Summary
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fell short of expectations, but it wasn't as controversial as its predecessor, Temple of Doom.
- Temple of Doom was banned in India and criticized for its racially insensitive portrayal of Indian culture and its "white savior" narrative.
- While Crystal Skull had its faults, including an absurd storyline with aliens, it didn't generate as much controversy as Temple of Doom's offensive portrayal of Asian cultures.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has an overall poor reputation as the most underwhelming entry in the franchise, but it isn’t actually the most controversial Indiana Jones film. There's no shortage of reasons why Kingdom of the Crystal Skull isn’t very well-liked, one of which being the criticism that it was an unnecessary story that didn’t do anything new to advance the character’s journey forward. Ultimately, it was widely considered a failure for the beloved series that fell short of expectations set by earlier films.
While Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is justifiably regarded as a divisive film, that's not to say it was a controversial or offensive movie. After all, it doesn’t take aim at any particular culture or people, but rather presents a story that most audiences found impossible to connect with and stretched way too far into the absurd. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull might be the least popular Indiana Jones movie, but one of its predecessors was much more harmful and couldn’t have been made today.
Temple Of Doom Was Banned In India
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the second movie in the franchise, was actually banned in India upon release, and the crew was even forbidden to use the country for filming the project, which speaks volumes about just how harsh the response was. Set before Raiders of the Lost Ark, the story follows Indiana as he travels to India and attempts to save a small village from the dangers of a nearby cult by retrieving a magical gem from their grasp. On the surface, it’s very similar to the rest of the series - but the decision to steep its story in Indian culture and rely heavily on Indian characters was actually taken poorly by the country’s government and community.
Temple Of Doom Is Racially Insensitive
The reason Temple of Doom is so controversial is because of its insensitive portrayal of certain races, particularly those within India. Not only does it present these people as dangerous and villainous in certain scenes, but even the Indians that Jones is trying to protect are shown as helpless and fall victim to his narrative, which was perceived as a "white savior" story. It’s a one-dimensional portrayal of the country that wasn’t appreciated upon release and holds up even worse today. What's worse, Temple of Doom is also the darkest Indiana Jones movie, touching on themes of voodoo and oppression that don’t really fit with the lightheartedness of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The opening sequence of Temple of Doom was also criticized for its portrayal of the Chinese culture, furthering the argument that it’s essentially an anti-Asian movie. In the scene, Jones is visiting a Chinese gangster in Shanghai in order to trade a precious artifact. The deal quickly goes sideways and the gangsters start shooting at Indy, until he’s forced to basically kill them all. It’s a really poor way of including other cultures in a story, which is something that other Indiana Jones movies have never really struggled with. There’s no reason Temple of Doom couldn’t have visited these countries without painting them in such violent, negative ways.
Crystal Skull Can't Compete With Temple Of Doom's Controversies
In the grand scale of things, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doesn’t even come close to the level of controversy and offensiveness that Temple of Doom managed to incite. The only aspects of the fourth installment that were problematic were its inaccessibility and absurdity, as the story does admittedly become too far-fetched and drifts away from the authenticity of the rest of the franchise. Opening on a sequence of Jones surviving a nuclear bomb by hiding in a fridge was a bold move, but it was mostly laughed off as a ridiculous moment for the movie, as opposed to something that drew real anger from audiences.
Including aliens in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a mistake, but it didn’t totally destroy the franchise in the way many audiences claimed. Indiana Jones has always been a series that borrows a bit from the science fiction genre, with the voodoo in Temple of Doom and the face-melting in Raiders of the Lost Ark both destroying the laws of physics entirely. While it’s true that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull goes much further by actually triggering the arrival of aliens on Earth, it’s certainly not as controversial as the offensive portrayal of Asian cultures in Temple of Doom.
