Dig: An Archeology of Technology and Entertainment in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park

Symposium:

• ISEA94: Fifth International Symposium on Electronic Art
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• Dig: An Archeology of Technology and Entertainment in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park

• Ross Rudesch Harley

• Abstract

  This paper argues that “Jurassic Park” can be considered as an exemplary moment in the convergence of a number of contemporary discourses on technology and entertainment. “We’re all diggers” comments one character, musing on the significance of the mosquito trapped in the recently excavated amber he holds in his hands. We can take this comment as our cue for a different kind of excavation of the film’s cultural ground. The biggest movie of 1993, Spielberg’s blockbuster epitomizes everything about recent Hollywood’s increasing dependence on spectacular event-based cinema. By mobilizing a number of popular pre-existing fads and fears, the film manages to market itself on the back on a monumental popular fascination with the seemingly limitless bounds of technology. This paper takes the film’s depiction of cloning, artificial life, theme parks, tourism, spectacle and entertainment as the starting point for a discussion on the status of the spectacle in contemporary culture.

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• Paper