Fatherhood and failed dinosaur experiments

I was watching Jurassic Park again last night.

Last time I saw it, I was a kid.

Here’s what I remember: dinosaurs, that t-rex eating the guy sitting on a toilet, raptors opening doors, etc.

And I loved it (because dinosaurs.

But I had a different realization last night watching it 20 years later.

It’s not about the dinosaurs.

No, it’s about something else entirely.

See, I’ve been learning as much about storytelling as I can in the last 6 months or so.

And once you learn about the tactics, you can’t get the magic smoke back in the box.

You see the frameworks everywhere.

The main story framework that I learned from Shaan Puri is that all (good) stories are a transformation.

The main character starts in one state and ends up in another, with a 5 seconds transformation in the middle.

So, while watching Laura Dern being a total babe, I noticed that the key storyline isn’t the “dinosaurs predictably wreck an island” that most people think.

No, it’s about Alan Grant becoming a guy that realizes he wants to be a dad.

I’m crazy right?

Hear me out.

The movie starts out with Alan at a dig and just absolutely being a total dick to a 10 year old kid, then talking to his girlfriend about how he doesn’t want kids (this is the starting state).

Cut to Alan being forced (unwillingly) into taking care of Dr. Hammond’s 2 grandkids and protecting them from the dinos.

They end up in a tree feeding some Brachiosaurus. And Alan realizes he likes these kids (the transformation).

At the end of the movie, they’ve survived and in the helicopter escaping the island. As the kids fall asleep leaning on him, Ellie looks at him and sees him smiling.

He wants to be a dad.

That’s it.

That’s the movie.

The dinosaurs and action are just packed in around that storyline.

Sure, Jeff Goldblum has a few heart-stealing scenes, but it’s not about that.

It’s about Alan and his transformation.

Wild.

But there are so many examples just like this.

Once you start learning about these storytelling techniques, it’s like stepping out the matrix.

You start seeing the world in a different light.

Powerful.

Cheers,

Swanagan

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