# Plots which could have been resolved by doing nothing \[SPOILERS\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356 "2011-01-04T13:28:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/21 "2011-01-06T07:53:14Z")
It is a great historical find even if Indy doesn’t really believe in it. No archaeologist of Indy’s caliber could turn down the chance to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/22 "2011-01-06T07:55:34Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > but the Indy wouldn’t have gotten the girl at the end. Much more important than stopping the Nazis Yeah, and then Shia LaBeouf wouldn’t have been born and there would be no Indy IV. And that would have been even better than just the killing Hitler thing. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/23 "2011-01-06T08:29:34Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > This. I love the movie. Just watched it last week for the millionth time. But it drives me crazy, too. If Indy and everybody _really_ believed in the Ark, then why would they think for a second that the fucking Nazis would be able to wield its power? Wouldn’t God be able to tell the difference between good and _Hitler_? And if Indy et al didn’t believe the Ark was capable of being a direct line to God, then who gives a fuck? Let Hitler spend the time and money on digging aimlessly in the desert for years. I mean, if Indy just wanted it for the principle of the thing, that’s fine, but that really wasn’t what was feeding the urgency of the plot. And let’s not even get started on the whole “Egypt was a British Protectorate at the time and I’m sure the British Government would have had something to say about heavily armed Nazis staging digs for Biblical artefacts and instigating running gun-battles through the streets of Cairo” thing, either. The great thing is despite these flaws, it’s still a brilliant movie. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/24 "2011-01-06T08:35:18Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > And let’s not even get started on the whole “Egypt was a British Protectorate at the time and I’m sure the British Government would have had something to say about heavily armed Nazis staging digs for Biblical artefacts and instigating running gun-battles through the streets of Cairo” thing, either. > > The great thing is despite these flaws, it’s still a brilliant movie. Not another Indy thread, Star Wars is already taking all the breathing room. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/25 "2011-01-06T09:46:15Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > This. I love the movie. Just watched it last week for the millionth time. But it drives me crazy, too. If Indy and everybody _really_ believed in the Ark, then why would they think for a second that the fucking Nazis would be able to wield its power? Wouldn’t God be able to tell the difference between good and _Hitler_? Would you really want to risk that an Old Testament, Job-tormenting, kill the firstborn style God _wouldn’t_ be happy to help Hitler? Would you really want to take the risk that it isn’t just a power source, a weapon made by God or something else that anyone can use? It isn’t like Indy had an Ark instruction manual on hand that said “ **Warning: Do Not Open In The Presence Of Nazis Or Face Melting May Occur** ”. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/26 "2011-01-06T10:23:35Z")
Titanic. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/27 "2011-01-06T14:38:00Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > That’s not a get-out-of-jail-free either. Unless all the Nazis who knew about the ark being opened were present at its opening, then the next group of Nazis comes, sees what happens, and starts to do some tests with better precautions. Heh, I’m having a positively Monty Python-esque vision here, of the Ark melting one after another group of Nazis … sort of like the Nazi version of an ant trap. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/28 "2011-01-06T14:51:58Z")
_How the Grinch Stole Christmas_. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/29 "2011-01-06T14:56:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think the “heroes” were actual nuisances in **Jurassic Park II; The Lost World** JP2 is much more watchable if you accept the dinos as the protagonists. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/30 "2011-01-06T14:56:12Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Heh, I’m having a positively Monty Python-esque vision here, of the Ark melting one after another group of Nazis … sort of like the Nazi version of an ant trap. 😃 Funny, I flashed to the scene with the light grenade in _Mom and Dad Save the World._ ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/31 "2011-01-06T16:06:45Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Big spoiler for **Cube** : the characters spend the whole movie trying to escape a prison of 26x26x26 rooms, that shift according to a mathematical algorithm. They eventually discover that the room they woke up in was the “bridge room”, the only one that moves into position to bridge the gap between the rooms and the exit. In other words, if they’d stayed put, the room would have moved right to the exit eventually. Well, it wasn’t the room they all woke up in, only one of them was in there to start, the others were just in the rooms next to it and found there way there. So all but one would have had to do _something_ to get out…plus, the only reason they discovered the algorithm about how the rooms move is by going between them all and the math nerd noticing the ID numbers on the rooms. Plus, the stress of everything caused the office guy to reveal that his company made the shell, and by giving the size, that also helped the math nerd know how big the grid was, how long it would take to do a complete “cycle,” and where to go to get to the bridge room. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/32 "2011-01-06T23:25:06Z")
How about _The Big Lebowski_? If the Dude simply said “You know what, that rug really did tie the room together- but I can get another one from the discount rugs place in town” and went bowling with Walter and Donny for the rest of the film, then Bunny would have come back on her own anyway and the Nihilist’s plot would have fallen over anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/33 "2011-01-06T23:58:28Z")
My own w.a.g. fanwank about the Ark: Belloq and the Nazis presumed it was some sort of “Ancient Astronauts” artifact, and didn’t really believe it was intended by God Himself to be for the Israelites and nobody but the Israelites. They thought if they just went through the motions it would work for whoever had it. BTW: if nothing else, Indy’s involvement saved Marion from being tortured to death. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/34 "2011-01-07T00:01:32Z")
The Nazis at least may have assumed it was created by God and that God would be perfectly happy to help them. After all, they were the apex of humanity as far as they were concerned. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/35 "2011-01-07T06:51:13Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > This. I love the movie. Just watched it last week for the millionth time. But it drives me crazy, too. If Indy and everybody _really_ believed in the Ark, then why would they think for a second that the fucking Nazis would be able to wield its power? Wouldn’t God be able to tell the difference between good and _Hitler_? And if Indy et al didn’t believe the Ark was capable of being a direct line to God, then who gives a fuck? Let Hitler spend the time and money on digging aimlessly in the desert for years. I mean, if Indy just wanted it for the principle of the thing, that’s fine, but that really wasn’t what was feeding the urgency of the plot. At least The Last Crusade almost presented a credible threat, since presumably the Cup would work regardless of who wielded it–of course, the Holy Grail _couldn’t_ be removed, but at least Indy had the added motivation of rescuing his dad. There’s quite a few other possibilities between, “It doesn’t exist/isn’t magical,” and “It’s the instrument of Yahweh, God of the Hebrews,” some of which have already been suggested. It could, for example, have been supernatural, but not actually linked to any Earthly religion: the ancient Hebrews simply assumed it was their God powering it, and there’s no reason the Nazis couldn’t have done the same thing. Or it could be supertech instead of supernatural, which amounts to about the same thing. (One roleplaying game I used to play suggested that the Ark was actually the engine salvaged from a crashed UFO) Or it could be that it is the Ark of the Covenenant, just as described in the Old Testament, but God has turned his back on the Jews and no longer cares what happens to them. Any of those possibilities equals bad fucking news for the Allies if the Germans get their hands on the Ark. Indy himself, I am sure, didn’t expect the Ark to have any actual supernatural powers, and was only going along because the Ark represented an unprecedented archaeological find. After all, he knows first hand from his adventure a few years earlier that it’s the Hindus who have been right all along. > [@Lumpy](#): > > BTW: if nothing else, Indy’s involvement saved Marion from being tortured to death. Not necessarily. The Nazis found Marion by following Indy in the first place. If he hadn’t intervened, her bar might not have been burned down. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/36 "2011-01-07T10:26:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Indy himself, I am sure, didn’t expect the Ark to have any actual supernatural powers, and was only going along because the Ark represented an unprecedented archaeological find. After all, he knows first hand from his adventure a few years earlier that it’s the Hindus who have been right all along. The only thing that Indy got a good look at in Temple of Doom was the stones becoming hot to the touch at the end. Everything else has a reasonable explanation or can be waved away as suggestion or effects of the drugging. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/37 "2011-01-07T11:40:49Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > This is the Ark of the Covenant. I’m a hardline atheist, but c’mon. No way no how do the Nazis (or anyone else) manage to circumvent the wrath of god with “better precautions.” There is no defense against the direct wrath of god. Well, except chariots of iron, apparently. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/38 "2011-01-07T11:47:05Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The only thing that Indy got a good look at in Temple of Doom was the stones becoming hot to the touch at the end. Everything else has a reasonable explanation or can be waved away as suggestion or effects of the drugging. He also saw Molah Ramm pull someone’s heart out with his bare hand, once from a distance, and once up close and personal when Ramm almost did it to Indy. Luckily for our guy, he didn’t get more than a couple fingers into his chest. Indy also didn’t merely witness the stones heating up, he directly caused it to heat by invoking a prayer to Shiva - and than caught one of the stones, bare handed, without harming himself, after watching it burn through a leather satchel. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/39 "2011-01-07T12:33:29Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, except chariots of iron, apparently. Smiting people is a lot easier when they don’t bring their own lightning rod. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356/40 "2011-01-07T13:25:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > He also saw Molah Ramm pull someone’s heart out with his bare hand, once from a distance, and once up close and personal when Ramm almost did it to Indy. Luckily for our guy, he didn’t get more than a couple fingers into his chest. Indy also didn’t merely witness the stones heating up, he directly caused it to heat by invoking a prayer to Shiva - and than caught one of the stones, bare handed, without harming himself, after watching it burn through a leather satchel. Indy had just swung on a ripped-in-half foot bridge and crashed into the side of a cliff. He probably had no idea what was happening (see also: the tank crash in Last Crusade). As for Mola Ram’s heart ripping, the first time he couldn’t be sure what he saw and the second was little more than a kung fu grip on his chest. It would be easy enough, years later, to convince himself that nothing supernatural actually happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plots-which-could-have-been-resolved-by-doing-nothing-spoilers/566356.md?page=1)