About Temple of Doom's dinner scene.
 

Are Hindu people really into eating monkey brains, snakes and beetles? or was the movie racist towards the people of India?

I seem to remember that in the book, Indy had his suspicions aroused because the meal didn't seem to be very Hindu friendly.

I don't think it was actually a racist jibe at them. Just a chance in an "exotic" location to do something a bit more exotic and obscure with a meal scene.

And they wanted them to have really disgusting food. Like with much of Indy's adventures, it's a little over the top and a bit comic book-ish.

There's an explanation from somebody (maybe Marshall) to be found in Empire magazine's Raiders 25th Anniversary edition...


From what I recall, the joke was that non-Indians and outsiders ignorantly believe such 'delicacies' constitute 'food' in their country, so that's exactly what Indians would feed any foreigners as a revenge for such assumptions...

No... I don't believe Lucas/Spielberg set out to make a movie that was somehow more "racist" than the other two, at least not intentionally. The only "Hindu" people you see eating monkey brains, snakes and beetles are the ones actually in Pankot Palace, and more than likely part of the Thuggee cult themselves. The dinner was probably meant to scare off "unexpected guests", and to tell the audience "somethings not quite right with this place". Plus, it was also probably meant to serve as comic relief to break the tension at that point in the movie...

I doubt any of those people were actual Hindus anyway. As Inbanana said, they were probably there for the Thuggee ceremonies.

As a Hindu, I can definitely tell you that we don't eat that kind of stuff. Actually most of us are pretty strict vegetarians. Indian diets generally consist of vegetables and lentils.

I recall reading somewhere (Novelization? Production notes?) a scene in which Indy and I believe Blumburt discuss the odd cuisine and that "no devout Hindu would even touch" such "food." It goes well with the scene in which Willie would've made it back to the palace after seeing the sacrifice and Shorty's capture, going to Lal for help. As ststed above, it also goes in the vein of Indy's larger-than-life adventures. Classic scene!:up:

If the meal is so "out of this world and amiss" why does the Maharajah act as though it isn't even happening. He was not Thuggee yet. Also I know that monkey brains are eaten over there. I don't know about the other stuff though. I never got too much more out of the scene other than the whole film is rather dark and gross at times. Maybe there's more to the scene than meets the eye, but it certainly in no means is racist.

Uh... No. To my knowledge, that isn't true. And don't go giving me "video evidence." The video is from Faces of Death and is a known (and obvious) fake of which there is further video from behind the scenes exposing the fake. This is nothing but folklore as far as I know.

I'm not talking about faces of death. Monkeys are a source of food for certain countries due to the overpopulation of the animal and small amount of food people have. Many amazon tribes eat monkeys and their brains as well. I certainly have no concrete evidence of anything. I'm going strickly by what I've read and heard. If it isn't true then it isn't true. Oh and bugs...thats not a big deal. I watched my boyscout leader eat one. Lots of protein. You get lost in the woods,You better learn to eat some worms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_brain

I've seen that page.

Congratulations, you just linked me to Wikipedia! You've just won a complete loss of credibility!


:rolleyes:

People from China and other countries all say that the monkey myth is just that... a myth.


Now in Cannibal Holocaust (as that page mentions), I do believe they eat the monkey's brains (I don't recall any cuts in the scene though I can check later--the actual monkey slaughter is real). But I'm talking regular, habitual ingestion, not a one-off deal. And to that, I'm fairly certain, there is no evidence to the fact.

The Maharahja probably was involved at this point - but keeping it under wraps. That was my impression (unless the "comics/books say he isn't, blah blah).

If that is the case - that he isn't, then it is safe to say the Maharahja's meal
isn't "outlandish" in his eyes and it is a regular thing for them, or as said above, they are eating it in company of guests to play up to the misconception they eat such things normally in "revenge" for people's misconception on the topic.

As for monkeys bein eaten, tribes do eat them...not sure about the brain. And even if they did - Amazon tribes and Indians are slightly different... !

As I said earlier. I am going by what I have read. You know just as much as me as far as I'm concerned. Honestly, unless you live there, neither of us can say what is true.


Yeah I know the difference between the two people.

I've always been under the impression that the Maharaja was in fact under the influence already of the Thuggee. Note the furtive glance full of meaning between Chattar Lal and the young ruler. That kid was covering for the cultists when Indy and Blumburt got too nosy in their questioning.

My question is this: Didn't Indy worry about offending anyone at the Palace? I don't recall him eating anything at dinner...;) Of course, I don't think Lal, the Maharaja, or Blumburt did either. I wonder if Lal made a run to Mickey D's afterward...:p

It's just a bit of fun there's nothing racist about it I don't think.

My favorite part of the scene has nothing to do when the food- when Indy is asked about what body part he nearly lost.

The reason why I do not believe the Maharaja was under the thuggee yet was because he is chained down during the heart rip and he is freaked out once he sees Mola Ram. Mola Ram then smiles largely when he sees the reaction of the Maharaja.

As a kid Steven Spielberg loved to scare and prank people. Especially his sisters. So when he started making films he had a chance to this on a screen now. This has continued through his whole career and with an opportunity so open to do it in ToD who would'nt take it!

I'm sure Indian people were P'oed at this movie at the time as they thought this movie made Americans or other people think of their culture as this.

It's in Thailand they eat that **** not India.

From


To


That must have been some trip for the better part of a year and a half...

Maybe it was a mushroom-related trip, like when you visited Farmer Maggot and his doggies, Rocket?

Staying on the topic of food, the scene was depicting the peculiar favoured diet of Mola's Thuggee cult, of which the Maharaja was already a member (at least in the novel his eyes glow when he confronts Short Round during the meal). As has already been noted, Blumburtt stated that no devout Hindu would eat such food.

It's all an indication that things are not as they should be.

If I could change one thing about the Indy films, it wouldn't be the Tarzan monkeys (that would be the second); it would be correcting the omission of the "no devout Hindu would eat this stuff" conversation. It would have saved the film so many headaches, and as it is it does play as at least a little bit racist.

I think Temple is too short myself, they could've left allot of good stuff in there.

Yes, Attila, it would have added a layer of depth that is lacking. In the script it's Indy who says: "Even if they were trying to scare us away, a devout Hindu would never touch meat. Makes you wonder what these people are..."

Temple of Doom is marked by its gross-out moments - the food, the bugs, the blood-drinking, the heart-ripping, the flapping skins. It really is a black comedy mixture of graphic shocks and cartoon slapstick. The novelization displays more depth and feeling.

I know that the film is a pastiche of earlier books and films, in which the white man is supreme and the natives are merely foils for his exploits. Whilst moving filming from India to more liberal Sri Lanka gave Lucas and Spielberg greater freedom, and that freedom seemed to go unchecked - I don't believe their intention was ever intentionally racist, but they were carried along on the wild ride of adventure, just as much as the characters were in the mine cart.

The redeeming features would be Indy's initial reluctance to help the Indians (beyond finding the Sankara Stones for his own satisfaction), and Short Round's central role in making the slave esape possible. Nevertheless, the result, as you say, Attila, does play out as a little racist (which could so easily have been corrected by what was already in the script).