. Setting out with the intention of returning the stone to the village and risking not only his life but the lives of a child and a hapless women would have seemed a bit 'goody two-shoes'. Setting him out on a selfish quest and later giving him a change of heart made him more like you and me. I was surprised, though, to see him doing a bit of privateering in the beginning of ToD; it didn't seem like him. Perhaps the diamond was an even more significant relic than the urn and would be of greater value as an archeological find. Perhaps they should have elaborated in that direction to justify what he was doing. I know this would have made me feel better about a close friend losing his life (Wu Han) than thinking he died for Indy's pursuit of personal wealth. Because of the motives set down for ToD his "fortune and glory" mentality was far more obvious than in "Raiders", but I feel it has remained pretty consistent. LC does lean more towards the "it belongs in a museum" side of his character, but I think the path to fortune and glory I noted above is in the front of his mind when he says it. Think of the scene in Donovan's showroom when Donovan explains that the tablet outlines the location of the grail. Indy never points out what an important find the tablet itself is. He simply says, "What good is it? The entire lower portion is missing." This, to me, says, "If it can't lead us to the grail it's useless." I fully understand your point of inconsistency on this matter but, in my opinion, there's a thread of consistency there. I'll leave you with something that will really have you thinking. Indy did not believe in the supernatural aspects of either the the Ark or the Shankara stones, he only believed in their historical value, questing for each with great interest and enthusiasm. However, in LC, he did not seem to believe in the Grail AT ALL, what-so-ever. We know that, historically, the actual existence of the Grail has never been proven. Was Indy's disinterest based on lack of evidence? Or, did a lifetime of coming second to the Grail in his Father's eyes leave him so bitter that was willing to forsake his "fortune and glory" nature to wash his hands of the whole affair?

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