Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark - Leia?

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Director: Steven Spielberg

The Ark. If it is there, at Tanis, then it is something that man was not meant to disturb. Death has always surrounded it. It is not of this earth. –Sallah

You know what a cautious fellow I am.
–Indiana Jones

You wanna talk to God? Let's go see him together; I've got nothing better to do.
–Indiana Jones

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?
–Indiana Jones

I've got a feeling I'm not the first woman to travel with these pirates. –Marion Ravenwood

Netflix DVD description:

When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime. Creative minds Steven Spielberg and George Lucas created a classic with this all-time favorite, which spawned a series of commercially successful sequels and a short-lived TV show.

I'm really glad this one was on my list. I've always been scoffed at for never having seen any of the Indiana Jones movies. Now not only can I say I've seen one, I can go so far as to say I've enjoyed one. I really liked this movie and look forward to watching the others in the series.

I never realized, before reading the description that this movie had Nazis in the plot. It actually surprises me how little I know about movies this iconic. I mean, I know a movie is popular, I know maybe one or two themes, but then I find out that I'm missing a big chunk of premise and I'm always surprised. Just look back in my blogs and you’ll find a lot of "before I read the description, I didn't know…" and "until this project I never realized…" I'm beginning to wonder how I've missed so much about pop culture! But I digress…

Let's talk about Indiana and Marion. I want to like her, and I get close. But how is it that she's captured twice in one movie? She seems like a tough, self-sufficient woman, yet she needs Indy to rescue her multiple times. She actually reminds me a bit of Leia (which seriously begs a college paper to be written about it; just Googled it and found at least one other reference to a comparison of the two). Both women appear to be strong and independent; both end up needing help but struggle with admitting it; and both are in love with Harrison Ford. I don't know if that means Ford has a "type" or George Lucas does.

As closely as I watched this movie, I think I'd like to revisit it before watching the others. It's one of those movies I know I enjoyed, but can't fully piece together what happened… Perhaps next time around I'll like Marion. After all, Princess Leia grew on me eventually…

My takeaway: My knowledge of pop culture is not as strong as I once thought it was. And never travel without a whip; that thing comes in so handy!