Sunday Reading #1: the Indy issue

What’s this I see? A new feature? Brand spanking new?

You are correct, reader. As you might have noticed, posting frequency has been below optimal, for various reasons. And to get it back up, what better than a) making a new feature, b) putting a day in the title to force me to get to it more or less weekly, and c) giving me something to post when I can’t think of any original content.

So yes, I’ve avoided linkage so far, only sometimes posting articles of interest on my tumbling log, but I do come across quite some interesting stuff you might be interested. You might, of course, also have seen it already. But who know, I might be able to provide some interesting reading material for your lazy Sunday. Sometimes, like today, the articles will have a common topic, sometimes it will be a random assortment. As for its weekliness, I make no promises, but I will do my best.

Now, what is there to read about Indiana Jones and related topics on the interwebs? My job was made easy for me thanks to a blog-a-thon, but still, I have some more surprises.

The Librarian

The battle over who’s going to get to review the new Indiana Jones sequel for filmtotaal is already raging, even if no press screening dates have been announced yet. I’m keeping out of it. I don’t want to see Indiana Jones at a press screening by myself, even if it’s bound to be full of illegally brought guests. I want to see with Indy 4 with a group of friends, of specific friends, in a crowded theatre on opening night, where we’ll hopefully get to mock it and thrill at it in equal measures.

The thing is, Indiana Jones was always a throwback with a wink, inviting you to laugh at it a little, winking at you, while at the same time offering a bigger, better version of the action scenes and heroic acts seen in old adventure serials. The enormous boulder rolling towards the hero, the macho posing: it’s not just a cliché because of Indy, it was a cliché BEFORE Indy. Indiana Jones is a mockery cum homage of the serials George Lucas and Steven Spielberg loved when they were little boys, and that’s part of what makes those movies so enjoyable.

So what happens if you double that, and pay a slighting mocking homage to Indiana Jones, without the budget, the filmmaking skills of Spielberg and, well, Harrison Ford?