Tomb raiding Angkor : a clash of cultures

The World Heritage Site of Angkor, in Cambodia, is currently one of Asiaââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s fastest growing tourist destinations. In response to this new era, Angkorââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s management authorities are actively attempting to resist the ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“detrimental effects of mass tourismââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ by promoting a desired form of ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“cultural tourismââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢. Yet in November 2000, filming of the ultimate post-modern concoction, ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“Tomb raiderââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“the movieââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢, took place at Angkor. The temples became one of the key locations for a production firmly rooted in a genre of ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“Hollywood blockbustersââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢; a film genre that eschews any aspirations of ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“high cultureââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ or claims of representational integrity. This paper explores this contradictory clash of imaginary ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“culturesââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢, one embedded in the superficial, reductive and aesthetically driven paradigm of Hollywood cinematography, and the other being a notion of heritage built around largely modernist distinctions between ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“highââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ and ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“lowââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ culture. In so doing, it examines the contextual factors that allowed the project to take place; illuminating the ways in which Angkor is presently conceived and managed by both the Cambodian authorities and the attendant international community. In considering some of the implications for Angkor, understood as a site of touristic production, attention is also given to how Tomb Raider creates new narratives for tourists; ones that undermine the efforts of conservation agencies looking to formalise ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“serious, cultural tourismââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ across the site. Accordingly, by examining the discursive origins of the siteââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s administrative framework, the case of Tomb raider indicates how a prevailing reductive materialism inadequately appreciates the need for protecting an imagined Angkor. The article also highlights how the internationally roaming rhetoric of cultural tourism is particularized, rearticulated and even subverted within the fragile and challenging context of Cambodiaââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s political economy. The paper draws on the work of Crouch and Philips to consider the touristic encounter as a form of spatial practice interwoven by particular narratives, representations and metaphorical imaginings. Finally, it will be seen that the issues addressed here raise important concerns regarding media representations and World Heritage Sites in an age of increasingly pervasive tourism.