It must take awhile for movies to get down to Belize. It's been out for years, but now an archaeologist, purportedly acting on behalf of that nation's government, is suing the owners of the Indiana Jones franchise for their alleged unauthorized use of a facsimile of an artifact from that country.
According to press reports, "Scientist Jaime Awe claims Hollywood hot shots used a model of the swiped Belizean relic in the 2008 flick, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” to rake in 'illegal profits.'”
Of course, he now wants a piece of the action, i.e., a portion of the Crystal Skull Movie's $378 million profit, for the Central American country.
In so doing, Awe and Belize seem to be taking a page from Zahi Hawass and Egypt who hoped to copyright the pyramids and rake in even larger sums.
Leaving aside the dubious merits of this lawsuit, I have to assume this news is a bit embarrassing for Harrison Ford, a.k.a "Indiana Jones," who is a past AIA Trustee.
And which side will the AIA take in this dispute? The downtrodden and exploited country of Belize or the Hollywood hot shots who have helped promote archaeology?
And will SAFE and other hard liners be telling the AIA "we told you so" for its efforts to promote the movie and make its leading man an AIA Trustee?
Showing posts with label Indiana Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indiana Jones. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Monday, May 19, 2008
Harrison Ford Named To AIA Board
The AIA has named Harrison Ford to its Board and is promoting his new Indiana Jones movie on its website. See
http://www.archaeological.org/webinfo.php?page=10477. While I agree that Indiana Jones is a cultural icon and probably has done much to stimulate interest in archaeology, I find it a bit humorous that the AIA is honoring Ford for playing a character whose excavation methods must be viewed as "unscientific" to say the least. Even worse, doesn't Indy rip artifacts from their original context and spirit them out of source countries which likely have laws that declare all artifacts "found in the ground" state property? And then, doesn't Indy arrange for such artifacts to be displayed in [fictional] US Museums where they cannot possibly be appreciated in their original cultural contexts? Perhaps by honoring Ford and Indy, the AIA has signalled that the past transgressions of the museum and collecting community are not as bad as they have been made out to be and that the AIA is willing to offer an olive branch after all.
http://www.archaeological.org/webinfo.php?page=10477. While I agree that Indiana Jones is a cultural icon and probably has done much to stimulate interest in archaeology, I find it a bit humorous that the AIA is honoring Ford for playing a character whose excavation methods must be viewed as "unscientific" to say the least. Even worse, doesn't Indy rip artifacts from their original context and spirit them out of source countries which likely have laws that declare all artifacts "found in the ground" state property? And then, doesn't Indy arrange for such artifacts to be displayed in [fictional] US Museums where they cannot possibly be appreciated in their original cultural contexts? Perhaps by honoring Ford and Indy, the AIA has signalled that the past transgressions of the museum and collecting community are not as bad as they have been made out to be and that the AIA is willing to offer an olive branch after all.
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