The Jurassic Park franchise

Recently I analysed the first four movies from the Jurassic Park franchise: Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World (2015). The two that came out in the 1990s made US$643 million and US$618 million at the worldwide box office (not adjusted for inflation) and the last two grossed US$365 million and US$1.648 billion at the worldwide box office—so they are worth examining closely. Only the first two were directed by Steven Spielberg. Although Jurassic Park (1993) was fairly progressive, even compared to movies coming out now, it is The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) that is the most progressive. True, there are only two significant named female characters, and they are vastly outnumbered by males. Also, they barely interact. However, they are both assertive and hold men accountable for their actions. It passes the Bechdel test (a test that serves as an indicator of the active presence of women in movies). Moreover, the little girl gets to be heroic. Furthermore, there is a focus on environmentalism and conservationism, neither of which make it into many movies. I go into the details in my upcoming film guide for women. As just one example, Julianne Moore calls Jeff Goldblum a predator--and that was 20 years ago!

© 2019 Alline Cormier