Movie Analysis: “Jurassic World” — Characters
Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of watching movies:
To be a good screenwriter, you need to have a broad exposure to the world of film. Every movie you see is a potential reference point for your writing, everything from story concepts you generate to characters you develop to scenes you construct. Moreover people who work in the movie business constantly reference existing movies when discussing stories you write; it’s a shorthand way of getting across what they mean or envision.
But most importantly, you need to watch movies in order to ‘get’ how movie stories work. If you immerse yourself in the world of film, it’s like a Gestalt experience where you begin to grasp intuitively scene composition, story structure, character functions, dialogue and subtext, transitions and pacing, and so on.
Let me add this: It’s important to see movies as they get released so that you stay on top of the business. Decisions get made in Hollywood in large part depending upon how movies perform, so watching movies as they come out puts you in the same head space as reps, producers, execs, and buyers.
This week’s movie: Jurassic World, screenplay by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Colin Trevorrow & Derek Connolly, story by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, characters by Michael Crichton.
Our schedule for discussion this week:
Monday: General Comments
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Takeaways
For those of you who have not seen the movie, do not click MORE as we will be trafficking in major spoilers. If you have seen Jurassic World, I invite you to join me in breaking down and analyzing the movie.
Owen is a key character. And the boys, especially Gray, are pivotal because the story is framed through their perspective — tourists on a self-guided tour. But if I were to pick one character as a Protagonist, I would go with Claire.
* Claire intersects in a significant way with every other primary character including Gray, Zach, Owen, Masrani, Hoskins, Dr. Henry Wu, and Lowery and Karen.
* Her goal of finding Gray and Zach dictates the shape of Act Two.
* And this: No character goes through as substantive a personal transformation as Claire does. To wit, she evolves from I’m-a-cool-business-person Claire to I’m-insanely-setting-a-T-Rex-free-and-luring-it-to-chase-me Claire. She even changes in her physical appearance. From this:
To this:
Since a character’s psychological and emotional metamorphosis is central to most Protagonist’s narrative experience, I think a good argument can be made for Claire filling that role in Jurassic World.
So if we look at JW with Claire as the Protagonist, what are the other character archetypes? Here’s my take:
Protagonist: Claire
Nemesis: Indominus
Attractor: Gray, Zach
Mentor: Owen, Masrani
Trickster: Hoskins, Dr. Henry Wu
Indominus as Nemesis? Obvious.
Gray and Zach as Attractors? If Attractors are characters most associated with the Protagonist’s emotional development, then Gray and Zach serve as a touchstone for Claire’s metamorphosis. At first, she sees them as something of a nuisance in light of her business responsibilities. Once they are lost and under threat from a roaming Indominus, the boys become objects she has to rescue out of a sense of responsibility to her sister, the boys’ mother. But once she and the boys intersect in Act Two, Claire begins to act as their surrogate mother and through those experiences, she connects with her emotional nature. Note: This echoes the arc of Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park who evolves into a surrogate father for that story’s pair of children — Tim and Lex.
Owen and Masrani as Mentors? Masrani is not only the owner of Jurassic World, he keeps pontificating his embrace-the-now life philosophy to Claire. And Owen? He knows dinosaurs. He trains the raptors. Along the way, he provides key pieces of information, insight, and guidance.
Does the story suggest an emotional connection between Claire and Owen? Yes, most notably with their groan-worthy kiss amidst the middle of all the mayhem. However if we compare Claire’s emotional development, it’s significantly more connected to her nephews than to Owen. That combined with Owen’s consistent function of dispensing ‘wisdom’ in the form of strategy and understanding is why he slots pretty well into a Mentor role.
Hoskins and Wu as Tricksters? Seeming allies turned enemies with a hidden agenda which escalates problems and leads to the twists and turns of Act Three.
All in all, the characters were — for me — the most unsatisfying aspect of the movie. I experienced them more as caricatures than full-blooded characters and as a result, I had little emotional connection to any of the bombastic events in the plot. I was especially disappointed by the handling of the impending divorce of the boys’ parents. When Gray suddenly and out of the blue gets all emo with his brother about the family situation, that feels forced, a way for the narrative to tack on some sympathy for Gray. The divorce is an interesting idea which feels undercooked and in the end unresolved. My guess is they shot more of that subplot, both from the parents and kids’ perspective, but it probably slowed down the action, so ended up on the cutting room floor. What’s left just doesn’t work very well.
How about you? How did you interpret the characters in Jurassic World?
See you in comments.
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