# A Raiders of the Lost Ark question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 11, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/992991 "2023-11-11T17:54:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/992991/81 "2023-11-17T16:41:08Z")
The invisible bridge was an optical illusion. Indy threw some pebbles on it, which spoiled the illusion, so someone would have had to sweep those off. There was an old knight guarding the Grail, so he could have cleaned off the bridge; he seemed to have plenty of time on his hands. One of the other trials, though, was to follow the steps in the name of God. Indy accidentally steps on the ‘J’, then it crumbles, and he falls through. Maybe the knight also had a bunch of spare ‘J’ tiles lying around to replace it. All of which may be beside the point, since the whole anteroom breaks up with huge holes in the floor. If someone wants to reset everything to wait for the next Grail hunter to come along, a few pebbles are the least of their problems. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/992991/82 "2023-11-17T16:54:16Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > His reasoning seemed to be, “This belongs in a museum.” And that’s better than the other guy getting it and perhaps melting it down. > > Cultural appropriation! > > Belloq wasn’t going to melt it down. He was going to sell it for BIG MONEY to someone else, for _their_ museum. My assumption was that Belloq would have sold the idol to a private collector, so it wouldn’t be available for research and study, and viewing by the public. And Indy wasn’t involved in cultural appropriation but instead cultural theft, though perhaps that wasn’t the crime it is today. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/992991/83 "2023-11-17T17:18:24Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The idea that Indy didnt really do much was popularized in the Big Bang Theory and has been shown to be wrong in several blogs. I’ve been making this observation since college and I have yet to see a rebuttal that successfully argues that Jones was in any way crucial to the discovery of the Ark except insofar as leading Toht to Marion’s bar and inadvisedly conducting his own dig openly in the middle of the (inexplicable) German excavation. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > What right did Jones have to steal tribal artifacts? He’s a white male of European descent in the 1930s; he’s obliged to steal tribal artifacts and kill natives with wanton abandon! He’d be thrown out of the union if he did otherwise. > [@snowthx](#): > > But, if Belloq made nice with the tribe, as we see after the boulder scene when Indy exits and is surrounded, they could have just gave the idol to Belloq in the first place and be done with it. The local tribe doesn’t possess or handle the idol; they clearly revere it as the avatar of a god. Belloq’s plan was clearly to follow Jones, waylay him on the way out of the cave, and keep the idol for himself. What a disappointment if Indy had fallen into the pit or gotten his arm trapped by the door when he went to grab his whip. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > One of the other trials, though, was to follow the steps in the name of God. Indy accidentally steps on the ‘J’, then it crumbles, and he falls through. Maybe the knight also had a bunch of spare ‘J’ tiles lying around to replace it. Except that not only would the builders not have spelled “Jesus” with a ‘j’, it wasn’t even a regular character in the Latin alphabet until the Renaissance, and notwithstanding that the builders would likely have used the Syriac abjad or some other Aramaic script. In fact, all of the puzzles and traps make no sense as it is made clear that while the possessor of the Grail may have an undying existence (as long as they don’t accidentally drink from the wrong cup, yikes!) they cannot leave the temple with it at peril of being trapped in the collapse or falling into a bottomless crevice. The remaining knight is just there purely for exposition to explain the rules to Jones & Co. and honing his delivery of the quip, “He chose…poorly.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/992991/84 "2023-11-17T17:42:18Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Well, in the film the Well of Souls is apparently hermetically sealed, and is also full of snakes that have apparently been collected from all over Africa, Europe, Asia, and even the Americas, and have somehow survived for almost three millennia. Collecting animals from all over the globe into one place is just how those old Testament arks work. Same thing happened to Noah when he built his. ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/992991/85 "2023-11-18T05:00:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > BTW, it occurs to me that the ability to cut a large boulder into what seemed to be a perfect sphere is almost more interesting than the idol itself. That part actually has some mesoamerican basis: [Stone spheres of Costa Rica - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_spheres_of_Costa_Rica) Don’t know of any of them being found in traps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/992991.md?page=4)