A Butterfly Flaps its Wings

Abstract

This chapter explores the background of Steven Spielberg’s involvement in Jurassic Park as well as the context of his career up to that point. It argues that by the early 1990s he was looking to make a change in his career by exploring mature themes in films such as The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun. Against this backdrop, it questions why he decided to make Jurassic Park, a film that appears to be the kind of straightforward blockbuster he was attempting to move away from. Additionally, the chapter seeks to understand his interest in working within a range of genres and how he merges them together to create truly unique films. It argues that this approach is particularly evident in Jurassic Park, a fact that helps give the film much of its substance and longevity, and which goes some way to explaining why he chose to take the project on.