Monday, May 26, 2008

Indignant over Indiana's Indulgence


As the Indiana Jones franchise, the fourth in the series, topped the Memorial day weekend grossing 101 million plus the 25 million on its Thursday opening; members of Russia's Communist Party have raised protests over the film's storyline and have called for a boycott of the movie. The Russian Communists averred that the movie aims to undermine communist ideology and distort history. But Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas, 3 of the richest men in Hollywood, are unfazed by the Russian objections. They delight in the unkillable nature of their aging hero from the 30's to the 50's and would bet on his box office success even if the end is predictable.

The film opened in Russia on Thursday, and Party members in St. Petersburg slammed the film's opening scene about a raid by a Russian secret agent in Nevada's Area 51, to find a skull with mystic powers to be used for terrorizing the free world. The Party spokesman stated that the Soviet Union did not send terrorists to the United States in 1957, but launched a satellite (the Sputnik) which evoked the admiration of the whole world. Nineteen years since the last Indiana Jones film, the Russians have yet to get used to the excesses of Hollywood and the great lengths its movie makers will go to make unverified events into exaggerated fantasies that look like it was based on reality.

Moscow Communist lawmaker Andrei Andreyev complained that it is very disturbing if talented directors want to provoke a new Cold War. However, this kind of statement is saber rattling based on a film meant solely for entertainment, not a serious political statement. Ford, Spielberg, and Lucas are far from being concerned with creating a cold war. They are laughing all the way to the bank to count all the cold cash they will make out of an old formula that attracts fantasy lovers to their make believe stories. But not everything is make believe. The money is for real.

Haaarrrrwwwwwk...Twooooooph...Ting!

6 comments:

jc smith said...

Upon watching this on CNN, I got the impression that those are politicians about to lose the vote.

Kim said...

hi Durano
hmmm maybe they can give the Russians a royalty ;)
actually I'm looking forward to seeing the film...
I'm a fan of Harrison Ford from way back :)

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi JC,

What you're saying is they were just trying to get attention to themselves by attempting to stir up something confidential eh?

Something that was like the Desperate Housewives series and the doctors from to Philippines line, protesting it to deflect the issues facing the government?

Yes, I suppose that's true. Politicians, regardless of ideology are all alike. Sometimes I really wonder what they are so against each other for (right - left conflict) when they have so much in common with each other.:-)--Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hello Kim,

I am also a great fan of this series and all of us (my kids and I) have scheduled to see it as one group.

It's actually a take off from those early television series where the "hero" seems to die at the close of the segment, only to be shown in the next installment how he managed to escape and survive. I remember a series with the title "Don Daredevil Rides Again" was one such show that used the technique so kids will continue to watch the week after. But we got tired of it to the point that we were discussing how he was going to get away; until we disregarded the series altogether.

The wit and humor of the Indiana Jones series has always been crisp, and what I like best are the chase scenes and dangerous near death scrapes. As for the storyline, well it's always been predictable.

Have a pleasant week Kim! :-) --Durano, done!

SheR. said...

Durano!!!
Was watching reruns of all the Indiana Jones' on Croatian TV for weeks. So boring!! I didn't understand why I like them so much.
Sorry no more Harrison Ford for me.

See I'm not Calista Flockhart. :P

Russians? What should I say.. I got to know a couple in London. My impression of them? Still pretty conservative society.

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Sher,

Bored with Harrison Ford? Wow! He can be boring during interviews, and never was a person to say much. But his films, not the Indiana Jones movies, are quite interesting. "Regarding Henry" is a good one he made.


Russians tend to be conservative because they have been under strict discipline by a militarist communist regime. It will take maybe another 15 to 20 years before they become more adapted. But Putin's rule could also turn the clock back several years. :-) --Durano, done!