O'Connell: Last Crusade - Makeup

Taking place so far in the past, the opening scenes of Last Crusade make up for the lack of character development in the previous films, showing Indiana as not the ideal of masculine bravado we’re used to, but a young squire, exhibiting just a suggestion of the full-blown hero he will be in the future. River Phoenix’s performance perfectly suits adolescent Jones’ as a confident and educated young man with much of the daring do he is known for in the future, but as of yet holding little power and finding himself at the mercy of forces larger than him. The opening scene is a microcosm of Indiana’s later adventures as he puts his life on the line for his ideals, and ends up betrayed by those he seeks to serve -- in this case, the sheriff. It also elaborates upon the origins of a good deal of character traits that were otherwise left unnoticed. “Within a few precious minutes, the scene manages to explain the origins of everything from Indy’s fear of snakes to his acquisition of his trademark Stetson hat.” (Pfeiffer 180)

While in the past two films, Indiana is something of a male Mary Sue with his idealized, nigh flawless character and powerful screen presence, the opening scene presents to us a more vulnerable Indy, as is the theme throughout Last Crusade. Our hero is time and time again robbed of his dignity and seen with egg on his face. This allows us to see Indiana through his father’s scrutinizing eyes, making the opening scenes almost as illustrative about Henry Jones, Sr. as Jr. Going to his father for help after obtaining the crucifix, Henry Sr. fails to take his son seriously, and ignores his claims, instead forcing him to count backwards in greek. The emasculating shame Indiana feels reminds us that he is still only a child, and a shadow of the hero we see him as later in his timeline.

Indy hates the thieves for their selfish desires, reiterating his position that the artifact “belongs in a museum”. However, the man in charge of them dresses exactly like Jones does in adulthood. This draws a parallel between them, where Indy considers himself to have the moral high ground, but in the future he is little more than a glorified grave robber himself at certain points in his career, like during the events of Temple of Doom. The man plays the roll in Indy’s life that is later filled by Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Arc, snatching victory out from under him after he believes himself to be safe. At the same time, the man encourages Indy to continue his pursuits, giving him his signature hat and giving him hope for the future through negative example, displaying to him the graverobbing thievery to which he could succumb and motivating him to retain his ideals.