Indiana Jones, the franchise created by Steven Spielberg has been sitting on a pile of achievements and accolades ever since its inception in 1981. From the original trilogy, the second part of the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom received the harsh end of the stick.
Considered to be more of a horror movie rather than an action-adventure one, the 1984 movie was received with quite a heavy backlash. With a ban on the movie by the Indian government, Steven Spielberg created something so different that the original writer of the franchise left the production of the 1984 movie because he felt afraid!
Steven Spielberg Made The Original Writer Quit His Job While Shooting Indiana Jones!
From the original trilogy of Indiana Jones movies, Steven Spielberg’s most controversial decision was to direct the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. During the course of the movie, there were several gore and violence scenes that weren’t very PG-13 at all.
Talking about the movie, the screenplay writer of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade talked about how the movie had a completely different tone than the rest of the films. According to the writer Lawrence Kasdan, stated that the movie was very mean and ill-spirited which is why he never returned to the franchise.
“I just thought it was horrible. It’s so mean. There’s nothing pleasant about it. I think ‘Temple of Doom’ represents a chaotic period in both their [Lucas and Spielberg] lives, and the movie is very ugly and mean-spirited.”
The statements were verified by co-creator George Lucas who actually said that at that time, he was going through a divorce so he wasn’t in a great mood either.
“The story ended up being a lot darker than we intended it to be. Part of it is that I was going through a divorce at the time and I wasn’t in a good mood; and part of it was that we wanted to do something a little bit more edgy.”
As if the gore and violence weren’t enough, Steven Spielberg was also accused of racism as his movie was banned in India at the time of its release. Depicting Indian people as tribesmen and having several stereotypical scenes, Steven Spielberg was accused of having overly racist scenes in the 1984 movie.
Steven Spielberg Had Some Overt Racism In Indiana Jones
With the movie primarily shot in Sri Lanka and London, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom wasn’t given a theatrical release in India. With allegations of racism and hurting sentiments of the country, the Indian government banned the movie from releasing.
In reports, allegations of “The White Savior” trope have been stated. The reports further stated that although India had the majority of vegetarian people, stereotypical tropes of Indian people eating monkey brains, snakes, and other animals and insects were used. In terms of controversy, the movie also misinterpreted Goddess Kali as being villainous and evil in nature which hurt the religious sentiments of Indian people.
With controversies and horrors at bay, Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: SlashFilm
