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Film Character Comparisons: Indiana Jones vs. Ben Gates
The fictional characters of Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. (Harrison Ford) and Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage) can be described as treasure hunters. Their adventures are chronicled as full-length feature films, and highly respected mainstream actors play both characters.
Both are between 37–40 years old when we first meet them. They also share a July 1st birthday, although 65 year apart.
Gobs of other fortune-hunting, tomb-raiding heroes have appeared in Hollywood films, but Gates appears to be one of the few modern adventurers to not have been blatantly modeled after the 1930's serial hero template, upon which Indiana Jones is based. I’ll attempt to piece together other less obvious trivia about these two men.
Got your fedora? Great, let’s go.
Education and Career
Gates’ expertise is in American history, whereas Jones knew more about worldwide civilizations and artifacts, both ancient and current.
Gates is well educated, but his knowledge of the Knights Templar and the Freemasons came to him via his grandfather. Therefore, one must assume that he continued his education through further research and…
