IndyFrench
TR.N Staff Member
Hey all,
Was just thinking about Temple of Doom in the aftermath of writing "Gunga Doom" and came to a conclusion about Willie.
Clearly, Temple of Doom had to compete with Raiders as a sequel, and its tactic was to literally not compete. Instead, Temple was crafted with its own identity. It's a film that has a much zanier sense of pace and humor within the context of a horrific event.
In Raiders, we the audience follow Indy and see the film through his eyes. The story is serious and dangerous, yet not so much that the hero is untouchable for the viewer.
However, watching Temple of Doom closely, it is clear that the audience is directed through the eyes of Willie. The situations in the film are deadly to the extreme, and the entire final act of the film is a go-for-broke thrill ride of danger. Willie's reactions to all of these situations are the sounding boards for the audience. She recognizes and reacts to the absuridty of the situations and gives the viewer a sense of scope and gravity.
Indy is the straight man in the picture, the tough guy in who's hands rests the fate of many. Shorty is his loyal companion, brave of heart, and rarely fazed by the trouble around him. He keeps a cool head the whole way through, minus a few choice moments in which everyone is panicking (e.g. the plane). It is in Willie that we find the emotion, the fear, the panic, and in a strange way, the realistic reactions to such a situation.
Her reaction to Shorty's glib, "Hold on lady, we're going for a ride," as Indy prepares to send the bridge into the abyss, is the reaction any normal person would have with the realization that they were about to be hanging onto a falling, ricketly bridge for their lives.
Willie sees through the fortune and glory to the simple truths of the matter. "There are two dead people down here!", "No one's flying the plane!", "Give me your hat...Because I'm going to puke in it!"
These are grounding statements, the declarations that orient the viewer within the absurd, while Indy (and to a lesser degree Shorty), are underreacting to these moments, playing the psychologically superhuman heroes. In Raiders, Indy can be identified with all the way through, and the story reigns itself tightly within a realistic net of danger.
Temple of Doom takes the audience beyond the boundaries of Raiders into true darkness, and only Indy can get us out. To do so, Indy must become emotionally untouchable to the audience for the majority of the story, and a surrogate vehicle is needed to carry our emotions - which manifests in the form of Willie.
Yeah - these are the kinds of things I think about after grad classes.
Mike
Was just thinking about Temple of Doom in the aftermath of writing "Gunga Doom" and came to a conclusion about Willie.
Clearly, Temple of Doom had to compete with Raiders as a sequel, and its tactic was to literally not compete. Instead, Temple was crafted with its own identity. It's a film that has a much zanier sense of pace and humor within the context of a horrific event.
In Raiders, we the audience follow Indy and see the film through his eyes. The story is serious and dangerous, yet not so much that the hero is untouchable for the viewer.
However, watching Temple of Doom closely, it is clear that the audience is directed through the eyes of Willie. The situations in the film are deadly to the extreme, and the entire final act of the film is a go-for-broke thrill ride of danger. Willie's reactions to all of these situations are the sounding boards for the audience. She recognizes and reacts to the absuridty of the situations and gives the viewer a sense of scope and gravity.
Indy is the straight man in the picture, the tough guy in who's hands rests the fate of many. Shorty is his loyal companion, brave of heart, and rarely fazed by the trouble around him. He keeps a cool head the whole way through, minus a few choice moments in which everyone is panicking (e.g. the plane). It is in Willie that we find the emotion, the fear, the panic, and in a strange way, the realistic reactions to such a situation.
Her reaction to Shorty's glib, "Hold on lady, we're going for a ride," as Indy prepares to send the bridge into the abyss, is the reaction any normal person would have with the realization that they were about to be hanging onto a falling, ricketly bridge for their lives.
Willie sees through the fortune and glory to the simple truths of the matter. "There are two dead people down here!", "No one's flying the plane!", "Give me your hat...Because I'm going to puke in it!"
These are grounding statements, the declarations that orient the viewer within the absurd, while Indy (and to a lesser degree Shorty), are underreacting to these moments, playing the psychologically superhuman heroes. In Raiders, Indy can be identified with all the way through, and the story reigns itself tightly within a realistic net of danger.
Temple of Doom takes the audience beyond the boundaries of Raiders into true darkness, and only Indy can get us out. To do so, Indy must become emotionally untouchable to the audience for the majority of the story, and a surrogate vehicle is needed to carry our emotions - which manifests in the form of Willie.
Yeah - these are the kinds of things I think about after grad classes.
Mike