Jurassic Park Stereotypes

Jurassic Park, a Spielberg masterpiece that brought joy to millions. It showed the struggle a group of people had to go through to survive and not destroy the last remaining dinosaurs in the world. In the whole series, which I will be covering, men and women are showed differently. One may show the relationship of men and women as equals and partners. Another may have them as ex’s and awkward, and another may reverse or show stereotypes. Women and men are neither positive or negative, many can argue it’s negative and others can argue it’s positive or has no negative effect, it changes from film to film, from character relationship to character relationship, and I believe that there is no negative effect, it portrays women in a positive light.

It all started in 1993, cigarette advertisements were banned in NYC, Bill Clinton is being inaugurated as the 42nd president of the United States, Audrey Hepburn dies of Colon Cancer at the age of 63, and Steven Spielberg is directing the first installment of the Jurassic Park franchise. Based on the the novel, of the same name, by Michael Crichton. In the first film the characters had to team up to survive and get off the island.

Laura Dern ,the lead female role, who played Dr. Ellie Sattler was shown as a strong independent women who had to survive on her bravery to save her friends. In moment she had to do many things that many men, women and children would dread doing, she had to travel alone in a dark corridor trying to restore power to the island, so her fellow scientists can get off said island. However some moments in the film may make you think is offencive, and wrong, and just might make you want to protest. However the incident in question in the film is the scene where the female nerdy scientist is too caught up in her work and all the small details to see something bigger “This species of vermiform has been extinct since the cretaceous period. This thing - - Grant, never tearing his eyes from the brachiosaur, reaches over and grabs Ellie's head, turning it to face the animal.” (Crichton, Marmo 22). Makes her seem incapable to noticing the larger themes around her and need a man to snap her into reality. Even though this had comedic intentions it may seem offencive to some people. On the other hand it is argued men got the short end of the stick, through the

whole plot men are made out to be the villian between the lines. One man is a crazy entrepreneur willing go out of what some say is a sin against nature and defy the gods themselves by bringing prehistoric monsters back from the dead. Another is a fat greedy scumbag, played by Wayne Knight, willing to kill tens of people for a substantial amount of money “Due to his financial problems and low salary, he accepted an offer from Biosyn to smuggle dinosaur embryos off the island.”(Nedry) The third one, Donald Gennaro played by Martin Ferrero, is the blood sucking lawer “Donald Gennaro: [seeing the dinosaurs for the first time] We're gonna make a fortune with this place”,(Crichton, Marmo 25), without a doubt this makes men look greedy and money driven.
In the battle of men over women, women were preferred in the film, yes there were fewer women than women by the total deaths of men in just the first Jurassic Park was five and the total amount of deaths of female characters was a grand total of zero, and as well as two dinosaurs but that does not matter right now. “Dennis Nedry, Gennaro (the lawyer), the park ranger, (Muldoon) and the computer guy (Arnold)” (Clark). Since there are no women in this list it leads me to think that women are untouchable in movies. If a director has a female killed in a movie they have to be careful if they make the death “wrong” in any way, they’ll be under heavy fire from the public. “A Double Standard in media whereby women automatically have the audience's sympathy and men don't. Comes in large part for the need for hordes of non-faceless mooks whose suffering and death we won't lose much sleep over in all sorts of media.” (Boadle), not only is Jurassic Park offencive men but many movies are offencive to men making men out to be a expendable gender who people can kill off and no one bats an eye.
Not all of Jurassic Park is about killing and the evils of men but the interactions of men and women captivated the audience with witty banter and clever dialogue.

The dialogue between Malcolm and Dr. Ellie is a prime example of this, “Malcolm lowers his voice, becoming more seductive now. MALCOLM (cont'd) Life's a lot like that, isn't it? You meet someone by chance you'll never meet again, and the course of your whole future changes.” (Crichton, Marmo 56) Malcolm in a way uses his superior knowledge of chaos theory to seduce another scientist, Dr. Ellie. What was the appeal Malcolm had to Dr. Ellie is unknown. It may have been the fact she is an attractive woman, or the intelligence she possessed is what brought him in, it may even be the fact she the only member of the opposite sex in the party. However this is not the only relationship in the film Dr. Grant and Dr. Ellie had a positive relationship. “After Grant speaks explains how dangerous velociraptors were to the fat little bastard he asks Sattler "You want to have one of those?" to which she responds "I don't want that kid but a breed of child Dr Grants could be intriguing." So it's pretty safe to assume they were a couple.”, (Roboto) in the film they have a positive healthy relationship which make people think they have a relationship. However, it is safer to assume they were close colleagues and friends, which in my personal view is a positive

relationship.
Dr. Ellie had to walk through a dark corridor whilst killer raptors are loose and even use her strength to hold of a raptor to save Dr. Grant, herself, and two children. Many of these events would bring to mind images of men fighting nature's beasts of killer dinosaurs, however in this work of fiction Dr. Ellie filled that role, “She holds on by kicking the door shut as the raptor continues to push himself through the door. Ellie is able to get the door closed. She stands, but then falls back onto one of the walls” (Crichton, Marmo 129), she has what many other people men and women alike would be to cowardice to attempt to do. Even though she felt fear she did not allow it to overwhelm her so she can save her friends.
The director and author of the Jurassic Park films were both men. As I could tell the affect it had on the movies was minimal. In a way all the characters seem cliche however women seem to have the lease complexe roles and have little character development. It may be because authors were men, but I don’t think so, many other male characters don’t change throughout the plot. So in a way they come in one way and exit the exact same. “Dr. Ellie Sattler: I can't wait any longer. Something went wrong. I'm gonna' get the power back on” (Dr. Ellie Sattler), in this scene she showed many emotions, however throughout the film she kept to a certain character, boiled down she was, intelligent, witty, and brave. Knowingly risking her life and yet making witty remarks are traits not often seen, but there was very little character development.
It has only been over a decade since the first Jurassic Park, now Jurassic World has finally been realised. Now with more action, drama, and violence. Unlike the first installment the latest had two well developed female roles who impacted the movie. With relatable and lovable characters such as Owen; played by Chris Pratt, Claire; whom was played by Bryce Dallas Howard, lovable Masrani; played by Irrfan Khan, less lovable Hoskins; played by Vincent D'Onofrio, and the brothers Gray and Zach; played by Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson respectively. In the second scene it portrays a broken family whom roles are filled with stereotypes, one prime example, “SCOT So much for our last family breakfast… KAREN(annoyed) Why do you have to say things like that?” (Spielberg 19) this dialogue between the wife and husband of the two brothers show the far too common stereotype of a broken household. It shows the father who already moved on from the broken marriage and the mother who is an emotion mess. Later in the film Claire, the aunt, meets up with the kids. “CLAIRE(surprised) Whoa, Zach! Last time I saw you, you were like… She holds a hand at about roughly Gray's height. CLAIRE That must've been, what? Three, four years ago? ZACH Uh, seven. Seven years. But, you know, close.”, (Claire, Zach), this dialog shows the single female scientist as detached from her family to get her life on track, trying to do more than she can handle and in turn loosing touch to who she really is.
In the film it appears men are more favored than women, unlike the first installment women do happen to die as well as countless men. Even one woman's death is too much for some people. “So I just saw Jurassic World and I don't think I've felt that sick in my stomach from a movie. It wasn't the soldiers getting pummeled by the I-Rex or Bryce Dallas Howard running around in only heels (ouch), but one death. However, it wasn't simply a matter of a person getting killed by a dinosaur. It was the brutality. Zara's death was way out of tone.”(highmrk), I find this disturbing, in the second installment a character can die as in anyway and people don’t care, but if it’s a woman then it’s wrong and sexist, if Zara was a man this post would not exist, but this is not the case. However favorites are not decided on who dies and who doesn’t, it is decided on how a character portrayed in the movie. If it’s a business man with good at heart but his action end up killing hundreds like Masrani, if it’s an attractive man who has nearly everything going for him like Own, or is it a Claire who is stressed to her life is mess. “Claire Dearing: You are not in control here!”(Dan e), out of context is may seem pointless, but in the film it makes a powerful move. A man tries to do his job, and this caused her to become defencive. She may feel incompetent and that she has to prove herself to stay afloat. Whilst Own is always in control and has a plan. Later in the film we find out they date and Owen claims she, even on a date, uses a day planner to plan everything out, and claims she is controlling. One the other hand she claimed he was a slob and that’s why they never went on a second date. It’s arguable whether or not women are more favored than men or vice versa, but the overwhelming evidence leads me to believe that men or favored over women.
The interaction between men and women is aweinspiring. They are ever changing and is more real to life. “Owen Grady: What kind of diet doesn't allow tequila? Claire Dearing: All of them.” (Tristan), this clever back in forth shows the arguing between one of the two main female and male roles. It portrays them as two people at each other's throats ready to fight. It may seem funny and playful but the emotion is exposed to be angry and stressed. “Claire Dearing: So now what do we do? Owen Grady: Probably stay together. For survival” (Tristan), at the end of the film the two character grew to love each other. Showing the change in emission the two characters have to each other. It started off negative and troublesome and ended up to be a beautiful thing.
Not only do character emissions switch but so does character traits. “Is that Claire”, a line spoken by one of the brothers seeing their girlish aunt shoot a pterodactyl. There were many cases she did actions that were considered manly, such as the time she wasn’t going back into the park but to stay with Owen to find the children. “Claire Dearing: Open Paddock 9!” (Toby), this shocking and epic scene shows Claire risking her life and ready to be chased by a t-rex to have them fight another dinosaure to save the people she loves. If this is not considered manly then I don’t know what is. Like the first movie the author is a man and like the first movie there is very little difference. All genders are complex, and show real emotions. They are not at all cliche and phony.
The film is not at all sexist or counterculture. The first film was dated and now seems more cliche, and the latest instalment seems to be up to date and being politically correct. Neither movie seems to be harmful to a gender, however, some people can argue that it is harmful to one or another gender. However this is just a movie, in real life stereotypes affect almost everyone. It may not affect me directly but indirectly it does. Seeing my most favorite activities and things I love to do being lashed at blamed for being sexist and became a whipping boy. People need to be less critical and enjoy life.