![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Raiders--Deus Ex Machina?
Feb. 23rd, 2011 12:36 pmOur conductor had mercy on us last night and let us out after only one complete run through. (I think so he could have time to work with our Pontius Pilate, who had been practicing with a recording that went twice as fast and was consequently having a very hard time with his breath support on the now much longer phrases.)
Anyway. This meant that I got home in time to watch White Collar. \o/ I caught the tail end of Raiders before it started (which is a much better lead in than Law and Order:SVU, which could not be more tonally different). This got me thinking.
Is the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark a deus ex machina? On the one hand, yes, duh, big G God literally gets rid of all the Nazis. But from a storytelling point of view, not really. The theme of the movie (insofar as it has any kind of theme and isn't just a string of action sequences cobbled together) is about the hubris of both Belloq and Jones in their pursuit of this object. Throughout the movie, there are signs that this is a knowledge not meant for mankind. Even in the very opening of the movie, when Alfred Molina's character tries to steal the idol for himself, he's killed for it. Throughout the movie is this idea that selfish pursuit of these artefacts is deadly.
So when Belloq opens the Ark and is destroyed by it, it is his hubris that kills him, not God. God sweeping everything up doesn't feel like a cheat because it isn't one.
There is some hand-waviness about Indy's and Marion's survival. I don't think we're meant to believe that they were spared because they're pious--they are, very evidently, not. Instead they're spared because they don't watch, don't see the knowledge Not Meant For Man, and are therefore exempt from the punishment for it. But let's face it--if Indy had got the Ark, he would've opened it. No question. That's what he's advocating at the end of the movie--that it be studied. "Studied." Right. So despite everything he hasn't actually learned a lesson.
As a side note, the end of Raiders is always a little mysterious for me. When I was a kid, I saw Last Crusade in theaters, the first Indiana Jones movie I saw, and though I covered my eyes during the aging sequence at the end, I opened them for a millisecond and had nightmares for weeks. So when I saw Raiders and my mom warned me about the end, I wasn't taking any chances. I always left the room sometime around the time they arrive on the island. And I didn't want to take any chances of coming back in too soon, so I usually missed the entire rest of the movie. So even though I've seen Raiders many many (many) times, I've only seen the ending a few. It was something of a surprise, then, to finally watch it as an adult and realize how cheesy it all looks. ... Now that I come to think of it, it's been a long time since I saw Last Crusade, and I'm not sure I've ever seen the end with my eyes open. I should rectify that.
Anyway. This meant that I got home in time to watch White Collar. \o/ I caught the tail end of Raiders before it started (which is a much better lead in than Law and Order:SVU, which could not be more tonally different). This got me thinking.
Is the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark a deus ex machina? On the one hand, yes, duh, big G God literally gets rid of all the Nazis. But from a storytelling point of view, not really. The theme of the movie (insofar as it has any kind of theme and isn't just a string of action sequences cobbled together) is about the hubris of both Belloq and Jones in their pursuit of this object. Throughout the movie, there are signs that this is a knowledge not meant for mankind. Even in the very opening of the movie, when Alfred Molina's character tries to steal the idol for himself, he's killed for it. Throughout the movie is this idea that selfish pursuit of these artefacts is deadly.
So when Belloq opens the Ark and is destroyed by it, it is his hubris that kills him, not God. God sweeping everything up doesn't feel like a cheat because it isn't one.
There is some hand-waviness about Indy's and Marion's survival. I don't think we're meant to believe that they were spared because they're pious--they are, very evidently, not. Instead they're spared because they don't watch, don't see the knowledge Not Meant For Man, and are therefore exempt from the punishment for it. But let's face it--if Indy had got the Ark, he would've opened it. No question. That's what he's advocating at the end of the movie--that it be studied. "Studied." Right. So despite everything he hasn't actually learned a lesson.
As a side note, the end of Raiders is always a little mysterious for me. When I was a kid, I saw Last Crusade in theaters, the first Indiana Jones movie I saw, and though I covered my eyes during the aging sequence at the end, I opened them for a millisecond and had nightmares for weeks. So when I saw Raiders and my mom warned me about the end, I wasn't taking any chances. I always left the room sometime around the time they arrive on the island. And I didn't want to take any chances of coming back in too soon, so I usually missed the entire rest of the movie. So even though I've seen Raiders many many (many) times, I've only seen the ending a few. It was something of a surprise, then, to finally watch it as an adult and realize how cheesy it all looks. ... Now that I come to think of it, it's been a long time since I saw Last Crusade, and I'm not sure I've ever seen the end with my eyes open. I should rectify that.