So here it has happened again, another strange gap in my movie knowledge has been uncovered: I've never seen any of the Indiana Jones movies.  Like with Star Wars, I'm not sure I have any explanation beyond that my parents aren't that into movies, and I was busy watching a lot of TV.  And on the whole, based on my straw poll research, in my day [reaches for cane] girls weren't really steered towards those kinds of movies; at least, before they became such huge hits.  In any case, I remedied some of this cinematic gap starting in high school, and ended up minoring in film in college.  What you may not know about many film programs though is that they tend to end their discussion of cinema around 1968 (it took so long to get to talkies in my semesters of film history that when Al Jolson spoke actual words in The Jazz Singer we clapped and wept).

In summation: what they don't teach you, usually, in film history is about Indiana Jones.  What's a girl to do?  I'm always looking to learn, so better late than never, right?  Hit the jump for what I already know about the films (pretty much zilch) and what I hope to accomplish with this series.

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Image via Lucasfilm

Because I spend a lot of time immersed in pop culture, I already knew the major plot points of Star Wars.  I was surprised at how much I didn't know though as far as the real relationships among the leads, as well as the strength of Leia as female character. Plus, a couple of memes suddenly made sense (It's a trap!)  With Indiana Jones, here's the extent of my knowledge:

  • It stars Harrison Ford
  • He wears a hat and has a whip
  • At some point he runs from a giant boulder

… and scene.  So I'm actually really looking forward to this franchise, because if I could gain that much from Star Wars even knowing as much as I thought I did, this should be really illuminating.  I'm also curious how it holds up as an action adventure tale against today's similar genre films (even within its own franchise -- I have, like in regards to the Star Wars prequels -- been told to temper my expectations about Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).  Hopefully, this may also give you guys an excuse to revisit Indy and maybe give it a fresh look. Has it held up as well as you remember?

We begin tonight, with Raiders of the Lost Ark …and look for the rest of the films all weekend.

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