Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
George Lucas

In class we discussed many stereotypes this movie perpetuated. We touched on Willie a little bit, but perhaps not enough. It was funny to watch how airheaded she was and it was definitely over the top for a comedic factor. However, I also think it's very stereotypical. She is of course, bleach blonde, which just feeds into the fact that every blonde has the intellectual level of a box. She is whiny, high maintence, constantly complaining and an airhead. This may very well give insight to how Lucas views women. Also, to a non-American viewer, this could be a strong impression of what American women are - blonde, dumb, powerless and needy. This may be a stereotype and not just one character for humor because she was the only female white character in the entire movie. Even the Indian women carried very small roles and as women of the community in general, not individual women. If Willie's flooziness was just out of humor, there would be plenty of other important female characters showing independence and intelligence.