Exploring 2020 American Politics Using Jurassic Park Analogies
A series of observations from an exhausted and exasperated citizen
I’ve been thinking a lot about politics lately. Not because I want to, but because I feel that I have to. I love my country, and as a citizen, it’s my duty to hold it to a high standard. And right now, I think America is in the “first couple years out of college” phase and needs to stop blacking out at company happy hours.
I’m on the progressive side of the political spectrum and I’m not here to talk about whether the Green New Deal or affordable health care is a good idea, (it is) but instead, I want to take this opportunity to explore the tension and fear in this country. More importantly, I want to examine why we seem unable to engage in constructive political discourse. And what better way to do that than to reference the classic story of an eccentric billionaire, underfunded scientists, and natural selection; the Jurassic Park film franchise.
To begin, I believe that most of us, regardless of political affiliation, cherish consistency. For years prior to his arrival on Isla Nublar, everything Dr. Alan Grant knew about dinosaurs came from rock and bone, carefully excavated over months of diligent, scientific discovery in the Montana Badlands. However, when Dr. Grant comes face to face with a live, in-the-flesh Brontosaurs chomping down on a midday snack, he’s at a loss for words. The world as he knows it has changed and therefore the other, predictable things this fictional paleontologist believes to be true are also at risk of changing. Can you imagine his reaction if that brontosaurus were to also dismantle systemic racism? As our main protagonist ponders the fate of his career, we as the audience are thrilled. A universal truth has been broken, what will happen next? However, in the case of American politics, we are not passive moviegoers, we are active participants in our democracy. Therefore we must remember while a good chunk of our country roots for change, there is an equally large chunk that is terrified of it, especially if the proposed change does not align with their vision for the country.
To combat this, we must remember that change is neither good nor bad — it just is. And when change happens, we must deal with it. After the initial awe and wonder of Jurassic Park wears off, our gang of circumspect scientists begins to discuss whether or not the creation of Jurassic Park was ethical. Dr. Ian Malcolm famously (at least to me) challenges eccentric billionaire and park founder John Hammond, “Your scientists were so preoccupied in whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” The question brought up is this: at what point does human innovation for the sake of capitalist gains go too far?
Take for example the real, man-made crisis we’re battling today, climate change. Scientists overwhelmingly agree that human activity over the last 50 years has warmed our planet. While some of us take these facts as a call to revise existing infrastructure, others don’t. We see this mirrored in the first film when even after a calculated power failure turns John Hammond’s first dinosaur tour into a disaster, putting his grandchildren’s lives at risk, he’s still optimistic, “When they opened Disneyland in 1957, nothing worked!” It takes a grim, injured, but still somehow sexy Dr. Malcom to bring Mr. Hammond back to reality, “Yeah, John, but when Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.”
Now while the shirtless Ian Malcolm image above with forever live in meme infamy, the message behind this scene is lost; protect human lives above all cost. And, right now, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of that going on these days.
As misinformation plagues Facebook newsfeeds, YouTube channels, and even the Twitter feeds of elected officials who know better, our country becomes more and more frightened. And what do people do when they’re frightened? They seek bullies to protect them. Like the bumbling villains at InGen, a large chunk of American voters will flock to anyone who claims to protect their “at-risk” interests. Instead of admitting that they probably shouldn’t have brought dinosaurs back to life in the first place, they double down on greed and self-interest. This creates an “us vs. them” narrative, making it impossible for two opposing forces to work together. And you know what happens when two groups of humans don’t work together when they’re stranded on an abandoned dinosaur island?
They get eaten by velociraptors.
So, we’ve established that all of us are scared of change, or lack of change. To cope with this we’ve chosen to side with people (some much, much crueler than others) who we think will protect our interests. This has created a divisive and toxic political environment where one President will just undo the executive orders of their predecessor. How, at least, can we start moving in a direction instead of going in circles?
As we learned from Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World, we can’t just bring the T-Rex to San Diego. It’s not going to get a California burrito and chill at a local brewery, it’s going to drink out of our swimming pools, eat the family dog, and tell us that abortions are immoral. Instead, we need animal behavioral scientists, like Dr. Sarah Grant, who know how to safely maneuver the confused and distressed T-Rex away from the bustling downtown area where it’ll wreak havoc on our city buses and Blockbuster Video. But Dr. Sarah Grant can’t be everywhere at once, meaning we have to put on our best Julianne Moore impressions and start doing some difficult work. Separate from phone banking, donating, and canvassing, this means we must have real conversations with real people who think differently than we do.
I know, I don’t like it either.
Trust me, I know that in 2020 it’s hard to have these frank discussions, they’re uncomfortable. In fact in the midst of writing this essay, I contradicted the exact message I’m sharing here. Honestly, like Jurassic Park 3, I just want political arguments with our loved ones to end. Dodging Fox News and alt-right conspiracy theories is just as, if not more unpleasant than being chased by pterodactyls while paragliding. These types of conversations require courage, humility, and compassion. And if you need inspiration, which I sure do, I encourage you to look to the poor tweens who’ve been subjugated to the horrors of Jurassic Park.
Tiny, naive, and far too slow at climbing electric fences, in every iteration of our dino franchise, there’s always one or two kids who find their way into the park. Whether through their own sneaky prowess (I’m looking at you, Kelly Malcolm!) or because they have parents that truly do not give a shit about their wellbeing, these kids are resilient as hell. If Lex Hammond can lock a velociraptor in an industrial freezer, then hack into a computer mainframe, you can have an uncomfortable 20-minute conversation with friends, family members, or acquaintances that disagree with you.
Changing people’s minds isn’t easy, in fact, it’s damn near impossible. But your more likely to break through the spell of our 24-hour news cycle, thinly veiled Facebook propaganda, and misinformation by having honest conversations with people who you love. And if that doesn’t work, I think they’re still making a Jurassic World 3 so I guess I’ll look forward to that and hope they got rid of that bogus clone storyline.
