Today, I find myself reflecting on the recently released Jurassic World, the 4th installment in the hugely successful Jurassic Park franchise. As a teenager growing up in the 90's I wasn't allowed to go to movies so when the original Jurassic Park was released I had no idea why everyone was so worked up over the first 3 movies. Then in my late 20's as part of catching up with the highlights of modern culture over 2 decades I was directed to the original Jurassic Park film. Instantly I understood why they were so successful. I'm not sure I'll ever forget the feeling when I saw the first of the dinosaurs pan on to the screen as the music swelled with the classic music of John Williams. From that moment on I was hooked. I love these movies with their si-fi, horror, action-adventure twist. I love the characters they gave us and even more, I love that they made dinosaurs believable in all shapes and sizes.
After discovering that there were plans to release a 4th installment 20 years after the original I was ecstatic! In the two days leading up to our date night which was when we planned to go see it, I was like a little kid. I could hardly contain myself! While I wasn't going to be able to recapture a moment that wasn't possible 20 years earlier at Jurassic Park's original release I did have the opportunity to create a new memory with Jurassic World. So into the theater I went with my husband, as excited as a 13 year old must have been to see the first dinosaurs 20 years before, but with me I took the experience of a 35 year old which meant this movie ended up leaving me contemplating the lessons that can be learned from this particular film if we allow ourselves to get over the parts we might or might not agree with scientifically.
My favorite dinosaurs since the first movie have been the Velociraptors. I'm starting to think maybe it's because they remind me of people that we don't exactly understand. In all three movies they are portrayed as highly intelligent, but there is a communication barrier and the fact that the world and mind of a velociraptor is so far removed from the modern reality that all of the humans have been a part of for decades.means that they are to be feared and avoided at all costs. Lets face it the first 3 movies get a LOT of screen time out of people running from or fighting against the raptors.
The approach of this movie where the lead character, Owen, is actually working with the raptors to turn the very traits that make others fear them into a positive thing was a plot point I found interesting. There's a line where he is describing what exactly it is that he shares with the raptors that I found extremely thought provoking.
Owen
It's not about control. It's a relationship based on respect.
Not control, but respect. I won't completely break down how this impacted me since I don't want to spoil the film if you haven't already seen it, but it has left me thinking how that statement should apply to my own life.
I'm starting to realize that I need to live more like Owen's character. He joins the raptors where they are, accepting everything they bring with them into the relationship which interestingly enough includes the ability to kill him at any given moment. Rather than protect himself from them constantly he becomes one of them. even referring to himself as the Alpha, or pack leader. There's something about that relationship that made me ask how does that need to look in my own life? If God has called me as a Christian to "make disciples of all nations". Then I think it has to look something like that relationship between Owen and the Velociraptors. A relationship that others can return to even when they might have forgotten what the relationship was really suppose to be. I'm becoming strongly convicted that it doesn't look the way I've always been told church and Christianity are suppose to look. It looks much more messy like the moment that the raptors lose sight of Owen as one of them. It means taking the risk of being hurt and forgotten.
It feels like so often we put our toes in the water of doing church and life differently only to pull them back when we get a cold reception, but the example we as Christians were sent was rejected by his own family, country and ultimately even some of his followers turned from him. We, however, jump from project to project never fully committing to anything enough to completely see it through because when it starts to get hard we give up forgetting that building muscle which grows us requires extreme pain at times.
I suppose in one way, Jurassic World in the middle of its fantasy and science-fiction as given me a very real and emotional picture of relationships. The pain, but also the good that can come out of them. Always in the picture though I see respect. Respect toward those who might be different from me and my life experiences. Respect toward those I don't agree with, but even more those who don't agree with me. It's choosing to live respectfully my daily life with people who have the ability to hurt me at any given moment realizing that the relationship is dependent on that one component. I have to be honest though, it gets a little hard to know what that respect looks like when really crazy things happen. I don't have the answers to all of that. What I do know though is that it won't happen until I can learn to run with the raptors....
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