Article: Marion Ravenwood and Indiana Jones are the perfect female/male action adventure relationship
This could probably be the basis for a novel on romance in the movies and much more but for the purposes of this short essay, it is more important for me to highlight the importance of this relationship in cinema. Marion Ravenwood and Indiana Jones are a perfect female/male relationship because they both support each other and help carry the action forward. Neither character is more or less strong, heroic, masculine, better or otherwise. Indy is a man, with his faults and Marion is a woman with her faults.
While some may argue that Marion is a damsel in distress, I would totally disagree. Though Indy tries to "protect" Marion, it us ultimately Marion who helps Indy, gets out of her own fights and defeats bad guys herself without needing to be "Indiana Jones," which is really cool. Marion uses a drinking game to get Belloq drunk, escaping her captivity in the process. Marion has a special skill for holding her liquor and she uses both her feminine charm and her special skill to trick her captor. Marion also hits bad guys with frying pans, provides specialty knowledge for the adventure, helps Indy pick himself up when he is at his most vulnerable and more.
It seems that too often nowadays we see female characters who are not vulnerable at all, they never "make mistakes." I fear this is a misstep in the movies and it may be slightly negative on young audiences who are not learning to "grow" but instead to act "bullet proof" and that you are "perfect" rather than accepting that everyone has imperfections. None of these characters encourage the viewer to grow and improve themselves, not like they used to. I find this subtle message a bit troubling as I remember one of my greatest heroes growing up was Luke Skywalker, who was very far from perfect, just like I was. I often remember arguing with my brother that Luke was not as cool as Han Solo! He was whiny, he was a loose cannon and he often reacted emotionally to his problems with no level of cool at all. Luke was a boy and had not yet grown up.
In Empire strikes back, Luke is BADLY defeated, in fact his ass gets handed to him by Darth Vader who could actually KILL Luke but just wants to defend against him so he can ask Luke to join the dark side. He settles with cutting off his hand. In the end of the original trilogy, in "Return of the Jedi," Luke DOES change. After much training, failure and suffering Luke becomes as close to a JEDI KNIGHT as he can. He no longer whines, he makes tremendous personal sacrifices for the greater good and he is willing to die to help bring the "goodness" out in his father, Anakin Skywalker. In fact, at the end of the trilogy, Luke essentially fails the journey but he succeeds in providing inspiration for his father to defeat the emperor himself.
The truth is that most characters who are beloved are far from perfect in themselves. Often times in their journey, they make many mistakes, doubt themselves and need others to step in and help from time to time as mentors, aides and companions. "Harry Potter" is nothing without Hermione and Ron.
Without Sean Connery's character HENRY JONES, Indy's father, Indy himself may have finally met his doom falling to his death in "The Last Crusade." In one of the most poignant scenes between a father and son ever to be put to screen, Indy's father saves his life.
The scene plays a like this -
"Junior."
Indy continues to reach for the holy grail while replying "Dad, I can reach it! I can get it dad..."
His fingers slipping...his grip loosening on the side of the cliff. In a major turn, Henry, losing his grip on Indy's glove states...
"Indiana."
Ford looks at Connery with so much more in his eyes than before.
The moment means so much to him because his father has never called him by his chosen name, always favoring the pet name "Junior" which both angers and belittles Indy.
In this moment of deep connection, father and son put aside their quest for "greatness" or "fortune and glory" for something much stronger, their love for one another.
"Let it go," says Henry.
Indy lets the grail go, grabbing his father's hand as he pulls him up to safety. They lose the grail forever but gain something much more special.
In much the same way, if it wasn't for Marion, Indy might have been killed, failed the mission or never had a lead at all letting the Nazi's evil prevail. All in all, a relationship between a female and a male (and many "buddy" type relationships) onscreen is best when the two characters are able to supplement each other's weaknesses. When one character is down the other character is holding out their hand to help. When one character is weak, the other character is strong. When one character makes a mistake, the other character helps to clean the mess up. When one character is morally wrong, the other works to help them see the error in their ways. Though neither one of them are perfect, just like Marion and Indy, the two characters work as a duo and together become as whole as they can be.