ADVENTURES ON EARTH

Abstract

This chapter explores what Steven Spielberg says about nature in Jurassic Park. It first outlines the importance of the natural world to his childhood and then goes on to explain the role it plays in his career as a whole. Spielberg films often focus on the relationship between the man-made world, which is depicted as bland and stifling, and the natural world, which is beautiful and revitalising. Spielberg’s characters are placed at the heart of this relationship and have to go through a journey that can be harmonious or challenging, but always ends in an emotional transformation. The chapter argues that Jurassic Park alters this approach by using the concept of bioengineering to depict the corrupting influence of man on nature. In depicting this influence, Spielberg takes a more hopeless stance than in previous films and draws a dividing line between man and nature. By the film’s end, nature is no longer defined by its relationship with man and man can no longer experience personal epiphanies through nature.