The United States... The New Shopping Mall of the World

I love people watching. People watching is what leads me to various thoughts and ideas on the cultures and societies of today. Sometimes it even leads me to try to guess what that person's life story may have been, how it is now, or even, on occasion, how they would survive or behave in the past.

On one particular occasion, I noticed something and began to ponder differently.

I was sitting down at one of my favorite outdoor locales one afternoon last week in Boston's Back Bay, having myself a glass of wine and enjoying the sunshine and scenery, when I began to notice something. I looked around and noticed that there was a surprisingly large amount of people carrying several shopping bags in each hand. I mean, a good four to ten bags, or so, total per person that passed with names such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Chanel, Burberry, Ferragamo, Juicy Couture, and the list goes on. You definitely did not see your typical Filene's Basement bargain bags or the large, flimsy Marshall's white and blue plastic bags floating around.

I noticed more and more of these people as the hour went on. Then one thing dawned on me after paying closer attention. They were all not speaking American-English! They ranged from Japanese, Russians, South Americans, Australians, various Europeans, English, and Irish.

I then began to notice the people sitting outside at the place where I was sitting and noticed that there too there were only two tables with American-English speaking people present. [We won't count the staff/servers, as most of them in the Back Bay are foreign anyway ... and are not in the United States for vacation. :)]

I was, honestly, a bit shocked initially (before I put any real thought into it) to see this drastic change in my environment, but I didn't mind.

Barely any Americans were out shopping due most likely to the decline which is currently present within the United States of America. This being seen, while various foreigners were purchasing items by the boat-full. What happened to the United States? It has gone through quite a change. From being one of the most powerful and richness nations in the world to becoming merely the new spending ground. It has become the largest shopping mall to the world.

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull - Poster Just Released!

It has finally happened! The latest addition to the Indiana Jones film series has finally come out of its long-overdue hiding and is exposing the truths to many rumors that have been streaming around the world. With the coming out of the official movie poster, as seen above, news has been reeling all over the world for this upcoming new film, to debut in the United States on May 22, 2008.

The movie poster above, as aired on the official Indiana Jones website, was created by artist Drew Struzan and shows Indy as the strapping archeaological hunk that is prepared to fight a new enemy against the archaeological world. The only item that is not typical of his usual posters is that he is lacking his legendary leather jacket. (*sizzling*)

This time, Jones is not going after the evil Nazi Regime, but instead the Soviet powers during the Cold War and goind after South American relics with supernatural powers. He will be traveling to New Mexico, Connecticut, Mexico City, and the jungles of Peru. I have to admit, not the exciting locations I was expecting from this new film. The jungles of Peru should prove to be interesting, I hope!

The last Indiana Jones film, The Last Crusade, was set in 1938, while this new one is set in 1957. This helps Harrison Ford look more realistic, since he then aged a bit (presently 65 years old). They also added some new aches and pains to make Indy's character more aged, but Ford will still manage to fight the incredible fights he always has in past Jones' films. Marshall stated that "Indy's a fallible character. He makes mistakes and gets hurt... That's the other thing people like: He's a real character, not a character with superpowers." Although, besides all the old jokes, Ford in this film is supposed to be still full of action and can still pack a mean punch. Can't wait! Go Harrison, Go!


More information came out in regard to the cast and the characters of the movie, to close the rumors finally, and here they are:

1. Oscar winner, Cate Blanchett, will be playing his female counterpart, the seductive Agent Spalko. "Indy always has a love-hate relationship with every woman he ever comes in contact with," Marshall says.

2. The main star of the current 3D flick, Beowulf, Ray Winstone, "co-stars as an unethical rival archaeologist," says USA Today. I guess we won't be seeing a son on Indy's behalf, as previously rumored! Too bad... let's see how this one pans out. A new Indy? No one can replace Ford.

3. Shia LaBeouf, Transformers lead, plays Indy's sidekick, riding along in a motorcycle and dirty hair.

4. Even Karen Allen's character from an older Indy film, Raider's of the Lost Ark (from 1981), the saucy Marion Ravenwood, comes back for another view.


The real crystal skulls are quartz skull sculptures of disputed origin which were carved in a way that "defies the natural structure of the crystal," says USA Today. A few reports online have stated that the film Close Encounters is cross-related to the new Indy flick by the Crystal Skulls that have been mythed to have been created by exraterrestrials to evoke aliens. Producer, Frank Marshall, stated in an interview to USA Today that "The theory is they are shaped by higher powers or alien powers or came from another world, or an ancient Mayan civilization had the powers."

I will revisit this topic soon!



Resources:

To see more, you all should DEFINITELY check out the official Indiana Jones website
http://www.indianajones.com/site/index.html

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-12-09-indiana-jones_N.htm
- USA Today, By Anthony Breznican, 10 DEC 2007

http://search.usatoday.com/search/search.aspx?qt=img3&kw=Crystal%20Skull&r=&nr=1&fr=0
- Poster Picture, USA Today, 10 DEC 2007

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35015
- Ain't It Cool News, 10 DEC 2007