Why wouldn't Marion tell Indy she had a son?

M

Montana Smith

Active member
Attila the Professor said:
Is the distinction not clear? Comedies can still take their characters seriously; any kind of storytelling can.
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Yes, the distinction is whether the creators are seriously asking the viewer to invest in the characters or not.

In Raiders they certainly did. It's especially evident in the bar scene following Marion's supposed death. Some action movies would just gloss over the grief because it's a difficult subject. Instead the 'hero' would just go on a hot-blooded revenge spree.

With Marion's return in KOTCS I didn't get any sense of the deeper relationship. She seemed to be there as a crowd pleaser, and to present Indy with his successor and a twist on TLC's themes of responsibility.
 
Cole

Cole

New member
Attila the Professor said:
Is the distinction not clear? Comedies can still take their characters seriously; any kind of storytelling can.
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Misread, but still kinda the same thing. 'Skull' has a different tone but I don't think they took the characters and their relationships any less seriously. It's more about the tone of the two films that differ in their intensity and lightheartedness.
 
Attila the Professor

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Cole said:
Misread, but still kinda the same thing. 'Skull' has a different tone but I don't think they took the characters and their relationships any less seriously. It's more about the tone of the two films that differ in their intensity and lightheartedness.
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But they're not the same thing. Last Crusade takes a substantial step towards the comedic, but much of the humor is character humor, especially that rooted in Indy and Henry's relationship with each other. That rooting allows their relationship to be treated substantively in moments of comedy, moments of drama, and moments that combine the two. The moment that you rightfully pointed out as excellent in a recent post - the exchange ending in "Indiana? Indiana? Let it go" - is one dependent on groundwork laid by the "Junior" gag throughout the film.

It's the difference between the Ming vase bit, which is specific to these father-son academics with an emotional gulf between them, and Marion's fencing coach bit, which has nothing to do with her but rather could have been applied to any mom character. That's what I mean by calling it a bit based on a type rather than an individual character trait. One is serious comedy, both funny and meaningful. The other is just dumb, and not especially funny.
 
Cole

Cole

New member
Attila the Professor said:
But they're not the same thing. Last Crusade takes a substantial step towards the comedic, but much of the humor is character humor, especially that rooted in Indy and Henry's relationship with each other. That rooting allows their relationship to be treated substantively in moments of comedy, moments of drama, and moments that combine the two. The moment that you rightfully pointed out as excellent in a recent post - the exchange ending in "Indiana? Indiana? Let it go" - is one dependent on groundwork laid by the "Junior" gag throughout the film.

It's the difference between the Ming vase bit, which is specific to these father-son academics with an emotional gulf between them, and Marion's fencing coach bit, which has nothing to do with her but rather could have been applied to any mom character. That's what I mean by calling it a bit based on a type rather than an individual character trait. One is serious comedy, both funny and meaningful. The other is just dumb, and not especially funny.
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Humor is humor. The fencing bit isn't as funny as the Ming vase bit because it's not as funny and not as clever; no further analyzing is necessary.
 
Rocket Surgeon

Rocket Surgeon

Guest
Really?

Cole said:
Humor is humor.
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Not all of it is funny.​
 
Attila the Professor

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Cole said:
Humor is humor. The fencing bit isn't as funny as the Ming vase bit because it's not as funny and not as clever; no further analyzing is necessary.
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Way to shut down the conversation...

Do you really think that the fencing gag has anything to do about Marion herself? And that it has nothing to do with the fact that she's a mom now so they now see lame, derivative "every mom is a soccer mom" jokes as suitable?
 
Cole

Cole

New member
Attila the Professor said:
Way to shut down the conversation...

Do you really think that the fencing gag has anything to do about Marion herself? And that it has nothing to do with the fact that she's a mom now so they now see lame, derivative "every mom is a soccer mom" jokes as suitable?
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I don't think it's much of a topic.

Marion's a mom. She's enthusiastic about her son. I don't see it as inapporopriate.
 
Brooke Logan

Brooke Logan

New member
michael said:
Seriously, why wouldn't she?

I'm looking for really good excuses.

It's the main thing that irks me from KOTCS.
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It didn't make sense to me and this is one of the things I didn't like about Crystal Skull.

I thought it was out of character for Marion to hide something like that. It seems almost cruel to me, to deny Indy knowing he had a child so Indy never got to partake in any part of his own son's childhood.

Especially because Indy and Marion were almost married and obviously had a very serious relationship.

I could see Willie Scott doing something like that (although I think she too would have too big a heart to hide Indy's own child from him), because she and Indy didn't have the long-term relationship so she might think he wouldn't want the child. Or another woman that he had a short fling with hiding it from him.

But Marion, I just can't see her doing that. To deny a parent the chance to know their child is a very serious wrong imo. Indy isn't perfect but it's not like he's some horrible person that a mother wouldn't want him to know she has their child....
 
I Don Quixote

I Don Quixote

New member
I would of at least told him about Mutt. Whether he chose to come into their lives or not would be his choice. But this was also a time where being a single mother wasn't looked too kindly upon. Marion did what she thought would protect her and Mutt from redicule, and that was to keep him from a man who she felt couldn't be trusted, and became married to Colin. When he died, Ox came in and helped her raise him.
 
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