Why is Jurassic Park Awesome?

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Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park (and the Steven Spielberg movie that followed) is one of the most popular and influential stories about scientific curiosity and the use of scientific information in the past few decades. In an essay for The New Atlantis ("Jurassic Generation" Winter/Spring 2013), Ari N. Schulman makes the case that "Jurassic Park is the greatest science story ever told."

"Jurassic Park... offers us a fable about the natural world and man, and the relation between the two: about science, technology, imagination, aspiration, folly, power, corruption, hubris, wild nature in its many forms, and, most importantly, dinosaurs."

People talk about Jurassic Park's cutting-edge special effects, its unforgettable John Williams soundtrack, and the number of young people it inspired to become archeologists (and to be disappointed at never being chased by velociraptors). But the real impact of the film is that it left audiences with the feeling that science is about both wonder at and control over the powerful forces of nature.

"Jurassic Park is not a depiction of science as cool reason, but of science as passion, discovery, and wonder, even fear and trembling—less Richard Dawkins and more Carl Sagan, if Sagan were marveling at the grandeur of existence right as existence was about to eat him for lunch."

Jurassic Park, as a cultural moment and shared national experience, shaped our perception of science and discovery for at least a generation. It endowed the sciences with incredible, almost mythical, power, but exposed the pitfalls of abusing our power over nature and failing to respect nature's power over us. This impossible movie about dinosaurs and scientists made us feel a sense of wonder and awe at the possibilities of science that Americans might not have felt since the moon landing. (Also, T-Rex is awesome.)

A Word about the Sequels

Of course, none of the sequels has been able to break new ground as the original did. And even with all the modern computer effects and technological wizardry, that sense of awe and wonder at seeing a lifelike dinosaur interacting with humans on the big screen just isn’t as awesome as seeing it first time.

It’s not that any of the other films are terrible; it’s just that they feel unnecessary. Jurassic Park was such a complete story and worked out its themes so well that the other movies have a “tacked-on” feel. I don’t fault the moviemakers for wanting to cash in, or audiences for wanting to keep visiting a world where dinosaurs interact with people. But nothing has worked quite like the original.

The Jurassic Park Mindset and Modern Science

Now that the younger generation of scientists have grown up with Jurassic Park and the general public has new expectations of the capabilities of science, how does this affect the ways we think of science now?

For one thing, the Jurassic Park mindset encourages scientists to think big. Unfortunately, technology hasn’t (yet) found a way to bring tyrannosaurus back to life, but similar methods to those in the story have a chance of resurrecting more recently extinct species. And of course, biotechnology has made strides in many other areas.

But Jurassic Park is intended to be a cautionary tale - things didn’t work out great for the people or creatures involved. Hopefully it encourages scientists to consider the unintended consequences of their work and the terrible things they can unleash on the world, especially when it comes to genetic engineering.

We probably won’t see dinosaurs gobbling up tourists any time soon, but there is real peril in messing with the genetic code or experimenting with dangerous pathogens, or in doing things that change the human food supply in major ways. There are always unforeseen consequences to any big endeavor, and what Jurassic Park says (especially Dr. Ian Malcolm, who seems often to speak for Michael Crichton), is that the bigger the project, the bigger the consequences when something goes wrong.

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are incredible. Huge, fantastic creatures that roamed the Earth so long ago, battling to survive. It’s fascinating to think of what it would be like to walk among them. And a story like Jurassic Park gives us a little taste of the wonder and danger of such an adventure.

Paleontology is a fascinating science, a peek into a world so foreign to our own that it might as well be another planet in another galaxy: giant monsters, little chicken-like raptors, flying beasts the size of small airplanes, and plants that could dwarf many buildings. Paleontology is the science that enables us, even if only in our imaginations, to visit such a world and, what’s more, to know that it was real.

But paleontology, like other sciences, can be a little dry, more about long names and descriptions of bones than about the exciting stuff - what was eating what and what these creatures could do. Adventure stories like Jurassic Park put humans into the action and stir the imagination.

The Scientific Imagination

It’s easy to minimize the imaginative aspects of science, to think of it all as measurements, experiments, and number-crunching. But science is essentially work of the imagination - no one can see an atom or quark, a gene sequence, or dark matter. Really, we can’t even see the mathematics behind it all, besides looking at numbers on a page. To be a great scientist, you have to have a fantastic imagination, perhaps greater than that of a novelist.

Stories about science, even if they aren’t realistic or scientifically accurate, remind us of this truth. Maybe wondering what it would take to resurrect dinosaurs inspired some young people to wonder about genetics and begin a course of study that brought them into the lab. Perhaps seeing huge beasts roaming through the Isla Nublar jungles got some imaginative kid thinking about elephant and giraffe populations and led them down the path of field biology. Science must appeal to the imaginative and wondrous, or it’s just another job, a way to earn a paycheck by completing a set of tasks.

For instance, I used to be a resource conservationist, working to preserve Florida’s aquifers. It was sometimes tempting to think of my job as crawling around under orange trees to take measurements from little sprinklers. But, with some imagination, I was a nature crusader, pushing through the foliage and battling insects on a mission to preserve oceans of freshwater deep beneath my feet that can nourish crops and people for generations to come. Each of these pictures of my job is true in its own way, but one is a tiresome and difficult way to earn a paycheck, and the other inspired me to get up every day and go to work with a mission and vision of good things.

Science Heroes

Some critics have faulted Jurassic Park for lack of character development. But I think that’s unfair; Steven Spielberg developed the characters as much as the story would allow without the movie being four or five hours long (the book is obviously somewhat different). One thing I love about the movie is that even though the characters aren’t perfect, several of them are so cool. My favorite is Dr. Alan Grant, the old-school archeologist (he hates computers) with cutting-edge ideas (he talks about dinosaurs evolving into birds). He looks and acts the part of a manly scientist, with a head full of knowledge and the character to act bravely in the midst of disaster.

Then there’s Dr. Ellie Statler, played by Laura Dern. She’s not a typical action-movie woman who has little to do but fall in love with the hero. She has a big part to play in the story and acts the hero just as much as the men. She’s a great role model for girls who love science and adventure.

The Smart-Aleck Dr. Ian Malcom, played by Jeff Goldblum, is the conscience of the story, talking about the perils of man playing God and tampering with nature. He’s got most of the best lines in the movie, but he’s not just there for comic relief - he’s there to give perspective.

And those are just the main characters. There’s also John Hammond, the creator of the park, who embodies rampant consumerism and scientific hubris (in the character of a kindly grandfather). There’s Nedry, who represents unapologetic greed. Arnold, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is the company guy just trying to do the right thing. The children remind us of the vulnerable future generations that are affected when we mess with nature. The park animal guy, Muldoon, respects the power of the animals, but is clearly intrigued by what science can do. They’re all interesting characters in their own rights (and very well acted), but they also play specific roles in Crichton’s morality tale.

The Awesomeness

For all these reasons, and surely several more, Jurassic Park is the best science movie ever made. I re-watch it from time to time, partly from nostalgia (it came out when I was 12 years old), partly to appreciate it as an entertaining movie, and partly to be inspired again by the awesome power and sheer coolness of the natural world. It makes me want to study science, dream big, and be a good steward of the incredible world that God has made.

People might disagree with how God made dinosaurs or when, but only a silly person could fail to see that dinosaurs are awesome. And the God who made them is even more awesome. That He could dream up such fantastic creatures, preserve traces of them for us to discover, and inspire scientists to study them with passion, says something about God’s creativity and power and love for mankind.

So I will keep watching and reading Jurassic Park. Thank God for dinosaurs, for scientists, and for good stories.