Lambonius said:
It's not like the original trilogy is apolitical, though. For its time, it's actually pretty explicitly progressive, especially Raiders.
A Jewish director puts together a film about a heroic academic with literal Nazis as the bad guys, with fleshed out, diverse characters, both male and female, and from different nationalities that were commonly one-note stereotypes in the original serials that inspired it.
Hello, Lambo.
Don't mean to be so contrary but I disagree with you. The original trilogy wasn't as 'explicitly progressive' as you imply.
"Doom" made a bold choice putting a Chinese kid as Indy's sidekick but it still had its (now-problematic) dinner scene and also featured a
blonde bimbo for the leading lady. Back in 1984, Leonard Maltin on
Entertainment Tonight called her, "a silly, outmoded, dumbbell stereotype".
Here's my recording.
As for fleshing out one-note stereotypes, there are exceptions, but
almost all characters in the serials are cardboard cut-outs, regardless of race, sex or status. It's not that progressive to flesh out diverse characters if the white-knight hero needs fleshing out, too, no?
Sure, Sallah was treated with respect in "Raiders" but he was still played by a white guy like countless other Arabic roles in the past. (Come to think of it, Rhys-Davies' performance in "Crusade" could possibly be one of the last times that's ever happened. Anyone know?)
Disney received backlash for casting Johnny Depp as Tonto in 2013. Consider the reaction if a similar thing was done for Indy 5.
Lambonius said:
Look at Salah, for example. In the classic 1930s serials, a character like his, the fez-wearing "ethnic" sidekick, would be a walking punch line.
No-o-o-o.
From the
45+ serials that I've seen, comedy is exceptionally rare and ethnic sidekicks are even rarer. "Terry and the Pirates" is the only one I know of with ethnic sidekicks (two Asian guys). They get involved in scraps, often saving the day.
If humour does show up in the classics cliffhangers, it's usually confined to brief, cute scenes with animals. Otherwise, it's placed in the very last scene of the final episode so that all of the winners can stand around laughing. The only one I know of where an ethnic character is the butt of such a closing joke scene is, "Daredevils of the Red Circle", which ends with a black butler (a very, minor character) getting his head caught in a secret, sliding door. OK, admittedly, the guy's name is
Snowball and he does say, "Sumbaddy git me outta heeyah!", but it's the only instance I know of...and there are other serials that end with white guys in similar, embarrassing predicaments.
Do you have any examples of walking-punch-line-ethnic-sidekicks in the serials?
I'd like to know which titles. Otherwise, it must be said that you're dead wrong about this.
Lambonius said:
The same could be said of Marion--she had her damsel-in-distress moments in Raiders, but mostly she was presented as fully formed and capable, every bit Indy's equal.
Women from serials of the '30s-'50s were smart, brave & daring babes who even got to rescue the male hero once in awhile. Some stories even had a woman in the lead role and others had female lead villains commanding a bunch of men. If those dames ran into trouble, it's because they were gutsy enough to get themselves there (usually). You won't find many hapless, Fay Wray types among them.
It's easy to see why Marion could be viewed as progressive in 1981, however, the only difference between her and heroines of the '30s-'50s serials is that she had personality (and an unglamorous introduction)!