"X never marks the spot"

This one kind of ties in with the thread "Leap of faith". In the begining of Last crusade Indy is teaching his class about the "myths" of archeology and he says (To the reader: Im not quoting him word for word but Im saying almost exactly what he said) " 70% of all archeology is done in the library, doing research. You dont follow trasure maps to lost cities and X never marks the spot..." And so on. But Indy in this descussion is saying pretty much the opposite of what he does in the field! In the begining of Raiders he is tracking down the idol with a map! And in the begining of Emperors Tomb ( Caution: Spoiler to those who havent played it) he is finding the lost city with a tresure map. Im just wondering if he was some how trying to add credibt to his... shall we say bad reputation as a grave robber. Or if he was trying to dicurage his students from taking on his dengurous methods.

Im sorry, for what ever reason, most likely through fault of my own, this thread copyed twice.

You're getting at it. While the films are (justly, to an extent) criticized for presenting an unrealistic picture of archaeology, the disconnect between the methodology as it should be and the anomalous means to ends employed by Jones and his competitors does exist in the film. It's played for irony in this particular case, of course, but there's also the perversion of a dig site exhibited in Raiders and echoed in Temple, for another example.

"Indy in this descussion is saying pretty much the opposite of what he does in the field!"

It's called literary irony... A form of foreshadowing.

For the most part, Indy is right. He's sort of the anomaly. I don't think he'd be a professor for very long if he taught his students to do what HE does.

ClintonHammond said:

"Indy in this descussion is saying pretty much the opposite of what he does in the field!"

It's called literary irony... A form of foreshadowing.

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quite right.

and it does give a nod to real archaeologists who really dont do that in the field.

"c'mon students lets go nazi killin'".....yah i dont think so
but if i were one of his students id definitly go

In the movie it's just to set up the irony joke.

But if you wanna get serious about it, probably MOST of the time X doesn't mark the spot for most every other archaeologist, but for him it kind of just happens to every now and then. Maybe he meant that even with a map, it's rarely that simple... still, it's just a set up for X LITERALLY marking the spot! lol.

I wouldn't say it's <I>just</I> irony - it's part of a general trend of demythologization of the romantic hero throughout the films, from Indy's failure to make the jump in the opening sequence of Raiders to his "fortune and glory" motivations in Temple to the civilizing influence of both Europe (as exemplified by the necktie) and his father in Last Crusade. The old "X marks the spot" trope is just another part of that loose program throughout the films.

It also, of course, points up a crucial plot point of Last Crusade, that the Grail isn't the ultimate goal, but that the father (both the Heavenly <I>and</I> the corporal) is.

Thats one of the reasons Indy is my hero, because he would (literaly) go through Hell and back for family or someone he cares for.

... And that is what proves your worth...

gear guardian said:

Thats one of the reasons Indy is my hero, because he would (literaly) go through Hell and back for family or someone he cares for.

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Once he's pushed a lot to do so, he might - it hardly seems his first instinct.

Attila the Professor said:

Once he's pushed a lot to do so, he might - it hardly seems his first instinct.

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mmmm.... nah. He might get really irritated at whoever he is trying to save but he'd do it for them.
True, he isn't perfect but.... who is?

gear guardian said:

mmmm.... nah. He might get really irritated at whoever he is trying to save but he'd do it for them.
True, he isn't perfect but.... who is?

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Don't get me wrong; I'm glad he isn't perfect. Things get most dangerous when we start acting as if that's a possibility.

Indy likes his friends, but when the going gets tough, he'd almost certainly rather be on his own and not want to have to look after anyone else.

http://raven.theraider.net/showthread.php?t=11018

Well put and very true.