History YMMV / IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom

* ViewerGenderConfusion: The child Maharaja. The combination of her, sorry, his, outfit being feminine coded by Western audiences, [[LadyOfBlackMagic using a voodoo doll to torture Indy]], has a moment with Short Round that could be interpreted as a ShipTease, and his being dubbed by Creator/KatieLeigh who gave him a very child princess-type voice means you feel very sorry for actor Raj Singh.

** The AndShowItToYou scene, and yelling "Kali ma!"

* NauseaFuel: The banquet. ForeignQueasine taken to its outer extreme, and quite deliberately (to squick the British and encourage Indy and company to leave). It was pretty much cooked up by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas getting suggestions about what the most disgusting possible items to put on a menu could be.

** Not to mention the overt MightyWhitey themes of the story all about the heroic American superman going into India and fighting the evil and heavily embellished Indian death cult.
** Pretty much ''everything'' in regards to how India and/or Hinduism is depicted in this film can be pretty uncomfortable to view nowadays, up to the point where the portrayal is widely CondemnedByHistory even by fans of the movie.

** Producing this film was very hard for Creator/GeorgeLucas and Creator/StevenSpielberg, [[CreatorBreakdown as Lucas was going through a painful divorce and Spielberg had a breakup with]] Creator/AmyIrving. But Spielberg would find love again with Creator/KateCapshaw, who he'd marry several years afterwards. He would say that meeting her was the best part of making this movie.

* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Initially, Short Round had a more polarizing perception from viewers, as there were a number of people who disliked his highly exaggerated Chinese accent and [[NoIndoorVoice lack of an indoor voice]], with some even finding him just as annoying as [[DamselScrappy Willie Scott]]. As the years passed though, many people began to realize that Short Round had other positive traits outside of his EthnicScrappy TagalongKid status, such as his surprising level of competence in dangerous situations, and steadfast loyalty to Indy throughout the entire adventure. With Creator/KeHuyQuan's return to acting in ''Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce'' shining a light on his previous child acting roles, it lead to an increasingly large portion of the audience wanting him to return to the franchise.

* JerkassWoobie: Willie. Yes she may be an obnoxious [[SpoiledBrat spoiled]] RichBitch, but look at it from her point of view: she goes from a safe and comfortable life to an utterly terrifying ordeal--which she was dragged into against her will--including almost being sacrificed. It's hard not to feel at least a bit bad for her, to say nothing of the fact that she will [[FridgeHorror probably have PTSD for the rest of her life.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Indy panicking over crashing a plane briefly stopped being amusing when Creator/HarrisonFord got injured in a plane crash in 2015. Although, as [[GallowsHumor a darkly comical moment]], when Ford recalled the crash on ''Series/TheLateShow'', he said "I didn't crash, the [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] plane crashed!", echoing Indy's line "We weren't brought here, our plane... crashed."

** {{Mooks}} fall into crocodile-infested water and... cut to crocodiles eating empty clothes with scream sound effects dubbed over. And the cherry on top is that they didn't even get crocodiles, obviously using American alligators as stand ins.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The big slave driver guy gets what's meant as an AlasPoorVillain moment, as he gets part of his sash caught in a rock crusher and starts screaming in terror as Indy tries in vain to pull him out, only for him to get crushed anyway. Considering he helped enslave a bunch of kids, and is even seen viciously whipping one in his first appearance, it's pretty hard not to just cheer as he dies screaming[[note]]That is, unless you subscribe to the theory that he was under the [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Black Sleep of Kali]] and him being hit on the head moments earlier snapped him out of it[[/note]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Was Mola Ram aware of his atrocities or another [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] pawn as the novelization implies?

* SignatureScene: The sacrifice and RollercoasterMine scenes. The former for the NightmareFuel and EstablishingCharacterMoment for the BigBad and the latter for being an impressive chase scene that's been [[FollowTheLeader paid homage to]] ever since.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The controversy over how dark and bloody it was for a PG film partially inspired the creation of the PG-13 movie rating in the USA and the 12 in the UK. It's a milestone in cinema history (alongside the similarly too-much-for-PG-not-enough-for-R ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'') for this very reason.

* CompleteMonster: [[EvilSorcerer Mola Ram]], head of the [[ReligionOfEvil cult of Kali Ma]], intends to find the Sankara Stones to bring forth the reign of Kali in a wave of slaughter. To find the stones, he has [[WouldHurtAChild children]] abducted from their villages and enslaved, forcing them into grueling labor and abuse. Ram also has a habit of ritualistic sacrifice by [[BeatStillMyHeart ripping the hearts out]] from his victims and dipping them in lava to burn alive and screaming. Mola also uses the "Blood of Kali" to brainwash local politicians and royalty to become devout servants of Kali, doing the same to Indy and nearly having him sacrifice his own love interest Willie, and finally attempts to plunge Indy to ravenous crocodiles in the climax, [[BadBoss dumping his own men to their deaths]] while attempting to hit Indy.