Dinosaurs Are Not a Protected Species

So, uh, the daytrip planned for today is postponed on account of it being, uh, obscenely hot outside this weekend? Hopefully it’ll go on without a hitch. I did manage to try all three of the superhero donuts at Krispy Kreme this week, though, which is kind of cool.

I just finished another Discworld book; next is Scott Pilgrim’s finale, I think? I’m also looking at a new book, we’ll see how that goes.

Dinosaurs Are Not a Protected Species

There’s a discussion in Jurassic World: Rebirth, in which one of the mercenaries shows off his gun, which includes ammunition that injects the target with deadly neurotoxin. The paleontologist in the group is obviously disturbed about the idea of killing dinosaurs, and the mercenary asks him, “What, you one of those people who thinks killing dinosaurs is a crime?”

“No,” the scientist replies, looking deeply offended. “It’s a sin.”

[deep sigh]

Alright, so let’s talk about the absolutely bonkers morality of the Jurassic World movies.

In the Jurassic Park series, where “Life finds a way,” we’re repeatedly asked to treat dinosaurs as beautiful, untameable wild animals (except the herbivores, which are pretty much tame for some reason) that are just doing their thing until stupid humans inevitably muck it all up. The sympathetic characters all treat dinosaurs with respect; the villains are the ones who want to exploit or kill them. They usually die horribly. It’s a metaphor, you see, for the power of nature, and how it can overcome man’s attempts to control or conquer it.

Except once again, this isn’t really the main point of Michael Crichton’s novels. The idea of messing with nature you don’t understand is part of it, yes, but it’s more of a lesson about the unrestrained power of science in today’s world. Scientists have a nasty habit of deciding to create things because they can, rather than thinking about what happens if they do–see the AI craze, and massive corporations deciding that they need to implement AI into everything, for instance. 

The very heavy-handed ‘Dinosaurs Are Nature’ metaphor (which the most recent movie kind of needs to work at all–the whole ‘people no longer care about dinosaurs’ only really makes sense if you consider this) falls apart the longer you look at it. Dinosaurs in these movies are, at best, an invasive species. Characters’ insistence that they have to protect them, that they need to live at peace in their own habitats without our interference, is a bit like saying that all of those pet pythons and boa constrictors let loose in the Florida Everglades are supposed to be there, and those nasty park rangers and conservationists that are trying to eliminate them are corporate puppets that need to let them [checks notes] kill and eat all of the local endangered species without any management.

Imagine, I guess, telling a guy being attacked by some idiot’s escaped pet king cobra, that he can’t kill it because “It’s a sin!”

Yeah, no, that’s remarkably dumb.

And side note: I keep hearing people at work say that they like to have a cat that they let wander around unattended outside because “It keeps away the snakes.” Yeah, that’s also a great way to kill the local bird population, and let your cat get hit by a car.

Now imagine that this pet cat or escaped snake or whatever… also eats people by the truckload. The notion that you can’t kill them, or that they should be allowed to roam free wherever, is an absolutely unhinged thing to say. They’re not even natural creatures, so any cries that they should be left to their own devices because “That’s the natural world!” should be an invitation to be smacked with a prehistoric fish. Even if they weren’t killing lots of people (which I am compelled to remind you that they are), they’d still be making hell on the local flora and fauna, wrecking ecosystems that they invaded.

So no, killing dinosaurs isn’t a sin. And in the context of the movie, it’s an absolutely baffling statement for someone to make–the man with the neurotoxins is talking about using this weapon for self-defense so that none of them get killed. And of course, he’s the first one to get murderized by hungry dinosaurs. 

[Mind you, getting horribly murderized by dinosaurs is not always evidence of immorality in the movies. There are good people in these movies who get horrible deaths. Eddie in the second movie comes to mind. Katie McGrath’s character in Jurassic World, too–although in that case, supposedly the actress was really psyched to have a horrible on-screen death, which is why she joined the movie? A bit odd.]

Kill them. Or let them die. Or at the very least, keep them contained in a remote location. But please, please, stop acting like dinosaurs are sacred, majestic animals that have every right to ruin the ecosystems they inhabit and kill people who go near them.

That’s just stupid.

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