Dr. Grant grows up
"There it is," Hammond announces, as the island comes into view. The helicopter is shown approaching a valley enclosed by two slopes that seem like two legs. The shot showing the helicopter flying through the uterine passage adds to the feeling that we are entering a feminine world. This is reinforced by the revelation that there are only female dinosaurs on the island. "Hold on! This can be a little thrilling," Hammond warns the passengers about the landing, but also about what they are about to experience in Jurassic Park. His warning seems to apply mostly to Grant, who, after some scrambling with the seat belt, manages to tie two receptive (female) ends together in a simple knot, leaving Ellie to fend for herself without a seat belt. It is a sign his ineptness with modern objects [I hate computers/I love dinosaurs] but also of his infantile self-centeredness and lack of masculine attributes.
Fathers and Sons in Cinema, by Gershon Reiter.
The thing in brackets was mine, as it was mentioned elsewhere. I posted this as it was in the same vein as the review of screwball comedies from a gender equality point of view. I found this interpretation of Jurassic Park to be similarly new/amazing/WTFy.
This is another situation where I wonder, did the filmmaker really intend this? Did Spielburg mean every bit of feminine imagery and to use it to show how childish Grant is? The bit I posted here is only a tiny taste of how many examples the author came up with. It's nuts.
Unfortunately, the book was physically built in a way that it was impossible to hold it down and open with objects while typing, so I was forced to use one hand on it while typing with the other -- otherwise I'd have loved to copy much more of this author's interesting analysis. It's worth a look.
Table of contents:
The ties that bind: fathers and sons and the dragon between them
Myths and filmmyths
The Wizard of Oz: follow the metaphor road
Back to the Future: a rematch made in time
Stand by Me: descent to the netherworld
Red River: holdfast and drawfast
City Slickers ride of passage
North by Northwest: O for Oedipus
E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial: advent of the absent father
Field of Dreams: father denied
Lone Star: forget the dragon
The Lion King: a picture of fatherhood
Jurassic Park: fatherhood repressed
The Searchers: slaying the dragon
Fathers and Sons in Cinema, by Gershon Reiter.
The thing in brackets was mine, as it was mentioned elsewhere. I posted this as it was in the same vein as the review of screwball comedies from a gender equality point of view. I found this interpretation of Jurassic Park to be similarly new/amazing/WTFy.
This is another situation where I wonder, did the filmmaker really intend this? Did Spielburg mean every bit of feminine imagery and to use it to show how childish Grant is? The bit I posted here is only a tiny taste of how many examples the author came up with. It's nuts.
Unfortunately, the book was physically built in a way that it was impossible to hold it down and open with objects while typing, so I was forced to use one hand on it while typing with the other -- otherwise I'd have loved to copy much more of this author's interesting analysis. It's worth a look.
Table of contents:
The ties that bind: fathers and sons and the dragon between them
Myths and filmmyths
The Wizard of Oz: follow the metaphor road
Back to the Future: a rematch made in time
Stand by Me: descent to the netherworld
Red River: holdfast and drawfast
City Slickers ride of passage
North by Northwest: O for Oedipus
E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial: advent of the absent father
Field of Dreams: father denied
Lone Star: forget the dragon
The Lion King: a picture of fatherhood
Jurassic Park: fatherhood repressed
The Searchers: slaying the dragon