It's been a year since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hit theatres, and by now it seems like most people are just trying to block it out of their minds (I didn't hate it, but I'm working up the courage for a rewatch on Blu-ray). Of course, one of the most common complaints about the movie was the scene where Indy protects himself from a nuclear explosion by hiding inside of a refrigerator... leading people to use the incredibly lame phrase "nuke the fridge" as the new "jump the shark". Well, as it turns out, fanboys aren't the only ones who were annoyed by the fridge nuking scene. Japanese politicians are kind of upset about it too, albeit for a slightly different reason.
A couple of weeks ago, Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone delivered a speech against nuclear weapons where he made reference to the Indiana Jones film:
"There was a scene in a hit movie last year in which the famous hero, facing a blast from a nuclear test, hid in a refrigerator... I was surprised by the movie's lack of awareness of a nuclear bomb blast. A nuclear explosion destroys everything in an instant. I felt concern that this kind of easy-going image might spread around the world."
This isn't the first time the issue has come up in Japan. Back when the movie was first released, a handful of
Japanese film critics took issue with this scene as well. Japan understandably has a very different view of atomic bombs from the rest of the world. Still, all that being said, the fact that moviegoers have relentlessly mocked the scene only proves the fact that no one in their right mind believes this "easy-going image" is in any way real. So what are the odds that 10 years from now Spielberg will re-release the film in 3-D and digitally remove the mushroom cloud?