Raiders--Deus Ex Machina?

[ivyfic]

Our 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.

Comments

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

I don't know--you could argue that Indy wants to study the Ark without opening it, analyzing its exterior and so forth but not risking the contents. In part to preserve them and in part because he knows full well how dangerous they are. Does that mean he wouldn't be tempted? Of course not. But I'm not sure he'd actually open it.

I do agree, however, that he and Marion survive purely because they don't look and so are spared the punishment such sacrilege demands.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I think the movie is trying to sell you on Indy being fundamentally different--he does it for science! He wants things to be studied in museums! But as Belloq points out, there's not that much difference between him and Indy. Belloq seems less interested in power or personal glory than in knowledge. He, too, believes things should be studied and learned. But he works for Nazis, so therefore he's bad. Nevermind that Sullah also works for the Nazis.

It's the sort of thing where the narrative structure tells me that Indy's good because he's the hero...but the narrative structure is practically the only thing delineating him. It's easier to make the case for Indy as hero in Last Crusade...

And I think in part the Deus ex machina isn't bothersome because it's clear that Indy didn't die because he followed the rules, not because he was good. God isn't fixing his problems. God is just doing exactly what the Old Testament said he would. Belloq is clearly commiting sacrilege--not only is he opening the Ark, but he's donning Hebrew vestments in a mockery of the ancient rituals. So the miracle of the ark is more like the bad guy getting killed by a land mine he stepped on, you know? I just find it interesting that this could be the clearest case I know of of Deus ex machina and yet avoid all the negative storytelling consequences of that trope by the way it is used.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

I think the difference between them is that Belloq will work for anyone, and has no problem with the Nazis using his discoveries to further their agenda. Indy won't.

But really, this is the clearest case of Deus Ex Machina you can think of? What about something like Legion? I'm pretty sure there are a few others of that order, as well. :)

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Legion. Yes, there are lots of things with god(s) at the end of them, but Raiders is pretty literal.

Is Constantine, then, a devil ex machina?

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

Probably. The Prophecy as well, if I remember rightly. And the Seventh Seal. And so on. :)

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

This is always the interpretation that I had. That, and because he was witness (sort of?) to its destructive power, he thought it probably didn't belong in the hands of any government that could use it as a weapon.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I thought, in order to be a deus ex machina, it had to come from nowhere. Like a dragon chariot from a God. Why not? What do you mean I never said such a thing existed?

Whereas the ending of Raiders is explicitly telegraphed and foreshadowed from the first image we have of the ark. You see the light beams shooting out and people cowering from it. It's clear that something's in there, and it's not friendly. It's the gun in the first act. It had to go off in the end.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

My point exactly. Deus ex machina as it has come to be known is a plot contrivance that comes out of nowhere and solves everything. But what it literally means is "god out of the machine," so I was watching the end of Raiders, where God literally descends and solves everything, and going, huh. It just shows that you can have God kill all the bad guys at the end of a story and have it not be contrived. I was just admiring the storytelling.