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Jurassic Park is traditionally known as a movie about science. While there are strong ethical considerations throughout the film, the dinosaurs and the science that creates them are actually a means to discuss other issues. One of the most important story arcs follows Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) transform from a child-hating work-obsessed individual to one who puts children first.

This article will explore that often overlooked character arc and examine the film, and the film series, in a new light. Instead of monster films, the films are really family dramas set among monsters. There will be spoilers below.

Avoiding Fatherhood

Father’s Day is when we honor the strong and responsible men who helped give us life. It is a day where we thank those men we owe a debt of gratitude to for raising us and forging us into the people we are today.

That responsibility is a burden that many in the world prefer toavoid. The social standard that pushes individuals towards marriage and having children looks undesirable compared to a life of freedom to do what one pleases. Some take the halfway route and marry but never procreate while others stay bachelors forever. This is typically associated with men, but it is common among women too.

However, fatherhood, like motherhood, is just as much of a social role as it is a biological function, and members of society have a duty to help the next generation even if they are not responsible for bringing them into the world. To think only of one’s self and not the greater good of society causes you to become isolated, estranged from humanity as a whole.

The main character of Jurassic Park, Alan lives his dream of being a paleontologist with his partner, paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern). Early in the story, Dr. Grant’s aversion to fatherhood is expressed in a debate he has with a young boy at a dig site over his favorite dinosaur, the Velociraptor. After Grant scares the young boy with a Velociraptor claw to the amusement of the crowd, Ellie asks if he ever plans on having children. He responds to with a scoff and lists only the negatives of parenthood: money, noise, and poopy diapers.

Little did he know that when he went into his trailer, he would meet John Hammond (Richard Attenborough). After promising to fund his research for the next three years Hammond brings Alan and Ellie to Jurassic Park, their life’s work brought from the past into the present.

At first, arriving in Jurassic Park is beguiling to Alan. He sees the creatures he devoted his life to studying the remnants of alive and well, and is fascinated with how they were created. While he is awe struck by the various herbivores, he shows horror at the idea of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptors being brought to life. However, he is able to contain himself and join the rest, including Hammond’s two grandchildren, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello), for a tour of the exhibits.

As expected, Alan is annoyed by the questions and behavior of the children. So he surrounds himself with society and adult life, both literally and metaphorically, leaving the children’s vehicle to ride in the other. He does whatever he can to avoid them, wanting to spend his time with Ellie and Dr. Ian Malcoln (Jeff Goldblum).

Discovering Fatherhood

Due to the disastrous actions of Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight), the park is shut down. The two vehicles of the tour are stopped outside of the T-Rex exhibit, with Lex, Tim, and hapless lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) in the first and Grant and Ian in the second. It is at this time when Alan questions Ian about children, the ever-quipping Ian responds:

Dr. Alan Grant: You got any kids?

Dr. Ian Malcolm: Me? Oh, hell yeah, three. I love kids. Anything at all can and does happen. Same with wives, for that matter.

Dr. Alan Grant: You’re married?

Dr. Ian Malcolm: Occasionally. Yeah, I’m always on the lookout for a future ex-Mrs. Malcolm.

Ian, we find out, has children, but he also has many ex wives, and he represents a sort of father figure who never quite managed to become a true father to any of his offspring. He is an eternal bachelor who goes through the social acts but never really moves on. He is a foil to Alan, representing a very different kind of man, and Alan seems to be put off by his response. It is here that the T-Rex makes its presence known.

Realizing the danger, Gennaro abandons the kids and makes a run for it. Gennaro, to this point, is obsessed solely with profits. He represents a selfishness of the individual, someone consumed with business and out for himself. When he flees from his vehicle to hide in a nearby bathroom, he cares only about his personal safety, and the action is so confusing to Grant and Ian that they aren’t able to explain his behavior. Ian is left with a quip, “when you gotta go, you gotta go.”

The T-Rex breaks out and attacks the children’s vehicle due to Lex ignorantly using a flashlight that entices the massive dinosaur. Both Alan and Ian move into action. Alan, being calm and removed, uses a flare to try to distract the T-Rex, which almost works. However, Ian wants to try the same idea but acts in a more brash manner. He yells for Alan to save the children before running off with his own flare. The T-Rex gives chase, and Ian is hurt in the mess while Gennaro ends up eaten.

Alan is forced into the responsibility of being the children’s guardian. He is the only adult left, and the children are now at risk from being destroyed by the results of adults playing with science that they do not fully understand. Despite being motivated in life by selfishness and ignorance, Grant proves himself a good man in vowing not to leave them behind.

The Two Trees of Life

After confronting the T-Rex, Alan, Lex, and Tim end up in the T-Rex’s paddock with Tim stuck in a giant tree pinned in the car. Alan has to rescue Tim and carry him out of the tree as the car begins its descent, effectively chasing them the whole way. The tree can be seen as a metaphor for Alan’s previous life, his bachelor scientist life.

Everything Alan pursued, researching dinosaurs, was manifested in a living dinosaur attacking him. The danger he felt was the end result of being trapped in the past. Life forced him to act in the present, to look out for the children, and so the foundation of his previous life, the tree of his life, was destroyed.

It is at that moment when he truly begins to respect Lex and Tim, and he takes them up into another tree where they can observe peaceful dinosaurs. In a moment that harks to the Marshall family of the 1970s series Land of the Lost, Grant educates the young children on the dinosaurs and finds himself enjoying their company.

When asked by Lex about what he and Ellie will do without digging up bones, he says “I guess we’ll just have to evolve too.” He finally laughs at Tim’s bad jokes, and he seeks to comfort the children about the danger, a reverse of his first interaction with a child. It is then that he looks at the Velociraptor claw, seeing his past, the past, and realizing that the future is more important. He tosses it aside, letting go of everything he was. Alan’s burgeoning sense of responsibility is laid bare when he elects to stay up all night and protect the children from the dinosaurs.

Testing Newly Discovered Fatherhood

Alan’s responsibility to the children is soon tested when conflicted with his fascination towards the herd of Gallimimus, where he does not fail to protect the children. By guiding the children, they are able to get into a safe vantage to witness the T-Rex burst out and attack the herd. It is through his newly found fatherly instincts that the danger of the previous night can be transformed into something far more pleasant.

A second test comes when Ellie begins to restart the park’s electrical grid. Alan, Lex, and Tim have to make their way over a fence before the electricity comes on, but Tim is too slow. At first, Alan wants to climb after Tim to help him, but Lex holds him back. When Tim is shocked and thrown into Alan’s arms, Alan shows honest feelings for the boy and desperately tries to resuscitate the him. The joy on his face when Tim recovers is that of a parent who knew his child will be okay.

Dr. Grant fulfills his duty of bringing the children to a safe haven, having fully embraced his role as their guardian and caring for them as if they were his own children. As the evolution of his character into a father figure is complete, he is reunited with Ellie.

The movie’s final act finds the surviving characters struggle against the Velociraptors. Through the nurturing and courage bestowed by Alan’s guardianship, the children are able to react and survive on their own. Eventually, this new family, complete with symbolic father and mother, are able to guide the children into the park’s grand rotunda where they face off against the Velociraptors.

We are told by Alan when he confronts the boy at the beginning of the film that raptors do not attack head on but prefer to flank their prey, and we see this first hand when game warden Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck) is killed in this very manner. Together, the four are able to keep their backs together and work as a team, preventing the Velociraptors from attacking.

Merely keeping an eye on the Velociraptors would lead to a stale mate, but their working together allows the story to come full circle. The T-Rex that once tried to kill the children bursts in and begins to attack the Velociraptors, allowing this pseudo-family to escape. The very manifestation of horror and destruction that served as the catalyst for Alan realizing how important it is to serve as a father allows him to survive the park.

A Family Film

The Jurassic Park series is made for families, and it is also about families. The role of children and fatherhood is a constant theme throughout. The Lost World shows Ian Malcolm grow closer to his estranged daughter through a perilous adventure on InGen’s second test site, Isla Sorna. Jurassic Park III brings a disillusioned Alan Grant back to find himself again by guiding a broken family through Isla Sorna and helping them to reunite. Jurassic World shows the theme of fatherhood through Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) giving up his bachelor ways while his one-time girlfriend Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) struggles to save her nephews.

From start to finish, the Jurassic Park franchise is a brilliant lesson on looking to the future instead of the past. Although Hammond wanted to create something that would spark the imagination of children, he went too far and put them at first. It is only through our main character realizing that children are a benefit to our lives, not a burden, that he can protect them from that very danger.