Indiana Jones and the Reverberation of Gunga Din

Amrish Puri as Mola Ram

 Since Dave and I have decided to do a group final project devoted to orientalism in various films, I thought I would share just a bit of our findings to the rest of the class. The films we’ve decided to analyze are as follows: Aladdin, Gunga Din, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Slumdog Millionaire. Two of the films we watched back-to-back were Gunga Din and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Now, being a huge Steven Spielberg fan, I’ve always enjoyed the Indiana Jones films (being of the Hebrew persuasion, there’s nothing more entertaining to me than seeing Nazis having their faces melted off or experiencing spontaneous combustion). However, this was the first time I had seen Temple of Doom after taking this class and reading the literature that exposes orientalism. Needless to say, I was troubled with  the consistent orientalism that was present throughout the film.  Not only that, but the film itself is an homage to another film that is even more blatantly orientalist in nature: Gunga Din. 

Sam Jaffe as Gunga Din

 When watching these two films, Dave and I came across a couple of elements that were orientalist in nature. The most obvious element is the differences in the portrayals of the British/American characters versus the Indian/South Asian character. In Gunga Din, Cary Grant along with an array of other actors portray British soldiers. Whenever the British soldiers are “doing their duty” and defending their cause against the Thuggee “rebels”, the soundtrack has a very distinguished and heroic tone. But, when the Thuggees are shown “plotting” or planning a sneak attack, the tone is very dark and devious. This same method is also applied to Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom with John Williams trademark track playing when Indy kills the “bad guys”. However, the music that is associated with the main villain, Mola Ram, and the Thuggee cult is an almost satanic form of chanting and speaking in tongues. It is also during these ritual chants that Lucas and Spielberg decided to incorporate stereotypes of every known tribe or race that could be deemed “savage”. They included elements of African tribal dance, voo doo, Aztec ritual sacrifice, etc. 

Indy drinking the Black Death of Kali

 Another form of orientalism, which has some essentialist overtones, is the depiction of Indians/South Asians as either evil criminals or helpless victims. No matter what, it always seems they need Her Majesty’s soldiers or an American archaeologist to bail them out. In Gunga Din, the Thuggees are always launching sneak attacks (whether it be strangling someone from behind or hiding behind rocks with guns). The colonial-influenced Indians, like Gunga Din, are always humbled by the British soldiers and bow to them as if they are gods. We see this same treatment in Temple of Doom. One of the details Dave and I noticed immediately was the treatment of the Indian village from the beginning to the end of the film. When Dr. Jones, Willie and Short Round first come  to the village, the  inhabitants appear very puny and weak. There is practically no color to the houses, people’s clothes, or the people themselves. They are extremely thin, starving and begging the trio for food and help. Everything is very drab. Now, if you follow the plot of the story, these people are in dire straits because Mola Ram and the Thuggees have stolen their sacred Shankara stone and kidnapped and enslaved their children. But, the underlying theme suggests that Indians need to be rescued. They need a colonial power to oversee their affairs and protect them from…themselves! I say this because when Indiana defeats Mola Ram and the Thuggees, he comes back to the village with the Shankara stone and the children.  At this point, everything has changed. There is much more color, both in the people’s skin and their clothing (very bright red, white and blue turbans and saris – imagine that). The sun is shining and everyone is happy. It is a textbook case of orientalism. 

Gunga Din and Cutter find the Thuggees.

 These are just some of the interesting things that Dave and I have found. In comparing films, we’ve found significant issues in regard to religion, race, gender, national identity, racial identity, as well as how the movies were filmed (lighting, landscape, shot devices, music and sound). It is very interesting how little things like this add up contribute to the orientalism of certain people. I still like Temple of Doom but it has definitely made me more aware of the negative images that Hollywood has and can bestow upon a certain group of people…