When I first saw Jurassic Park in 1993 I was amazed. I hadn't read the book by then, I was only 7, but I did right after. I loved every single part of it, from the DNA animation to the action scenes to the music. A friend of mine decided to go into paleontology just because of that series of books. We were both disappointed as the movies advanced, since it started being more about scaring the public and less about the concept. So why did I go to watch Jurassic World?
A big part of it was nostalgia, and then the scientist in me found the whole new concept so utterly "eye-rolling" that I just couldn't help myself. The 7 year old in me had tons of fun; the heel-lover in me really wants to get Claire's heels, since they seem to be the best shoes ever; the scientist in me decided to stay quiet to not ruin the party for the rest.
I will try to not go into spoilers, and off course I am not a paleontologist, but I think what bothered me the most is that I highly doubt that any kid joining the Jurassic franchise at this point will be motivated to be a scientist. In the first movie (I will refer only to the movies, not the books, since they are quite different) you have Dr Alan Grant who saves the day with both knowledge and skills; Dr Ellen Sattler, one of the strongest female characters, a great paleobotanist and brave as hell; Dr Ian Malcolm, granted not a biological scientist, but a mathematician, made this field look cool people! Chaos theory FTW! And finally Dr. Henry Wu, the chief geneticist, explaining what the whole park is based on. So many science careers, so many characters with different facets, showing that being a scientist is not boring. You even have Tim who loves dinosaurs and wants to study them, from a pretty young age.
Jump to Jurassic World...main characters are an uptight park operations manager with barely any knowledge of the science behind what she is trying to manage, and a "dinosaur researcher" who turns out to be a marine that is hired to train raptors...with what credentials other than his military background I don't even know. The only scientist that makes an appearance is Dr. Wu and he is disregarded by most of the other characters and by the end makes you want to slap him (again, no spoilers, but you go and watch it and tell me if you agree).
I could accept the no feathers in the dinosaurs (Wu kind off explains why this is the case), or the whole "we are doing hybrids now" even though they were all hybrids from the beginning. But what really bothers me is that a whole generation that could've seen science as JP did (albeit with plenty of mistakes of their own). I think we already have enough movies making science either evil or boring. This was a perfect opportunity to make it interesting to new generations again, to vulgarize molecular biology and genetics, to make it accessible and fun. What do you guys think?
A big part of it was nostalgia, and then the scientist in me found the whole new concept so utterly "eye-rolling" that I just couldn't help myself. The 7 year old in me had tons of fun; the heel-lover in me really wants to get Claire's heels, since they seem to be the best shoes ever; the scientist in me decided to stay quiet to not ruin the party for the rest.
I will try to not go into spoilers, and off course I am not a paleontologist, but I think what bothered me the most is that I highly doubt that any kid joining the Jurassic franchise at this point will be motivated to be a scientist. In the first movie (I will refer only to the movies, not the books, since they are quite different) you have Dr Alan Grant who saves the day with both knowledge and skills; Dr Ellen Sattler, one of the strongest female characters, a great paleobotanist and brave as hell; Dr Ian Malcolm, granted not a biological scientist, but a mathematician, made this field look cool people! Chaos theory FTW! And finally Dr. Henry Wu, the chief geneticist, explaining what the whole park is based on. So many science careers, so many characters with different facets, showing that being a scientist is not boring. You even have Tim who loves dinosaurs and wants to study them, from a pretty young age.
Jump to Jurassic World...main characters are an uptight park operations manager with barely any knowledge of the science behind what she is trying to manage, and a "dinosaur researcher" who turns out to be a marine that is hired to train raptors...with what credentials other than his military background I don't even know. The only scientist that makes an appearance is Dr. Wu and he is disregarded by most of the other characters and by the end makes you want to slap him (again, no spoilers, but you go and watch it and tell me if you agree).
I could accept the no feathers in the dinosaurs (Wu kind off explains why this is the case), or the whole "we are doing hybrids now" even though they were all hybrids from the beginning. But what really bothers me is that a whole generation that could've seen science as JP did (albeit with plenty of mistakes of their own). I think we already have enough movies making science either evil or boring. This was a perfect opportunity to make it interesting to new generations again, to vulgarize molecular biology and genetics, to make it accessible and fun. What do you guys think?
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