Faith in Film, Week 3

I love "Jurassic Park." It was released in the summer of 1993, and it was a formative theater-going experience for me. I was 12, and I watched the movie with a sense of wonder, fascination, and exhilaration, and that's something I can still tap into when I see the movie today.

As I've moved through my life, and been a Michael Crichton fan all that time, I've also learned to appreciate the depth of ideas in the story. As he does in a lot of his work, Crichton approaches advances in science and technology with a sense of wonder, but also with a sense of trepidation. He doesn't believe we can control everything and be in command of our creations, and his stories bear that out.

Even thought Steven Spielberg softened the edges of the original novel, the spirit of that ideology from Crichton remains in "Jurassic Park." You see it most clearly when Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) challenged John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) by saying, "Your scientists were so concerned with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." It is a sober warning about thinking we can play God with no consequences.

And in the book, those consequences are severe and nearly immediate. Hammond is literally consumed by his creation, and the book ends in a somewhat dark place. Steven Spielberg, for the movie, softened the edges, but with Crichton serving as a writer the spirit of the idea remained intact.

"Jurassic World," now the fourth entry in this same world, is very faithful to the basic plot elements of "Jurassic Park." And at the same time, it is both a sequel and re-boot, meant to carry the franchise into the next generation. And while it remains faithful to the core idea (in some ways possibly more faithful than the original film because of the consequences depicted), it adds on a new layer of making a statement about our culture, specifically the way we are drawn to the hot, new thing, and how that impacts us moving forward.

That, in part, helps make it a fun, nostalgic, and thought-provoking adventure.

Discussion Questions:
1. Did this film work for you, why or why not?

2. In both “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” we see people who believe they can create and control all aspects of life. What happens when we, as humans, try to play God? Why is it a bad idea?

3. Claire is charged with running the business aspects of Jurassic World, and she treats everything like a typical CEO. What is her biggest problem when it comes to the park and its inhabitants? What is she challenged to do by Owen and Mr. Masrani?

4. In “Jurassic World” the park is built and open to the public, but that’s not enough. The people want something better and more special. What is this film saying about our contemporary culture?