Would anyone else be happy if Jurassic World was just about a fully functional dinosaur park and nothing went wrong and it just went through a day at the park.
jurassic world
Notice how opposed to Lex in the original, all the girls in Jurassic World are just there to smile coyly while the teen dude creeps on them? Do any of them even get lines? -evayna
OH YEAH THAT GUY WAS AWFUL
Especially since you see at the beginning he has a girlfriend at home who tells him she loves him, but he decides to just leer at every girl who crosses his path anyway? Was she not good enough for him? WHAT WAS HIS DEAL
I liked Jurassic World, but I would have liked it a lot more without the sexist, workaholic-mothers-are-destroying-society subplot/tropes
I MEAN ALRIGHT (spoilers ahead)
Claire’s a ‘cold’ workaholic manager who can’t remember her nephew’s ages. She seems like a nice enough person, and competent, but we’re meant to judge her and judge her and judge her for…what, exactly? Not wanting kids? She’s referred to at least once as “the mother” of the park/the Indomitus Rex, the implication being that she’s a bad mother and it’s all kind of her fault, but she’s not a mother! And she doesn’t seem bothered about being one! And that should be fine! But the message we keep being hit over the head with is, “Women who place their work commitments above having children are selfish and will cause dinosaurs to run amok’ I mean, Claire isn’t remotely actually cold to her nephews – she’s just too busy to take them out to the park, so has her assistant do it. On the scale of likes-kids to hates-kids, she’s not even an Alan Grant! Yet her whole story revolves around Defrosting the Ice Queen (with as many sexist tropes, including an unasked-for kiss in the heat of the moment, as possible thrown in) and making Claire into a maternal figure worthy of a relationship with the alpha male Owen. Who likewise expresses no interest in children (actual children, not his raptors) but that’s okay cos he’s a dude? I guess? Anyway,
IT GETS WORSE
You’ve also got Karen, Claire’s sister and mother of the aforementioned nephews, who is going through a divorce. This is making her younger son unhappy and her teenage son a total jerk. In one scene, we see her calling her sons from her office only to be hurried into a meeting, implying that her devotion to her work is causing her family problems. And yet in all other respects she seems like a good mother, so we’ll take this one as a ‘maybe’, but
IT GETS WORSE
Claire leaves her nephews with an assistant, Zara (played by Katie McGrath! Hi there!) who like her boss seems competent enough but is clearly not interested in kids. (I can’t remember if she’s even seen actually antagonising them, but I don’t think so.) They give her the slip to go and explore the park. The next time we see her, she’s running towards the boys when she’s grabbed by a pterodactyl, tossed around as she screams, dunked into the Mosasaurus tank and eaten. She’s the only character to get such a gratuitous death scene, and – for why? I’m reminded of Gennero from the original movie, but he actually ran off and left the kids in danger; Zara just…cares more about her Blackberry than the kids she’s watching? (Who at that point aren’t in any danger at all.) Not exactly a crime, certainly not one deserving of GRATUITOUS DINO VIOLENCE. Her character’s presented in such a misogynistic way – attractive young woman stuck to her phone and not interested in children; therefore killed. You can’t imagine a man playing that same role, can you? I can’t.
Um, basically – pretty much every woman in this film is judged by their attitude to children and family, and/or their ability to be a caretaker, and if they don’t want one or don’t have that ability then they’re judged or punished in some way. I was so disappointed by that.
