Is Indiana Jones bad for archaeology?

No

6 of 22

by Beverly Bart

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Is Indiana Jones bad for archaeology?

Many years ago, as a high school student picking a career, I had chosen archeology. Sad to say I found support lacking in this choice. Neither with my family nor within my academic environment did I find support. Even a guidance counselor that pretty much ridiculed me, saying, "Women do not do such things." I remember those words to this day. I had hoped my father at least would support me, but alas, that was in vain as well. It just was not an acceptable vocation.
Ashamed I am to say that I had not the backbone of my convictions and did not stand up for what I wanted. I let it slip away, the dreams of solving an ancient mystery, of being able to put the pieces of a civilization long before my time, back together for all to experience. The wealth of learning and experience of how we came to be as we are, of following a dream, I put away.

In life sometimes, through fantasies, books, and even movies, we can for a brief moment, have that which we did not in reality. By either choice or circumstances, we could not follow a dream. Such is the case for me with Indiana Jones. Okay, so Indiana Jones is a male, it is an eclectic name and after all, fitting into that would be my fantasy. Now granted there are some parts of that fantasy that for me could be edited out, but actually does not every fantasy have some basis in reality. When someone sets out to uncover a treasure, whether it is a civilization or the covenant of the arc, hardships and possible danger are of course to be considered.

A short-lived series chronicled the Indiana Jones character from childhood to adulthood. In this series, it addressed his education, his growing up in academia. How he was influenced and inspired for his later life pursuits. Often children are asked what it is they want to do when they grow up. The answer is usually guaranteed to be based upon what a child sees or experiences around him/her.
Sometimes they are relating to something they have read about or seen in a movie and it captured them. Touched within them the place where dreams and imagination are born. Where the ifs are starting to be asked, where nothing is impossible and anything is possible.

Inspiration for our lives can come from anywhere, everyday of our lives. Can that be bad? It is only if we allow the inspiration to be stifled, to be burdened down with all the negatives. In the movies, the hero does not let that happen. He is doing what he loves for the right reasons. He shows that doing the right thing, believing in what you are doing, is not always the easy thing to do. Real life is like that. This character Indiana Jones is teaching history, showing that education is how he was able to follow his dream. Maybe by purist standards this is a negative. That such endeavors is a glamorization and unrealistic and cannot possibly be anything of a benefit. Sometimes we question and analyze too much. Sometimes we spend so much time weighing the pros and cons of something and lose sight of the outcome. In a class right now, on a dig somewhere in the world, are those that read or watched Indiana Jones.
Somehow, I think they would tell you they found the glamour, the adventure, and the excitement. Who knows, maybe the beginnings of an autobiography, a retired archaeologist, will say; "I believe my fascination with digging into the past was born when I saw an Indiana Jones movie. I remember thinking, wow!" If the Indiana Jones saga inspired one person, to ask more questions, to wish to learn more, to me that is not a bad influence at all.

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