Was the latest Indiana Jones movie a racist film?

Question

I asked my archaeologist niece if she'd seen the latest Indiana Jones film - and she said it was a racist piece of c**p. She said it was ridiculous that people think the people in Peru were incapable of building what they did - and Aliens had to do it for them.

She also says that it simply wasn't hard at all to build a pyramid - and all of the alien theories are silly.

I'd heard about such theories - but never thought much about them. Was it impossible for people back then to build what they did? Do people seem to think only the people in Peru /South America were incapable of it - making it a racist theory?

What do you think?

Answer 1

it's a movie for god's sake, just sit back and enjoy the action

Answer 2

All theories about Atlantis, Civilizations tens of thousands of years ago, aliens from space, etc. etc. are based on the assumption that we humans are too dumb to build anything.

PBS has done "This Old Pyramid" and "Raising the Obelisk" both showing that simple tools and muscle power were all that was required to build the monuments that the theorists say needed aliens, magic, or super science.

The climax or the "pyramid" show was just after another crackpot had his say on how pyramids were build (the blocks were poured in place) The stonemason "Stop these interruptions and I'll get this done on time!" That pretty much sums up how the theories are debunked.

The "Chariots of the Gods" theme sells big time. (cue spooky music) "Our primitive ancestors....superior aliens from space...." then a list of supposedly "science can't explain" stuff.

Carl Sagan said it best "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." Aliens from space? What about a crashed spaceship with skeletons? Just deliver it to the Smithsonian, Washington, DC.Heck, some days I'll settle for the alien equivalent of a discarded beer can.

Personally I'd not call it racist. "Incredibly insulting" is a much better fit.

Answer 3

ok, its not being racist....

who gives a hoot about the pyramids..that wasn't the mystery.

Its the crystal skulls!!!

Even on Unsolved Mysteries and travel channel shows talk about the unexplained skulls

The skulls were found in different regions on the earth.

In theory, they believe that perhaps the Mayans made these b/c of how the shape of the skull was...

but what is intriguing is the fact that these skulls are perfectly shaped out of crystal with no etchings or flaws..

today, experts say that with our technology today, it is extremely hard for us to make that out of crystal...

and aliens was just a part in the movie....and uhmm, the movie is fiction.

It just as big of a mystery as the Great Sphynx ( the nose missing) and all...

Answer 4

No, it's not racist, because the people that buy into the alien nonsense also look to ancient Egyptian and European works, likes the pyramids at Giza and Stonehenge, and say that ancient humans couldn't have produced them.  It's not racist, it's just an arrogant assumption that our ancestors, not being blessed with our technology must therefore have been stupid.  She is right that figuring out HOW to build a pyramid isn't all that hard (I'm sure the laborers doing the actual work would not agree that it was "easy)- and all of the alien theories ARE in fact silly.  But it's not racist.

Answer 5

I do not think that the latest Indiana Jones movie is racist. However, the concept it is built around is certainly racist. Over the past 200 years people have come up with all sorts of ideas to "explain" how cities, pyramids, and mounds in the Americas were built. Explanations have included survivors of Atlantis, the Lost Tribes of Israel, Chinese explorers, Mesopotamian settlers, and yes, aliens. The reason for all these ridiculous ideas? The Native Americans living in the area were "savages" and thought to be incapable of building mounds or pyramids. The alien story is the worst - it has been used to explain all of the major architectural feats of Central and South America. Enjoy the movie, just remember that it is complete fiction.

Answer 6

As much as i hate the new Indiana Jones film i don't think its racist. It's fiction, there not actually proposing that this is what happened. Nothing in the movie was anywhere near accurate to real life, so i don't see how someone can see it as proposing that aliens actually built these pyramids. Its just a fictional story.

Answer 7

I don't think it's a racist thing.  People these days are always on the look out to explain the things we don't understand with aliens.

Answer 8

racist? i have a bachelors degree in anthropology and i see no racism in the new film. ludicrous? yes. but not racist.

Answer 9

it's fiction. a movie. like ET. it's not supposed to reflect what people actually believe.

the same thing is said about the pyramids in egypt, and other monumental buildings.