Ever since the Indiana Jones movies came out, its been no secret that they are overtly racist. The Middle East is constantly portrayed as a mysterious land of bazaars, terrorists, and snake charmers. The films make it seem as if each and every citizen is a threat to Indiana Jones, and even his allies in the area either have some connection to Britain/the West either being raised, schooled or "saved" by someone from the West. Aside from the whole plot revolving around the exploitation of Arab peoples, that is not the issue that I want to put attention to.
When the movies came out, yes, they were still racist. However, in that time, nobody was there to call them out with any power behind it. Then, though, when the Lego video games came out more recently, they were still drenched in racism and Orientalism. This points to the bigger problem at hand: people are willing to continue to be prejudiced if they like what is creating it. People are more willing to take in the culture and jokes with racist tones if they are classically loved. However, the narrative needs to change. I hadn't thought about the issues of this narrative until very recently, just because every piece of media that I see is willing to continue that tone. So, until Lego Indiana Jones no longer has a snake charming level, the issue is still clearly at hand.
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