Hero's Journey

The late 1970’s epitomized a time of national trouble that stemmed from the Vietnam War, the American-Iranian Hostage crisis and domestic economic strife, undermined long-held American cultural principles embodied in heroines such as “superman” as a representation of masculinity, America as the “good guys” and the American Dream. As a result, these Idealistic dreams of were torn out of American hearts and replaced by more practical, logical “modern” principles reflected in the 1980’s which embraced the modern principles of materialism, consumerism, blockbuster movies and cable TV as an essential part of contemporary American culture. This era of change with heroines being replaced by their logical, “modern” counterparts, anti-heroes as relatable

Even though, the film narrates an “anti-heroin” journey, it’s apparent that it follows the Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell. Released in 1981, the movie exemplified the change in American principles due to the socio-economic dilemmas faced in the late 70’s, while retaining the fundamental elements of American popular culture present to this day. The movie revolves around the protagonist, Indiana Jones and his multitude of adventures. In the opening scene, Indiana Jones is seen in South America roaming the runes of an ancient civilization in search of their golden statue idol. Once he reaches the temple entrance he is greeted with multiple booby traps along which he finds an old competitor decaying. After reaching the idol’s chamber he is greeted with a final challenge in which he cruses through by examining the floor. Then he quickly switches the idol with a sand bag only to experience the temple being run-down. Shortly, his crewmate waits across the other end of a gap with the only escape being

In his typical mundane life, he is a professor that is seen as a masculine, charming and easy on the eye, while by night he lives an adventurous life that many Americans elude to find but very few tend to reach. Even though, Indiana implants social stereotypes into his appearance such as the geeky glasses and elbow patches, he remains charming and thought after by women as seen in the first part of the movie where the student eyes have the words “Love You”. This sexual drive accentuated in the 80’s was considered as a disobedience for authority which in turn was considered the “ultimate sin”.(Tiusanen) the Furthermore, his geeky appearance is closely related to his heroin counterpart “superman” with the major difference being that Indiana Jones geekiness and adventurous life intertwined in both the ordinary and extraordinary worlds that intertwined yet empathized extraordinary world that many Americans want to exhibits which creates a close connection to many Americans who on the undertone are heroes in their own right but are not as glorified as Indiana Jones. Unlike heroines of the past, the connection made by Indiana Jones to the fundamental human error that is glorified in modern day media as a way for Americans to feel better about their own mistakes and errors because