Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Battlemilk 3, coming summer 2013!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Symbolism in 'Jurassic Park' (Adventures in Babysitting starring Sam Neil)
I just recently watched the re release Imax 3d version of 'Jurassic Park.' One of my favorite things that Spielberg and crew demonstrated in it is the use of... SYMBOLISM... Symbolism... symbolism... (symbolism)...
Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie, but if you haven't seen it... SERIOUSLY?! YOU'VE NEVER SEEN JURASSIC PARK?!
Anyhoo, early in the film Dr. Grant (played by Sam Neill) runs afoul of an annoying brat, played by Whit Hertford (his IMDB. Ooooh I remember him from 'Mr. Belvedere'):
Look at that annoying kid, with that annoying hat, and that annoying shirt... oh sorry. Well anyways in an effort to put the kid in his place, Dr. Grant explains to him how Velociraptors could gut him, like a fish at Benihana's, using:
A RAPTOR CLAW! This moment is so amazing because it organically layers in the explanation of how Raptors hunt and how intelligent they are, but more importantly it demonstrates how bad Dr. Grant is with children. As seen here:
So now that raptor claw symbolizes Dr. Grant's detest of children and arguably his fear that he won't be able to care for them, his own personal conflict. So of course what happens to him later in the film:
He ends up not only having to be around children, but also having to take care of them, when the (BLEEP) hits the fan:
Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie, but if you haven't seen it... SERIOUSLY?! YOU'VE NEVER SEEN JURASSIC PARK?!
Anyhoo, early in the film Dr. Grant (played by Sam Neill) runs afoul of an annoying brat, played by Whit Hertford (his IMDB. Ooooh I remember him from 'Mr. Belvedere'):
Look at that annoying kid, with that annoying hat, and that annoying shirt... oh sorry. Well anyways in an effort to put the kid in his place, Dr. Grant explains to him how Velociraptors could gut him, like a fish at Benihana's, using:
A RAPTOR CLAW! This moment is so amazing because it organically layers in the explanation of how Raptors hunt and how intelligent they are, but more importantly it demonstrates how bad Dr. Grant is with children. As seen here:
"He [Velociraptor] slashes you here, or here, or maybe across the belly; spilling you intestines."
So now that raptor claw symbolizes Dr. Grant's detest of children and arguably his fear that he won't be able to care for them, his own personal conflict. So of course what happens to him later in the film:
But his experience with these kids shows him that children aren't so bad and that he is capable of caring for them. So once the 3 of them find themselves resting and taking refuge in the trees, the children cuddle up next to him (which he would've found unpleasant before). As he leans back, he hits something, reaches back and pulls out, you guessed it... THE RAPTOR CLAW!
As Dr. Grant shares a quiet moment of rest with the children, they tell him jokes, one of them even asks what he will do now, occupationally, now that dinosaurs are alive again, and he responds with: "... I guess we'll have to evolve too." Which is actually about him evolving emotionally, and his new viewpoint on children. At the end of the sequence in order to quell their fears he promises them that he will stay up all night to watch over them, as he proceeds to:
throw the claw away (*the claw is in the above image somewhere. I swear!!!). Since he has overcome his anxiety about children, he throws away the object that symbolizes it.
(This is what you get when you type "brilliant' into Google Images)
Friday, April 12, 2013
Monday, April 08, 2013
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