1. Lex And Tim Represent Young Moviegoers
Hammond calls his two grandchildren the Park's "target audience," and it's a not-so-thinly-veiled reference to how young moviegoers are the real target audience for a film like this. Unlike their older counterparts, children don't have much of a filter when it comes to determining the quality of a film. We've all been there before. We love a certain movie as a kid and then go, "What was I thinking??!!" when we see it again years later. Lex and Tim aren't concerned with the implications of bringing dinosaurs back to life and just think it's cool that their grandpa built a giant prehistoric zoo. Likewise, younger moviegoers are more likely to be impressed with heavy special effects popcorn movies. As long as there's action on the screen, they'll think just about anything is awesome. They haven't reached a point where they're worried about the plot of a film yet. They are indeed the target audience for mindless, dumb, (sometimes) fun entertainment. The two kids eventually learn the valuable lesson that technology isn't all it's cracked up to be just like young movie fans evolve into older, wiser critics, but in the beginning, they're no different than a 10-year old having his mind blown at the theater. I know I just essentially overanalyzed an escapist blockbuster, but this is an interesting and fascinating way to watch an old classic. This probably isn't what Spielberg intended to do (he's said himself he was just trying to make a decent
Jaws sequel), but the parallels are hard to ignore when you look at
Jurassic Park this way.
What do you think? Is Jurassic Park
a statement on Hollywood? Let us know in the comments!