Steven Spielberg is not this generation’s most celebrated director for no reason. He knows how to tell a story, ranging from his profound dramas such as “Schindler’s List” and “Lincoln” to his more fun, popcorn epics such as the current “Ready Player One” and, of course, the Indiana Jones franchise. So it is somewhat inexplicable that he recently mused out loud about giving his whip-wielding archeologist character and giving him a sex change operation, reimagining him as a woman.

Why a female Indy is a bad idea

Mind, a woman archeologist adventurer has met with widespread acclaim already.

Think Lara Croft, a character who has already graced three movies, two starring Angelina Jolie. Indeed, Evie Carnahan from “The Mummy” franchise is as fetching as she is combative, played in the first two movies by Rachel Weisz.

But reimaging an iconic character and making him a female is a bad idea. The audience will not accept the idea. The women will think it’s a gimmick and the guys will be turned off. The social media firestorm writes itself, along with the inevitable Hollywood PC backlash with accusations of sexism. Think of the kerfuffle surrounding the all-girl “Ghostbusters” on steroids.

Hot Air is likely right that a new franchise featuring Indy’s girlfriend from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, Marion Ravenwood would be a much better idea.

How did she and Indy first meet and how was it that she wound up owning that bar in Tibet? If one can’t squeeze two or three fun movies, or at least a TV series (think “Young Indiana Jones Chronicles”) out of it, then Spielberg will have lost his touch.

Will the fifth Indiana Jones be tied with the moon landing?

Meanwhile, AintitCool informs us that the fifth Indiana Jones movie is slated to start filming in a year with a release date of July 20, 2020.

A sharp-eyed fan will notice that the release date just happens to be the 51st anniversary of the moon landing.

The idea that the very elderly Indy’s next and last adventure will be tied to Apollo 11 is a beguiling one, though it also may be grasping at straws. However, the news, apparently not an April Fools story, that Ken Jeong will play an adult Short Round, the cute and sometimes annoying Chinese orphan kid from “Temple of Doom” suggests an Asian adventure.

Some of the PC crowd will be triggered since they have concluded that the child character was racist, but they can be enthusiastically ignored. Now if John Rhys Davies can return as Salah, we’ll have a fun movie. And we can celebrate the fact that the mad, sad Shia LeBeouf will not be returning as Mutt Jones. That would have been annoying.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED