MovieChat Forums > Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Discussion > Donovan wasn't too smart

Donovan wasn't too smart

posted 8 years ago by TheButlerDidItYes
3 replies | jump to latest

Donovan clearly believes in God, Jesus Christ and the Grail's power to give immortality. Yet he does evil things including murder to obtain the Grail for himself and he thinks God's going to let him have it and live forever.

A prophet of God even warns him that the Grail will give him nothing but everlasting damnation. He looks at the dying prophet with contempt and ignores him. He even took part in the mass-murder of the prophet and his men.

And he's working with the Nazis. I mean use your God-given brains Donovan.

Since he's a Christian believer why doesn't he just live a virtuous Christian life and get eternal life that way?

Although Henry says Elsa didn't believe in the Grail's power but just saw it as a relic Elsa herself told Indy that she believes in the Grail and not the Swastika.

And then you have the French archaeologist in Raiders of the Lost Ark who believes in God and yet he's a thief and a murderer and he thinks God is going to be his good friend if he finds the Ark. I would think that he as an archaeologist and a believer in God would have read the Bible and know what it says happened to evil men who open the Ark.

These have got to be some of the stupidest movie villains ever.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Good points.

Also, why would he be so materialistic and crazy to try to achieve 'eternal life' on the physical plane, when a religious individual like him should know about the eternal life he already has beyond the physical realm?

What's the point of any religion if not to tell this truth about eternal life to people, so they could understand a larger perspective on life instead of greedily amassing material fortunes and indulging in hedonism as much as they can?

And, since he should know life is eternal, and deeds have consequences (sadly, the references to karma and reincarnation were removed a long time ago from many religions' 'holy books'), he should also know this kind of 'quest' is just materialistic, illusion-based madness, that even if is is a success, would just end up bringing him misery, like the Tower of Babylon - another example, where people tried to reach God by the materialistic means.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14704) 5 years ago

Basically, Donovan is a fine example of what fake Christians look like, particularly ones that have had their minds warped by the Nazis and the lust for power. He had his own ideas of how to interpret Christianity to suit his agenda, and didn't really care about all aspects of the faith. He never actually believed in God, nor do I think he'd cracked open a Bible in a long time. All he truly worshiped was power, and the Nazis had been instrumental in giving him the means to attain it.

There's a reason he was too danged stupid to realize Elsa had played him when she gave him the fake grail. If he had been a true Biblical scholar, he would have known she was trying to kill him. But he totally fell for it; hook, line, and sinker.

[–] Sandman81 (1510) 5 years ago

Short answer: because he was greedy and power hungry, and thought he could get the Grail and live forever. He could have just live the virtuous Christian life, but instead he took what he thought would be the easy way.

Elsa probably didn't believe in the power of the grail until she saw it first hand. Then she wanted to keep it for herself and ignored, or didn't believe the knights warnings about crossing the seal.

And Belloq also wanted the power of being the one who controlled the Ark. And most likely he didn't see himself as an evil man. Just the worlds greatest archaeologist who is able to track down the greatest treasures in the history of the world.