With the release of the fifth installment of the insanely popular Indiana Jones film franchise in theatres on the 30th of June this year, there have been certain heated arguments around the film, with Indian audiences planning on completely boycotting the release entirely. Harrison Ford was all set to reprise his role as the protagonist, Indiana Jones himself. James Mangold and the legendary Steven Spielberg are the creators of the film. The franchise began in the 1980s, with the movie released in 1981 titled “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
The iconic trio consisting of Harrison Ford, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg are the founding fathers of the characters and concepts featured in the film. After gaining widespread global fame and popularity among fans, they went on to make two other films after the success of the first one. A fourth installment of the franchise came in the year 2008, which was titled “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
All seemed to be going well, and even though the latest film received mixed reactions from critics at the Cannes Film Festival, true fans were still excited for its release, but it all changed after it came under attack for hurting religious sentiments, and it is safe to say that the internet was divided.
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Backlash received by the previous films
But this is not the first time that the film franchise is facing backlash from the audience. It had already offended the Indian people in the past with the release of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” The viewers had an issue with the extremely graphic violence depicted in the film but a significant part of the uproar against the film was due to the misrepresentation of the Indian culture.
Reportedly, Spielberg wanted to shoot the film in India but could not do so because of the backlash that the script was receiving. The Indian government denied Spielberg’s request to shoot the film on Indian territory, as a result of which he had to carry out the shooting process in Sri Lanka.
Latest controversy surrounding the film
The movie is already the subject of ruthless allegations, and many netizens have decided not to watch the much-awaited film, claiming that it is because it has “gone woke” in a way that none of the other films in the franchise have.
One particular dialogue from the Dial of Destiny trailer is what has so many people worried about the upcoming Indiana Jones film. Indy says to Jürgen Voller, played by Mads Mikkelsen, in the movie, “You stole it!” In response to this, Voller adds that Indy stole it just after he did. Helena, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, then states while conversing Indy, “And then I stole it! It’s called capitalism.”
Many people have conclusively decided that they won’t see the movie as a result of this one specific discussion. The dialogue of the film, according to one Fox News anchor, was “catastrophically bad.”
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Regardless of whether or not that moment is as refined and intelligent as it claims to be, it would be hard to judge without actually watching the entire film, and it would be unfair to judge the entire film based on one interaction among the characters. Many conservatives are outraged that the film is criticizing capitalism in a way that sounds “woke.”
Some online users are upset over the unfavorable portrayal of capitalism, but they’re also annoyed about the irony of hearing this kind of condemnation, especially coming from a movie produced by such an extremely large and wealthy studio like Disney.
The argument argues that not only does Disney profit from capitalism, it actively participates in it. Therefore, the artists who receive funding from the company have no right to criticize capitalism as a theory and the numerous problems associated with it.
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