Swashbucklers and Femme Fatales: Gender Coding in John Williams’s Score to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Despite having literally and figuratively ridden into the sunset in 1989, Hollywood’s favourite adventuring archaeologist returned in 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. John Williams’s score continued to revel in the established styles and codes befitting of the series’ nostalgic references: 40s and 50s B-movies. In addition to resurrecting beloved themes, the composer penned new themes for characters who, in part, progressed the franchise’s traditional gender roles. This article investigates how Williams’s neoclassical score lingers in the rigid gender codes of Hollywood’s past, at the expense of forming innovative thematic identities less reflective of traditional archetypes.