“It’s the stain on an otherwise perfect film”: One Part about ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ is So Disturbing Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg Would Hate Themselves If They Knew

Raiders of the Lost Ark has always been loved by fans of the Indiana Jones franchise — partly since it is the perfect entry in the Nazi-whipping adventure saga filled with mazes, booby traps, and Biblical treasures. However, to some others, the 1981 film is a stand-alone film that promised to deliver a successful franchise but failed to live up to the first film’s reputation.

As the first collaboration between Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg, the most commercially successful actor and director in Hollywood, Raiders of the Lost Ark was not entirely without its faults.

However, while the film still holds up to this day and resonates with a sense of fearless adventure among the audience, one aspect of the story also makes the fans uncomfortable being associated with the franchise.

Indiana Jones Gets Off to a Nice Start

When Indiana Jones began to thread its tales, Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first of five to fall under its banner. Helmed by the evergreen Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster billion-dollar franchise was a remarkable first entry in cinematic lore, filled with a grand sense of adventure and a daring hero who is the epitome of “cool.”

After George Lucas conceived the film’s idea in the early 70s, his involvement in the Star Wars universe left Steven Spielberg as the next legal guardian of the Indiana Jones IP. As a brainchild of two of the biggest visionaries of the ’70s and ’80s, it was no surprise that Raiders of the Lost Ark would become the most commercially and critically successful film of the year, defeating even the much-anticipated Superman II to take home 5 Academy Awards.

Made on a budget of $20 million, Raiders of the Lost Ark ended up grossing a worldwide total of $390 million, along with a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While not a perfect score, the first film of the Indiana Jones franchise holds up as a stellar example and mouthpiece for what the franchise symbolized, even 43 years after its release.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Faces a Troubling Dilemma

While crafted as an otherwise perfect film in the entire Indiana Jones saga spanning 42 years, Raiders of the Lost Ark was tone-deaf on one subject concerning the ages of its leading male and female stars. While Karen Allen would have been 30 years old at the time of the film’s release, the script indicated a past illicit relationship between her character, Marion Ravenwood, and Indiana Jones, who was 10 years her senior.

While there is no way to determine the timeline of their past affair, fans have collected clues spread across the board to patch together a timeline. As expected, the answer to that puzzle is an unsavory one, enough to make even Spielberg and Ford cringe 43 years later.

A Reddit thread that tackles Raiders of the Lost Ark (and one aspect of the film that the fans would like to change in hindsight) is filled with complaints about the inappropriate age gap between Indy and Marion. As one user named GamingTatertot mentions:

I think Karen Allen is great personally. I would’ve kept her for more movies really. [Although] maybe clarify Indy and Marion’s relationship and make it more appropriate. It’s the stain on an otherwise perfect film to me.

Apparently, other material says she was 15 and he was 10 years older. Really the age difference hurts because of Marion’s line saying she was a child, and what Indiana was doing was wrong and he knew it.

I’m sure that line reads much differently in 1981 than it does now in 2023, but it still just stings a bit every time I hear it, even if I can acknowledge 15 and 25 isn’t the most insane relationship gap in the 1920s, although still wildly inappropriate.

In the end, though, Indiana Jones is a product that is as timeless as its creator and actor. Apart from the unspecified age gap, there is hardly an aspect of the film that does not live up to its reputation as a Spielbergian masterpiece. With its fifth film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Harrison Ford hung up his fedora and whip for the final time as the Hollywood legend bid adieu to his legendary fictional alter-ego.

Indiana Jones franchise films are all available to stream on Disney+