• About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support
    • Feedback
  • Log In
  • Read
    • Books
  • Travel
    • Tours
    • Hotels
    • Videos
  • Connect
    • About
    • Submissions
    • Contact

    Sign in


    • Read
      • Books
    • Travel
      • Tours
      • Hotels
      • Videos
    • Connect
      • About
      • Submissions
      • Contact
    Sign in

    Tag: literary film

    Jurassic World: Why the Least Believable Character is not Indominus Rex

    You are unauthorized to view this page. Username Password Remember Me     Forgot Password

    Amanda June 24, 2015
    1 Comment

    The 2015 Literary Fauxscars: The Results are In!

    You are unauthorized to view this page.

    Amanda March 2, 2015
    1 Comment

    Following ‘Inherent Vice’ Down the Rabbit Hole

    You are unauthorized to view this page.

    Amanda February 9, 2015
    0 Comments

    Gone Girl: What’s Lost in Translation and Does it Matter?

    You are unauthorized to view this page.

    Amanda January 29, 2015
    4 Comments

    The Adaption Comes Full Circle: The True Story of Philomena’s Lost Child

    You are unauthorized to view this page.

    Jessica Monk March 1, 2014
    0 Comments

    Methods of Adaptation: Is Bigger Always Better?

    You are unauthorized to view this page.

    Amanda February 21, 2014
    0 Comments

    Fact vs. Fiction: The Wonderful World of Saving Mr. Banks

    You are unauthorized to view this page.

    Amanda January 23, 2014
    0 Comments

    Featured Posts

    • 1
      Bright Blossom of the Pacific
      • January 28, 2023
    • Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash 2
      Literary Traveler’s 2022 Holiday Gift Guide
      • November 28, 2022
    • Mt. Katahdin, Maine’s tallest peak, under overcast skies. Photo by: Heidi Lachapelle, circa August 23, 2021 3
      Katahdin: “The Great Mountain” and Six Witty Wanderers
      • November 14, 2022
    • 4
      Chasing the Northern Lights: Driving Iceland’s Ring Road (with Gísli the Outlaw)
      • October 25, 2022
    • 5
      I have seen Sakhalin
      • October 19, 2022

    Categories

    • Articles (473)
    • Author (10)
    • Books (125)
    • Cruises (4)
    • Gear (29)
    • Hotels (30)
    • Interviews (5)
    • Movies (14)
    • My Personal Legend (4)
    • Newsletter (1)
    • Recent Articles (6)
    • Reviews (7)
    • Theater (4)
    • Tours (54)
    • Travel (82)
    • TV (3)
    • Uncategorized (54)

    Author

    Francis

    Newsletter Signup

    Sign up to receive emails about upcoming events, site updates, and other news!

    Select list(s) to subscribe to


    By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Literary Traveler, PO Box 1254, West Concord, MA, 01742-2968, http://www.literarytraveler.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

    Our Story….

    At Literary Traveler we help readers explore their literary imagination. Since 1998, Literary Traveler has provided informative and inspiring travel writing featuring writers and the places that they have traveled. We also have featured a wide variety of literary tours, and literary events to help readers find exciting and interesting places to visit. We have offered unique tours with organizations like Classical Pursuits the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In the past we have promoted and participated in literary tours and cruises on The Delta Queen and The Queen Mary 2. Please check out our travel videos and travel blogs. 

    If you are interesting in writing for Literary Traveler please see our travel writing guidelines. If you are interested in advertising or listing your tours, please contact us at 1-855-LIT-TRVL, 1-855-548- 8785 or use our contact form to request our updated Media Kit. We also consult with various destination marketing organizations, tour companies and hotels and resorts.

    We use and recommend Boston Corporate Photographer Brian Smith for our still photos and video needs. We also highly recommend Travel Writer Steve Jermanock's Active Travels as a top Boston Travel Agency for planning your next adventures.

    © 2023 - Literary Traveler

    Forum Description

    Jurassic World By Amanda Festa Jurassic World is a fantastically fun movie and anyone who wants to escape life and the heat for a few hours should most definitely see it. That said, it’s also one of those movies you go into knowing you are along for the ride and if it’s fun maybe you shouldn’t question certain things like over-the-top stock characters. In fact, in movies like Jurassic World those type characters can actually work really well. Chris Pratt’s Owen, an ex-military, velicoraptor whispering, rebel-with-a-heart is a likable character from start to finish. The most successful character of the movie, I would argue, is Jake Johnson’s Lowery, a greek chorus-esque observer who is there to poke a hole in the filmic bubble of the situational absurdity that is the film’s concept (no way anyone is trusting a dino theme park after the events of Jurassic Parks 1-3) while also acting as a love letter to the franchise and its fans (the shirt, the dino figurines, his dramatic overture to stay behind). Lowery doesn’t do much, spending the whole film in the control room, but he is one of the reasons the movie works so well. Because the movie knows it’s over the top and it wants us to know that it knows. I don’t want to be a buzzkill, but Jurassic World is a horribly unsafe theme park idea and couples thrown together in high-intensity situations are sometimes just coworkers. Outside the control room, we can go full-Jurassic World goodness (and it’s amazing in theory, from the on-site Margaritaville to genetically modified miniature dinosaur petting zoo – boozy triceratops rides, sign me up!) and we can, of course, toss together two completely incompatible characters because, of course, opposites attract and sexual tension in high-stress situations and all that. But it’s not the pairing of Owen and Claire that I have a problem with. As summer blockbuster pairings go, they're fine. My problem is Claire in general. I get using stock character types for big budget action movies. Less character development necessary, more time to get down to the action. And Owen is a fantastic hero. Lowery is a spot-on observer. Claire is… a problem. First, of all, I should say for the record that my least favorite female stereotype in the bag is the type A, uptight workaholic career gal who just needs to relax. She’s all hard angles and asymmetrical hair that looks like it required a protractor to accomplish. And Chris Pratt is supposed to be the freewheeling vehicle by which she is going to learn to loosen up. Groan. Now, maybe she’s there to make fun of the horrible cliché. (When she ties up her shirt and says she ready to go, I thought this has to be a joke. An homage to Laura Dern’s 90’s wardrobe in Jurassic Park perhaps?) After all, Lowery lets us have a little fun with the nature of this action fantasy. But if Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire is doing the same for bad female action movie characters, it just doesn’t work. IMG_9323First of all, it’s 2015 and this blockbuster season has already given us Imperator Furiosa circa Mad Max: Fury Road, Black Widow from Avengers, etc. There is no room for Claire. I rewatched Jurassic Park from 1993 and Laura Dern has more agency in her pinky finger than Claire has in this entire movie. (When she tells Hammond: "We can discuss sexism in survival situations when I get back." Like a boss.) Even the scene where Claire is arguably the hero, freeing the T-Rex to fight Indominus, she is reduced to a helpless female archetype almost immediately. The movie had me pumped, on the edge of my seat, suspending ALL the disbelief that this chick can outrun a T-Rex in stiletto heels. Just let her do it. Don’t make her fall at the last minute and splay out in an overly dramatic position of helpless distress circa Fay Wray 1933. IMG_9331The similarities between the dinosaur looming over her in her torn white outfit so immediately conjure images of King Kong that it had to be intentional. But why reduce her to this when she just looked so damn cool outrunning a dinosaur in spike heels? I almost fell walking in flats today. I wanted more for her. Not to mention, when Indominous Rex first escapes, how much time passes before Claire even mentions Gray and Zach? Jimmy Buffet cared more about saving his two margaritas than Claire did about her nephews for the first half of the movie. So why make it a plot point that this character wants children? It’s irrelevant to the story and there is not one thing that happens in the entire movie that makes me believe she is gearing up for motherhood. While children have typically played large roles in the Jurassic Park franchise, there is no need to push this quality on her. Similarly, her big so-called turning point as a character comes as she tends to a dying brontosaurus. (Note: her nephews are currently being chased by a murderous dinosaur.) And as a single tear falls down her cheek to show how nurturing and caring she is, her aggressive hair turns to perfect beachy waves. Also, for anyone keeping track, her nephews are still being chased by a dinosaur. But ultimately, she is really inconsequential to the movie. And that’s where the real problem lies. Jurassic World is an exciting ride, equal parts escapism, action, humor. It knows what it is and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. So, one could argue, its characters shouldn’t be taken too seriously. And maybe that’s true. But I’m sure we will be seeing a few Owen/raptor costumes this Halloween. How many Claires will we see? Not many, I’m guessing.

    Report

    There was a problem reporting this post.

    Harassment or bullying behavior
    Contains mature or sensitive content
    Contains misleading or false information
    Contains abusive or derogatory content
    Contains spam, fake content or potential malware

    Block Member?

    Please confirm you want to block this member.

    You will no longer be able to:

    • See blocked member's posts
    • Mention this member in posts
    • Invite this member to groups
    • Message this member
    • Add this member as a connection

    Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

    Report

    You have already reported this .