This is the last post in the movies week for 30 Days 30 Characters. I tried to go beyond just some of my favorite characters, and provide some kind of diversity in what was presented. I know I had three Star Wars characters, and that may have hurt the variety. There are so many great characters out there, in comics, in movies, in television and in books. I don’t think this is the last time I will run this series on the blog. What characters have I left out, in your opinion? Let me know by emailing me at [email protected].
Indiana Jones
This is the whip wielding, fedora wearing, globe-trotting Archaeologist from the Indiana Jones movies. How can you not like this character? He’s smart, charming, witty and handsome. He’s the total package. Plus, he’s just plain cool. If real archaeology were like these movies, I think everyone would be signing up to become archaeologists. Plus, he fights Nazis, which is always a bonus. Indiana Jones is basically who I wanted to be when I grew up.
Why Indiana Jones?
Seriously, as a kid, this is who I wanted to be when I grew up. He may be the reason why I started getting into history. Archaeology and history are closely related, after all, and I was fascinated by all the places he went while he was hunting down historical artifacts. I wanted to travel the world and find old artifacts. Plus he got all the girls, and let’s face it, as a kid and throughout middle and high school, I did not get any of the girls.
He did all of this without compromising who he was to get the job done. He was smart, he was daring, and he never pretended to be anything else. Indiana Jones, for me, was one of the first characters I remember who made being smart cool. All of a sudden, just being athletic and handsome wasn’t the most important thing. You needed to be smart.
Too often, being smart is undersold to our young people. It is not cool to know stuff. In my church callings, I have had opportunities to be around young people, and they often shy away from answering questions in front of their peers. It’s just not cool to know the answers. But Indiana Jones made it cool to be smart. Like the Doctor or Batman, he was able to accomplish things and outwit the bad guys because he knew stuff. We need more smart characters. We need kids to see that and want to be that. Smart is cool, and that’s why I love Indiana Jones. And his hat. And his Jacket. And, well, everything.
30 Days 30 Characters
If this is the first post you are seeing in our series, you’re probably wondering what it is all about. I am highlighting 30 characters over the month of November. Today is actually wrapping up my movies week. The week previous was comics week and next week will be television. You can check out my other movies week entries by clicking on the links below:
