Inaccurate behavior by FBI agents?

TennesseBuck

New member
I find it strange that in the scene where Indy is interrogated by the FBI agents, he tells them he had no idea that Mac was a traitor since they had been on 20 missions together behind enemy lines. One agent says: "Don't throw your war record at us, we all served." I can't imagine that in the 50's, FBI agents would say such a thing, let alone today. I think they would embrace Indy's war record, rather than reject it or wonder if he deserved all his medals. Could this be Bush-era rhetoric mistakenly applied to the 50's era?
 

Dr Bones

New member
I know little of modern American history so this is just my take...

Indy served in WWI and played a role in WWII I assume but this wouldn't carry much weight with others who had also served. They did their bit as did everyone else.

Obviously Indy stands out more than others but in this paranoid period of reds under the bed, nobody was above suspicion. Accusing fingers were pointed at many upstanding US citizens.

Perhaps also the Fed was a little jealous of Indy's record in comparision to his own?

There have been many times where some in th USA have not supported the role of the armed forces for many reasons, past and present but I would consider the 50's feds would be very pro establishment and therefore unlikely to have an anti war agenda, again especially at this paranoid time.

I don't think the behaviour was wholy inaccurate, merely an overzealous fed, pursuing a line of enquiry, in the belief he is serving his country. He couldn't afford to let hero worship bias his investigation, based on the limited facts he had. It was a reasonable line of enquiry that the FBI would have taken and were too obsessed to pass over just because some old timer had some medals.

It is possible good people turn bad, or loyal people defect.

The guy thought he was doing his job.
 
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RaideroftheArk

New member
The movie was just trying to show you the heighten alert the country was on during the communistic days of yesteryear...long, long, long before Bush. Although Joseph Mccarthy was dead by 1957, read up on the paranoia that he created regarding communism in our country.

Dean Charles Stanforth makes the comment: "The government has us seeing communists in our soup." Meaning they don't trust anyone.

Also remember, characters in the Indy franchise are portrayed somewhat "cartoonish." It seemed perfectly natural in that context that these FBI agents would be acting like two bulls trying to interrogate Indiana Jones.
 
Among other things the FBI was accused ofsending letters to Martin Luther King Jr telling him to kill himself. They also outted his affair(s) via tape and letter to his wife.
 

FedoraHead

New member
You know I can't help but laugh at the FBI part, it takes me out of the film cause the one guy is the Janitor from Scrubs and was also in The Fugitive (cop shot by the one arm man) with Ford. His voice is just funny after hearing him on Scrubs so long.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
For dramatic puroposes the FBI is taking on the role of big brother, the foot soldiers in the war against the Red threat. The war against Communism is also a threat to free speech. Just like the war of terror is a threat to individual freedom: to protect you, we have to be hard on you.

The pressure is mounting on Indy. His war record was that of an operational spy, a field operative who would probably have had contact with the Soviets in his work undermining the Axis powers. That contact, from an FBI point of view, may have been the time when Indy could have become a double agent (like Mac).

Throwing his war record at the FBI would then have the effect of damning him even further as a potential Communist.
 

TennesseBuck

New member
Rocket Surgeon said:
No, read up on J Edgar Hoover, and then lets talk.

Oh, I have read about J. Edgar Hoover - he made nice and then became enemies with Nixon. I am just saying that Indy's war record might be enough, not to mention doing a service for the government like finding the Ark, to dismiss him as a threat or a Communist. Although I like the idea of Indy fighting WWII, I think making him too much of a war hero diminishes his real talent: finding artifacts. In other words, I think it would've been best to have Indy as a spy on a few missions rather than someone who won so many medals...the conception of Indy since Raiders is that he is hardly the traditional hero.
 
TennesseBuck said:
Oh, I have read about J. Edgar Hoover - he made nice and then became enemies with Nixon.

I'm curious what "he made nice" about.

My overall perception is JEH put everything after his own aspirations, most notibly the law.

His opinions of womens sufferage and equal rights pales in comparison to the blind eye he turned to organized crime.

The list of good men and women he victimized to intimidate every President from FDR to Nixon, running the closest thing to an American Gestapo, is perfect fodder for that era and their actions/motivations agains Indy.

If Indy had been intimidated, they might have used him and goated him as need be. He never gave them that chance.

Strikes me as acurate.

Abuse of power isn't merely Bush-era rhetoric...(or whatever parallel you're drawing)
 
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Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Rocket Surgeon said:
No, read up on J Edgar Hoover, and then lets talk.


Today, in contrast, the FBI and .gov have no need of such tactics. They simply taught our society in the 90's and 00's to willingly and willfully submit all that kind of info via the internet and smartphones.

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