Stop Saying Indiana Jones Doesn't Affect the Plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark

Hmm, but what was the actual name of the first movie when it first came out? I remember the signs and ads displayed "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Which means the movie was about the ark and the other sideline stories were MacGuffins. Subsequent movies were titled "Indiana Jones and the..." which means the subsequent movies were primarily about Indy, but the first one wasn't named that way.

I understand what you’re saying but, I’m thinking if more Nazis would’ve went to the island because, they haven’t heard back from them who we’re on the island and, you said when, they try to figure out how to Weaponized the ark, I wonder if like in that scenario, I wonder if God would still allowed them to even try to Weaponized it in the first place because, the first time they laid their hands on it and opened it they died.

Great points!

[Spoiler Warning]
Dial of Destiny, love it or hate it (I personally liked it), still continues the tradition of Indy going on a not-entirely-all-for-nothing treasure hunt:
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Even if Voller and the Nazis got the Antikythera without Indy’s involvement whatsoever, they would have still ended up in ancient Syracuse instead of 1939 because Archimedes had rigged the dial in a gambit to get someone in the future’s help to defeat the Romans.

Regardless, Indy’s quest wasn’t about the Dial, it was about making him realize that even with his glory days behind him, there is still a family who loves him back home…even if it had to take Helena knocking him out and dragging him back there against his will and character agency.

But then again, you could argue that the adventure was also to make Helena grow out of her own greed and rekindle her relationship with his godfather, and having to knock him out was the culmination of that.

Amy Farrah Fowler DEBUNKED!!!! thanks for this video, bro.

I couldn't agree more

The cameraman is the last one having ever seen the Ark knowing for what it was.

In summary, he still doesn't effect the plot but that's not what the movie is all about, therefore it's still great!

What a way to cope, Alex

Thanks so much for restoring my faith and enjoyment of this movie. TBBT did dampen it until you gave me this perspective

I would argue Temple of Doom WAS about him getting the stones, because he saved the village (if they do have an affect in the movie) and rescued the slave children.

😂 So your argument is that... "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is not about Raiding the Lost Ark? Interesting, & by interesting I mean Not!!! 😂

So based on your analysis, they should have renamed the movie... INDIANA JONES!!! ...oh & there's also some lost ark or whatever

"The Rebels may also have won without Luke..."

you are right to approach this and say its a good movie, but you gave the wrong reason. sure there is love at the end of the movie, but there is something much deeper and that is faith/belief. Indiana at the beginning of the movie is equating it all to the "boogie man" while by the end a little wind and he is thinking... this is real, what does scripture say?

the crystal skull wasn't that good and introducing the idea of connecting with his son is just dumb. Connecting with people should be a necessary secondary part of a good movie I would say. If a character in a movie doesn't interact with another intelligent being in any other way it becomes a very, very boring movie. and the crystal skull I don't think any relationship deepens in it. While in raiders, Marian starts as just some side quest of a person that Jones develops emotions for and then makes a deeper connection with.

by biggest contribution to this argument is:

- the nazis grew tired of the Ark excavation. they were digging, digging, digging, and were probably going to run out of funds or overstay their welcome in Egypt and have the entire thing cancelled by Hitler. Remember the AfrikaKorps had not military standing in Egypt at that time. and the whole thing looked suspicious "Greman troops" in a sovereign country.

- the entire plot is time sensitive.

- so , the nazis got desperate and sent Herr Mac (Toth) to follow Jones to Nepal. making it more obvious that without them NEEDING Dr Jones to lead them to Marion/Abner they were most likely going to cancel the project.

- so , by the movie logic it is very possible the NAZIS would've never found the ark, have never been burned and world war 2 would've happened exactly the way it did.

- if you follow the dialogue it is implied that the excavation is really going nowhere. they found a map room. but it could be anywhere.

had he never been involved. Tanis would just be a historical arcahelogical site and buried by sand again eventually.

the movie takes some embellished liberties with historical revision. and if we are going to argue what ifs. then any "what ifs" are valid. so the "if indy hadn't been there" people are techincally allowed to theorize about it.

the truth is (lol a hollywood movie) says that INDY WAS THERE. and got the ARK to the United States. the entire plot is to get the ark to the USA, which he did.

You couldent have had nazi troops in egypt as it was a british protectorate from the 1800s there was no afrika cops till 1942

Thank you so much for this, cause yeah Indiana Jones was never about gaining the treasure it was surviving the journey and finding something more meaningful.

Looks like Amy is not as smart as she seems

I can’t like enough this video!

In your face Amy!

'The best stories aren't about the plot'.

Jeez.......

watched this movie as a kid and remember telling my older brother that indy did nothing, he got really mad, my brother was leagues ahead of me in intelligence and even as kids it was clear how much smarter he was, but that one time i told him whats up.

One question: How the heck does a large contingent of Wehrmacht soldiers happen to be in Tanis, just down the river from Cairo, when the British were in control of the (nominally independent) Kingdom of Egypt? It wasn't exactly a low-profile operation, and the British would never have allowed it, even if the Egyptian government was for it. Never made any sense.

But… didn’t the n4zi didn’t have the map because of Indie!?
If Indie was not in the stories they would find the map and dig in the right spot… no!??

Really disappointed with the Americans hiding of the Ark, it's on a shelf in the background of this video, hiding in plain sight isn't a good idea with such a weapon.

Every single step of the story happen BECAUSE of Indy's direct involvement.

They're digging in the wrong place and only get control of the ark AFTER:
Toht follows Indy to Marion and gets half of the medallion
Indy and Salah get the true measurements from the guy and find the well of the souls and dig in the right place and get the ark.

And after that, they load it onto a truck to take to Berlin.....Indy stops it
they hijack the ship it was being taken on.....indy stows away and follows them
the nazis test is out and they all die, but Indy and Marion live to take control of the ark.

The real plot hole that not many talk about though, is how did Indy and Marion a: get off the island, and b: have the US government take control of the Ark without the Nazis finding out about it, or even if they did know about it, how did they get there first. You would assume that the Nazis would be in constant communication with each other, and the second an officer doesn't radio back, there'd be another squad sent out to find out what went wrong. And als, the Nazis were already on that island and WAAAAAY closer than any US ship so they'd more than likely get the ark back immediately, along with Indy and Marion as POW's or easier, just shot dead.

Amy in the BBT is wrong and tried to find a "funny" observation, but fails immensely. Also what OP said: it's not about the story of the maguffin, rather the adventures he goes on and how it changes him.

Lol yeah you have nothing.

Why is Indy being talked about in a Star Wars-centric channel?

"The movie is not about the plot, it's about an adventure" Huh?

They would have found the medallion even quicker without Indy getting involved and would have dug in the right place. All Indy did was just delayed the Nazi's killing themselves. Which in a way is worse because he allowed the Nazi's to live longer allowing them to do more evil things before they died. Indy might be the true villain in the story.

So, basically Indiana Jones is a NAZI spy.....wait....

How did Indy get into Nazi Germany so easily? Hold on.....

Ummm no, the Nazi's would have gotten the staff of Rah without Indy. They didn't "follow" him there to get it, they were already going there to take it.

They don't say he doesn't affect the PLOT, they say he doesn't affect the OUTCOME. But that's also wrong, because without Indy the Germans end up with the Ark.

Arguably, they would have found Marion anyway, it just would have taken longer.

But he doesn’t effect the outcome of the film

What is this big bang theory?

Nope. Nope. Nope and Nope. All the Nazi chatter is meaningless. The climax always was the securing of the ark in the warehouse, and the Americans could not have found the ark without Indy being present on the secret testing island. End of story. Simply because BBT decides that the PENULTIMATE scene is the climax is not our problem or the movie’s problem.

This theory was popularised MASSIVELY by Big Bang Theory, which just dumbed the plot down for a joke

Pretty much He does it all wrong

I know this is old... but it is at least conceivable that the Nazi's could have found Marion on their own, getting the full amulet from her, thus negating the need for Indiana Jones altogether... That's the argument being made. I think it's a fantastic flick, one of my favorites, but I can see how if the Nazi's had found Marion on their own, Indiana Jones is not central to the plot of the story. The film would have been dreadful without him though. He adds depth, complexity, and a sense of adventure to the film, and without him it would have been a pretty boring movie. But to argue that his role in the PLOT of the film is relevant is a bit dubious... He's integral to the film itself, but not integral to the plot.

Yes. Also, in Raiders, the adventure attacks Indy's ego, so that he eventually finds a deeper truth. The real treasure for Indy is reconciliation with Marion, leading to a stronger relationship in the Male/Female archetype for both characters. The real treasure in the third movie is reconciliation with his father and a deeper relationship between them (he finally earns pr received his father's approval). Marriage is the boon for Indy in the fourth movie and coming to terms with his old age while finding forgiveness with Marion during their twilight years is the boon in the fifth movie.

If Indy hadn’t saved the Ark. Then more Germans would have come, and would have died as well.
So in fact, Indy saved the other nazis.

Saying Henry was useless to the plot is like questioning the crucifixion; the journey's the point.

Why stop? It's just like politics. It never ends

He's doesn't affect it tho 😂

Another thing is the original title of the movie expains it enought.

It was just "Raiders of the Lost Ark". The movies is about the "raiders", who are the Nazis and Indiana Jones. In that case, all ficitional stories impact nothing.

The reason that Indiana isnt the only reason they could have found the ark is because the only reason they don't get the staff is because if he hadnt started the gun fight in her bar in the begining she says she would tell the Nazis everything right before Indy shows up. If he never showed up they would have had both sides and the staff head which only having one side is the only reason they where digging in the wrong spot. They would have been digging in the right spot and found it if they had the artifacts from the bar.

no one talks about how after Raiders, Indy years later quietly hired Perry Mason :)