Indiana Jones 5: The Problem with Phoebe Waller-Bridge 

It's interesting to me that so many shows and movies these days are featuring characters that are race swapped. I'm toying around with the idea of making a video about race swapping and why it matters. Let me know if that's something you guys want to see.

I like Willy Scott from Temple of Doom precisely _because_ she's scared out of her mind throughout the movie and complains mightily about her situation. As NerdWorld says, that is exactly how a normal person would react to falling out of a plane, getting served monkey's brains, sticking a hand into a dark crevice filled with bugs, watching someone's heart ripped out, and falling off a bridge 300 feet above a river filled with hungry crocodiles. She also has some of the funniest interactions with Indy of all three female leads. Willy Scott needs to be better appreciated.

It's not about what the fans want. It's about what they think the fans *ought to* want. We're meant to be thrilled by the concept of women taking over from old white men, and if we aren't it's because we're bad people and need re-education.

I think my biggest issue with these "modern audience" flicks is how they have to destroy established characters to exist. Why not just make your own hero inspired by whatever the focus in. Tomb Raider was an awesome character, clearly inspired by Indy and ended up being an iconic character in her own right for 2 decades.

Marion was such an icon when I was growing up. Tough, independent, but loving and feminine. I also have a huge soft spot for Willie... she got dragged into her adventure - and to be honest, I think I'd scream a lot, too. A very honest and endearing character. Nice review by the way. I wrote down below, that Phoebe Waller-Bridge can only do Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

At this point with KK using these characters as a self insert fan fic narcissist, I firmly believe she is doing this all on purpose. Being the coffee secretary for all those years for Lucas and Spielberg ate away at her for years. Now she’s on a mission to destroy their characters.

I agree with the opinion of at least Crystal Skull gave Indy and Marion a happy ending together. This looks SO MUCH worse.

PWB is a buzz kill to every scenes she's into. Never had i saw a women with a smile that much in every scene in the movies. Even when in the boat with some important character just being killed, she dilly dallying around the boat with that smile and some WEIRD confident, and then laughing after she managed to escaped that boat. Such a weird cast and character.

Harrison Ford is partially to blame for this travesty. He knew full well what they were filming, no matter how many re-shoots. He should be ashamed he let his own legacy deteriorate.

I would have been happier with an Angelina Jolie comeback as Lara Croft claiming to be Indy's god daughter

Those of us who grew up with these movies- you are 100% correct!! Every word and correlation you gave - fantastic!! We loved all the original female characters for the exact reasons you gave. All movies these days are missing that magic. And what was that specific magic?? The realness and differences between men and women. Well done! I hope you do well with this channel.

Mariannes character had so much depth and personality, strength, feminine strength without seeming forced. The antithesis of what I’m hearing PWB is

There is a reconciliation with Marion at the end which is supposed to be one of the more touching scenes in the film , but they kill off their son off screen in Vietnam and they are divorced.

Relatively simple, not sure why the producers didn't see this - The 'annoying upstart' character only works in a film/show if it's against a character you don't like/hate. That doesn't work against Indiana as he's the character we like/should like, even if they try to make him unlikeable at this point. So you end up disliking the annoying upstart - In a good film that character doesn't get the happy end, or gets put back in their place etc.

The Indiana Jones franchise had three main ingredients: George Lucas, John Williams, and Steven Spielberg. I’m not alone claiming it is a trilogy., and one of the greatest in cinema. What LucasFilm is today under Disney is bloated soulless corporate dog sh*t.

Disney buying Lucasfilm was really the worst case scenario. Everyone blames Kathleen Kennedy and it's partially her, but this is all mandated by Disney they are the ones ruining these ips. Even when they speak about their movies they call them products, the human element has been taken out of these films and now they are written by committee in a corporate board room.

It seems to me that Hollywood has forgotten how to write strong female characters who can do things on their own merits without having to wave the fact that they're a woman in everyone's face while simulatneously having to prove how much better they are at everything all the time. Why can't we go back to well written strong female characters like Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, Clarice Starling, Dana Scully and Trinity?

Indiana Jones' story ended when he walked out a married and proud man, with his beloved wife, Marion, his not so bright yet spirited and amusing son, and the rest of their family, in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Could his story have also ended in the 3rd film? Certainly. Either one is better than the 5th film, which is best we pretend it was NEVER made, and TBH considering how Indy was portrayed, which wasn't the Indy we grew up loving, but someone who we may as well call Jake Jones, as Mark Hamill would say (Jake Skywalker reference Haha), the film doesn't count as an "Indiana Jones" film. As for Waller Bridge, there's so much WRONG with her character, how loathsome she is, and just how POORLY written she was, she takes away whatever life the film could've had. That's the thing, compared to the past films, the 5th one was so lifeless and quite depressing.

"What does she bring to the franchise?" She brings a strong jaw and large chin. She brings wide shoulders.

She's not a character, she's an agenda.

They could continue with her, but not as the leading protagonist, but as the leading villain.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the kiss of death for so many franchises. If she has a hand in the production of the movie, that movie will be dead on arrival. She played a robot in "Solo - A Star Wars Story" and in order to tick all the agenda boxes, it was ensured that Lando Calrissian was having a sexual relationship with this robot (eww) because that way pansexuals would be represented. She co-produced the final Daniel Craig James Bond film, "No Time To Die", in which James Bond was replaced by a strong black female 007 (more agenda boxes ticked) and was finally killed off, leaving his ex-girlfriend and daughter to presumably become secret agents as well. Every time Phoebe Waller-Bridge appears, another piece of my childhood dies. And then when I complain about these artistic travesties, I get to be called racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. for raising my voice.

The same actress that voiced the Lando loving L-3 robot from the Solo Story is now the new Indian Jones. Thanks, Disney. You really know how to stick it to the fans.

You know, I really proud of K Kennedy. She, WB executives who fired ZS and Disney woke agenda - single handedly killed entire US movie industry of summer blockbusters. That's f%cking impressive

The problem with Phoebe Waller-Bridge is, she's in the film.

Crystal Skull gave Indy a happy ending and Dial of Poop gives Indy a divorced, sad, miserable Indy. Granted they wrote him getting back with Marian but Fleabag is so insufferable every time she is on screen, including the multiple lines of her pointing out that she sleeps around with any man but Indy. Fleabag is radioactive garbage and destroys everything she touches.

Wally Bridge is really over rated as an actor and writer. As a fellow Brit I can only apologise to the world for her 😊

The problem is that PWB is way above her competence as both actress and writer. And there's no way she hasn't had significant input into her character. There's a type - British upper middle class, well connected, Oxbridge or RADA. They breeze into the BBC on the back of connections, get a quirky series then branch out into quirky UK film work. Never that popular beyond a select quirky audience. Their range is usually from quirky to... quirky. For some reason, for some in the US this is worth hiring.

No problem at all. We’ll sit back, not go see the new Disneyana Jones movie and enjoy the fact that, when enough fans reject this garbage, the result will be Disney losing another 150-200 million dollars. We’ll smother it very quickly and it won’t cost any of us a dime. Then, we’ll repeat this process and over again for every other movie they make to punish them for their insolence. Let’s just see how much money they can stomach losing. Bring it on Karen Kennedy…🍿

It would have been interesting to have Short Round be that other adventurer and remind the sad Indy why he was so awesome in the first place. Then we might have investment into who was going to wear the hat and crack the whip next.

Ke Huy Quan shoulda been in this movie. I wanted to know what happened to him ever since I saw Temple of Doom as a kid. I was Short Round's age when ToD came out, and I'm sorry I'll never get to know what happened to him. They keep giving Indy these horrible adult child figures, forgetting that Indy had a kid. Short Round was a Chinese orphan at a very bad time in the world to be an orphan, so I always imagined that Indy brought him home to live in the USA. Short Round's parents were killed in the bombing of Shanghai, and his only brother died (cause of death unknown) before he met Indy by trying to steal from him. Comic book adventures have suggested that Short Round went on the become an adventurer too, but who knows how much of this is cannon now anyway? Maybe it's just one more of Kathleen Kennedy's famous missed opportunities.

Honestly I think she was far worse because: Spoilers: she isn't an adventurer, but a monster and an unapologetic theif. Her introduction is coming back into Indy's life... Someone she should care about, getting his coworkers(people she should sympathize with) killed in a way he gets framed for murder, locking him in his artifact storage cage with literal Nazi Killers... And she does so purely out of greed, then only shows a shred of remorse the second time she gets more of his friends killed ONLY after he reminds her of that fact. Indy kind of had that Batman effect going where you know they kill a few reluctantly but have at least sympathetic "I didn't want to do that" going for them, but her character is more like Catwoman but... Unlikable without a care about casualties in her wake and often having caused them by drawing in suckers to the dangerous activities to use as meat shields.

This isn't Indiana Jones. Just like James Bond wasn't James Bond in No Time to Die (co-written by Phoebe Waller Bridge). Han Solo isn't Han Solo in Solo (where Phoebe Waller Bridge plays a feminist robot). You see a pattern emerging? Didn't see the Bond film, won't see the Indy movie. They're not my heroes anymore.

PWB character in DoD came across as an entitled narcissist because Phoebe Waller Bridge is an entitled narcissist. .

Great analysis. "Indiana Jones is not a person anymore, it is a role." Makes me think of the state the 007 franchise is currently in as well.

You nailed this. I really like how you compared and contrasted the strengths of each of the previous female companions as well as the writing behind them. You've earned a sub today. Keep up the awesome work!

I keep hearing that the 1st 20 minutes are actually good, with a young Indy.. I'd much rather have a senior Harrison Ford, telling stories and the movie be a flashback.

The characters share nothing with real life female heroes. It's like they have purposely misinterpreted strengths of classic characters as toxicity. Resentment isn't a writing technique. I think the biggest problem with writers is that they are so naive they don't realize that everyone else isn't as naive as they are.

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The problem with Pheobe Waller-Bridge is very very simple. She exists.

There are so many actresses who could have pulled this off: Naomie Harris, Ana de Armas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Yeoh, etc. Any of them would have me really excited for this film, yet they went with PWB, who is generally divisive and not really proven in a role like this. Indy is my favorite character and franchise, but I'll wait until I can rent this from the library. I'm not forking over more money so Disney can ruin another beloved franchise.

With any luck, this movie will sink so fast that it will take Phoebe Waller-Bridge's career down with it.

On top of their characters personalities and how they complimented Indy in each respective story arc, they were also all hot AF. PWB is not attractive, and the character traits make her 10 times worse. She literally embodies the angry feminist trope. For most guys, thats repulsive, not endearing.

You are spot on about Marion. She was just a strong character as Indy, and as tough. "I was a child!" You knew what you were doin'." sums it up.

Exactly!! It is like pushing their agenda, regardless of the huge losses, is most important.

Thank you for another highly intelligent analysis. Completely agree.

In The Terminator, they took a weak women and molded her into a tenacious fighter. Her final fight and the ending showed how much she had grown. In Indy 5, they given you a 'strong', flawless woman and will insist that you like her.

The scene where Marion is drinking the man under the table always bothered me. Not because it shows a hardcore alcoholic can outdrink someone much larger than themselves, but for the way they are taking shots rapidly. The drink they took 20 minutes ago is the one they're feeling now. In another 20 minutes the man will likely be dead from alcohol poisoning. I knew a guy who did die - briefly - doing this, but luckily he was revived in the ER. He and the fools he was drinking with were definitely inspired by this scene.

I could probably ramble on for hours about all the various ways PWB is godawful and insuffarable, but I think I'll just stick to the main and most obvious point: Woke feminist writers are hyper-aware and laser-focused on an entire litany of behaviours and character traits they deem "toxic" in men, rightly or wrongly, yet these same feminists will then load their girlboss characters with these same traits, often taken to extremes, *with none of the redeeming qualities (charm, heroism, selflessness, determination despite repeated setbacks, etc.* that a male hero will have to offset his flaws. And then the feminists cry "Misogyny" when people don't like the girlboss, when they rightly point out that the character is essentially a villain being treated like a "good guy" by the plot. It doesn't matter how genre-savvy and metacontextual you are when you have zero self-awareness. Woke feminism is such a misguided ideology that its adherents keep accidentally creating villains when they try to create heroic rolemodels. It would be funny if it were just one or two studios, but unfortunately most of western entertainment is infected, terminally so.

It's not about profit anymore...it's about "The Message"

It's funny, on seeing other reviewers discuss this woman, they kept saying "Fleabag", which I didn't realize was some kind of show, I thought it was just a "British/UK" term to call someone a "C U Next Thursday". And I haven't seen or heard anything about this movie that changes that initial assessment. Maybe it's just me, but in prior eras of movies, if you saw a male character acting like these strong and empowered women (Biff from Back to the Future, Neidermeyer from Animal House, and so on) you know instantly they are the antagonist/"bad-guy" for the movie. Now all of a sudden we're intended to side with the "bad-guy" simply because he's no longer a guy? and when we don't, we're the bigoted ones? We all know and or have met a "Miriam", same in that we know a "Willie", and most of us know an "Elsa" from our lives. I get the impression unless you live in a Hollywoke "bubble" the chances of you meeting a, whatever her name is which I can't be bothered to look up, is slim to none, and if you did, your first instinct would be to just leave them be the way you would an angry rattlesnake.

With a face like that. Phoebe should've been cast as Seabiscut

Helen's character would have been born in like 1930 but her dad didn't meet Indy until like 1944.

the moment they said this woman was in is the moment i zoned out. if she was in the film for 10mns i would have struggled to watch it, the fact she is in the whole movie means its totally unwatchable to me.

Well said! What modern Hollywood doesnt get is that we have already had awesome female characters who didn't have to compete with their male lead but instead where there to compliment them. How fantastic are Princess Leia and Marion Ravenwood? And they're still iconic decades later. They also have a feminine power that modern Hollywood doesnt get - and that is vulnerability because characters who can express vulnerability are more relatable and more real than characters that need to prove they can compete with men and thus collapse into another version of 'the male gaze'! Also - surely we can just create female leads by now - as opposed to parachuting a woman into every traditional male role?

I think part of the problem is that the women cresting these stories, like KK, are themselves somewhat similar to these androgenous "strong women" they shove in everywhere. They've crafted the heroes in their own image, or rather in the image of their own idealozed conception of themselves. And they're not that typical, and as an exaggerated fantasy of themselves they're not interesting or likeable. Which is too bad. It's not clear to me that Lucas or Spielberg did that. They're not particularly similar to Indy or Luke or Han. They knew they could make great stories out of those sorts of characters though

Basically, every female character had upsides and downsides, but this chick has no downsides and is portrayed as ,,Strong independent woman" that unlike the rest, Indiana Jones himself didnt want but she just stepped in and didnt care.

Of all the women in the Indiana Jones films, Marion Ravenwood is my favorite. She seemed the most well written. My least favorite is Dr. Ilsa Schneider. Maybe it was actress Alison Doody, but the character was boring. Cate Blanchett did a good job as the villainess in KOTCS, and Kate Capshaw, of course, was great as Willie Scott. Phoebe Waller Bridge isn't even worth discussing. As always, great analysis! Thank you!

Great video but what 1990s video editing software are you using to do your digital zoom ins?

These folks believe that their way of thinking is morally correct and that if others don’t fall in line it’s not because they are wrong; it’s because others are a fill-in-the-blank phobic, ignorant, etc. They will never back off simply because they believe they are superior in every way to us mere humans.

I've read some quotes from Phoebe about this film and her delusion and hubris is awe-inspiring.

Marion's character was tough sweet and beautiful. I actually met the actress years ago and she was all of those things in person. The screen doesn't lie.

One plus point of the whole thing is, you've just gained a new subscriber here. So happy days

This video is so beautiful, concise and to the point. I will say this, movies use to be fun, they were made to get emotions flowing, laughter, anger, sorrow. Now they are made for different reasons and we are all the lesser for it. Very very well spoken video.

Temple of Doom is my fav indy Jones film, as for the new film, will not give my money or time to KK and Disney

I wish the men I know could see it as clearly as you do. They're all so desperate to be "non-threatened," they can't see an obnoxious, self-righteous ballbuster when they're looking right at her. I mean, they are literally conditioned to cheer for these Strong Female Caricatures regardless.

Wow!!! What a great, eloquently spoken essay!!! I'm going to enjoy watching your back catalog of videos and will be watching all your new stuff as well!!!

Someone on a Film Threat video recently dubbed her "Phoebe Waller-Habsburg" and now that's all I see.

The trouble with Phoebe Waller- Bridge is that she doesn't belong. Anywhere. She radiates alienation the way a lighthouse radiates light and location. This isn't a reference to this film, just to Phoebe Waller- Bridge.

Before 2000 writers , directors, produces and even the actors put more in creativity in hoping you would like it. Today they just expect or demand you to enjoy it. woman like KK and Phoebe Waller Brindge will never be anything else but shadows in other peoples footsteps.

*"Over alliance on CGI, mix in some over excessive shaking of the camera and scenes too dark to see and you have a modern Disney film."* ~ Nerdrotic

what editor are you using? have you tried Davinci Resolve? it's free and very good

The problem is that normal people don't like fleabag because we know who she is as a person.

Over the years, I’ve come to believe Temple of Doom is on equal footing with the Last Crusade. With Raiders the ultimate winner. And, installments 4 & 5 dumb cash grabs.

Wow, you've got a new sub. Not (just) because I agree with you, but for your even-handed, objective review method and fresh perspective. Thank you.

I miss female characters. Now we get instead male characters played by women, if it makes sense. Thank you very much for reminding me how awesome the three ladies were in the original movies.

The people "in charge" are in charge because they want power. Culturally, this plays out in media that tells the viewer how and what to feel and programs them for the desired reactions. This isn't about business - shut up, consume product, and think and do as we say.

Marion was and will always be the best woman in the Indiana Jones franchise!

I think you're right on with your perspective. The only place where I differ is that I think Kathleen Kennedy and her cohorts have zero interest in pleasing the fans, and I don't think they mind at all if these movies tank at the box office. It seems like they never get the message because we assume success at the box office matters to them. They don't care; it's a cult.

As the old saying goes, “you can’t polish a turd”.

Your points are well put and the saddest part is all the examples of strong female characters with proper character development. I don’t understand KKs disconnect if feminism is her primary focus other than maybe this is a personal attempt at self insert. Frank Marshall sure picked a winner.

This was clever, well put together and very smartly written.

Thsi review was really well done on the big picture view and the specific bang-on notes too. Thanks for this!

The way you sometimes pause between words. I do the same thing!! I've always been super embarrassed about it, so it's lowkey inspiring that you leave that in, not editing it away

The problem is that she is an activist not an actress.

an excellent analysis

What I see is that KK the destroyer, killed off Luke Skywalker, killed off Han Solo but not before revealing him to be a dead-beat dad and now killed off Indiana Jones. Meh, done with Hollywood and certainly done with Disney. Though, I'm glad that many years ago I got experience all the good that Disney was before it came down with the woke cancer sweeping through so many corporations and our society as a whole.

Thanks for this, I couldn't agree more! In fact, I wonder why the studio could not create an exciting adventure with Indy & Marian together. For example, being on an adventure, needed to separate to find parts of an artifact and to find each other again, confronted with crazy dictators or war lords and without time-travelling, space aliens or other things not belonging to an archeology story. THAT had been a movie I had spend my money for and not for another Mary Sue film Disney thinks the audience needs.

There’s nothing wrong with her. What is sad, however, is a bunch of grown men whining about a strong female character as well as KK. You folks need to grow up and realize the world doesn’t owe you anything.

I'm from the UK so I'd just like to say that Phoebe Waller Bridge is the next James Cordon and you're welcome to her

Imagine a company selling, let's say, yoghurt with fruit. Then comes a new management, saying: o no, there's too much sugar and artificial flavors. We can't sell this any more. What do we do? Well, broccoli is healthy. So let's sell yoghurt with raw pieces of broccoli, but don't change the name of the product. Once people have tasted it, they will love it. And if the don't love it, we tell them that they should love it! The role of Helena reminds me of another famous Tombraider. In fact it is an interesting thought what would happen if these two franchises meet. But that role is occupied and i doubt that there could be two of them.

That was a nice even-handed analysis. Though it might be a bit premature since you had not yet seen the movie. I look forward to the day when all these old franchises get abandoned and we can finally get some new heroes that don't rely on nostalgia or brand recognition.

Great video and analysis. I'm an Indy fan growing up in the 80's and it's really sad to see one of my on screen heros go out like this.

Excellent!

Your analysis was spot on. Entertaining and insightful. You earned a new subscriber.

I believe that most fans like myself wanted Marion Ravenwood-Jones, (Karen Allen), Indiana Jones's wife, to feature in The Dial of Destiny instead of Phoebe Waller-FLEABAG (KK's 'self-insert). Indy married Marion towards the end of 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' the fourth movie of the franchise, a movie that I personally like quite a lot.

Finally some Willie love. The average reaction of the normal viewer to her isn't the dork one you see online - most people watching thought she was funny - and HOT!

She played the feminazi-droid in Star Wars Solo. After her casting Indy 5 was dead on arrival.

I always assumed that Willie Scott was SUPOSED to be unlikeable and Kate Capshaw made it believable.

Why didn't KK make her the child of one of the characters that we all know from the earlier films? Because she's never watched those films!