Raiders of the Lost Arc (Pun Intended)

One great criticism people have with Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is that they say Indiana Jones’ accomplishments do not do anything to influence the plot. As in everything would have happened exactly the same if Jones had done nothing. An episode of The Big Bang Theory explored this. After Sheldon showed his girlfriend, Amy, the movie for the first time, he challenged her to find a flaw with the movie. She told Sheldon that very same criticism--Indy did nothing to change the actual outcome of the movie. Thus, Sheldon told it to all his friends. And they were bummed thinking their perfect movie was destroyed. Thus, they kept trying to find some sort of way to explain this “Fault”.

I want to call bologna on that. Bologna that this “Plot hole” is even a fault. So what… I say. So what if he doesn’t affect the outcome? I know everybody in the literary circles talks about having active characters, or characters that influence the story. But, sometimes that's not life. Sometimes we don’t influence the large scale controversies in life. I get it. So often we want to sit there and think, “Why does it matter if I do anything, if it what I do doesn't get any results? If what I do doesn't change anything?”

And that's where I'm afraid of where we so often tie our meaning. Results. “Actions only matter if they get results!” So often we tie the meaning of our actions into getting the results we want, or having our actions somehow make sort of difference in the world, or some sort of legacy. How many people go through life just living in despair, because their actions make no impact? Or don’t ultimately change anything?

Yes, everything in Raiders of the Lost Ark would have turned out exactly the way it did if Indiana Jones had done nothing. The ark would have fallen into the Nazi hands. It would have killed those who opened it… (In fact, I heard one argument that suggested if Indiana Jones hadn’t tried so hard to get the ark, it would have flown directly to Hilter… Thus, it would have killed the dictator right off, as opposed to a few lesser schmoes. But to those people I would say, “It’s a movie, ya’ll!!)

Regardless, I want to shift my ramblings to an actual point. Jone’s arc… not ark. Perhaps Jones’ relationship with Marion was the more important thing. Or his evolution as a person? Is how Jones changed the story as important as how the story changed Jones? In the face of evil, are we supposed to do nothing, when our actions cannot possibly affect any outcome?

No.

We are still morally obligated to take action. Regardless of the results...regardless of whether we get results. Sometimes it's not how the actions lead results, but how our actions change us. How did Jones actions, change him? In fiction, how a character evolves is called a character Arc. Jones’ ark was his arc.

All this think of Raiders, reminds me of a quote by CS Lewis concerning prayer. “I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me.” I think that is really the crux of what Lucas and Spielberg were hinting at in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Sure, it ends in a deus ex machina (God out of the machine), or in the movie’s case “God out of the box”. But that’s the point, it's not how our actions have to get results. But how our actions change us.

Ultimately, a changed world is irrelevant if there is no changed hearts.