LexX said:
Also the Ark is pretty lame, there's no info about what it really is and what it does and when you open it, it just kills people who have eyes opened. Yippee. People like different things.
This was made back in the good ol' days. When not ever damn thing needed to be explained. The general assumption was that most people would be cultured enough to know what the Ark of the Covenant was and some of the background behind it.
These days, if it wasn't something that has been referenced on Family Guy*, you can be pretty certain the average joe is completely clueless about it. God instructed the Israelites to build the Ark and to place various items significant to their exodus from Egypt inside of it (including the stone tablets containing the ten commandments.. No one was even allowed to touch the Ark, let alone open it. It was to be carried on poles by the priests from the tribe of Levi. One Biblical account has it incorrectly being carried on a cart by oxen, it begins to tip over and a man reaches out to steady it and instantly falls dead. It was kept in the Holy of Hollies of the tabernacle (portable temple, used during the wilderness wanderings). Only the high priest was allowed in the Holy of Hollies, and only at designated times.
So, I guess they didn't feel the need to take the time to explain much more about the Ark than the fact that it was a sacred Hebrew artifact. Most people knew at least a little about it, and if they didn't, they wouldn't have to do a lot of asking before they found someone who could tell them more.
Fortunately in today's world, we are much more considerate of people's ignorance. For example, before publishing the first Harry Potter book in North America, they changed the title, as well as all references in the text of the book, from Philosopher's Stone to Sorcerer's Stone, because there was concern that some Americans might not know what a Philosopher's Stone was. I propose that GL make a special edition version called, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Sacred Box of Hebrew Artifacts, perhaps he could add a few extra scenes giving some more explaination into the history of the sacred box of Hebrew artifacts. Also, to make the other two films match the title length of Indiana Jones and the Sacred Box of Hebrew Artifacts and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, he should rename them Indiana Jones and the Temple of Absolute Certain Doom and Weirdness and Indiana Jones and the Magical Everlasting Life Giving Cup of Christ.
*Funny story. There is this acquaintance of mine, every now and then we have a conversation, which usually consists of him talking about how good the latest movie he rented was, or about his favorite sports team. One time was talking about how great Transformers was and insisted that I needed to rent it sometime. Then he asked me what the last movie I had seen was, and I told him, "Casablanca". He then proceeded to give a long quote from the movie and I nearly shit my pants from surprise. I was almost expecting a, "Never heard of it? What is it about." from him, not a detailed, verbatim quote. After expressing my surprised, I asked, "Wait a minute, you didn't happen hear that line from Family Guy did you?" He grinned, "Yeah." Turns out he had never seen it and doesn't have a clue of what it is about.