A Perfect Case of Foreshadowing: Jurassic Park
In literary and cinematic terms, foreshadowing is probably the most powerful tool a writer has at their disposal. Like a magic trick, foreshadowing is at its best when it’s usage is hidden in plain sight and hardly noticed. Good stories associate meaning with events. Unlike reality, which doesn’t always tie together nicely into a streamlined story arc, stories are at their best when it feels like they build up certain expectations and then delivers on them satisfactorily. Foreshadowing is most powerful when it is used in such a way that a certain event or line of dialogue can have layers of meanings, or rather, multiple interpretations and implications.
Let’s take a closer look at one of the most subtle yet powerful instances of foreshadowing ever put to film: the seat belt scene in Jurassic Park.
This particular scene starts with the helicopter that is carrying its passengers to Isla Nublar, the home site of the mysterious amusement park built by the equally mysterious John Hammond.
Some major points of character development have already been established by this point, most poignantly with Dr. Ian Malcolm, the Chaos Theory aficionado.
But the most interesting moment comes when the helicopter enters the canyon of the mystical island and John Hammond exclaims, “Bad wind shears. We have to drop pretty fast. So, hold on, because this can be just a little thrilling!”
Just after he makes the announcement, a wind gust rocks the helicopter up and down like a car going over a gigantic speed bump. “Yahoo!”
Yahoo indeed, John.
Everyone onboard laughs and smiles nervously as the helicopter continues to get pummeled by the massive gale. The lawyer, Donald Gennaro, is the first to grab his seat belt and buckle in, followed by Ian Malcolm and the others.
The only straggler is Dr. Grant, played by Sam Neill. As he tries to buckle in, he’s surprised to find that both of his buckles are female ends and therefore impossible to snap together.
After getting some non-helpful assistance from Hammond, Grant grabs both straps and, with smirk on his face, ties them together as they come in for the rough landing.
The seat belt scene is a small moment, and an almost overlooked one, but it says so much about the following story that it almost gives away the plot in its entirety.
It’s not foreshadowing just any one thing, but multiple.
The thing that struck me most recently is what the seat belt incident says about John Hammond’s incessant reciting of his favorite catch phrase, “Spared no expense.”
Really, John?
If your theme park was spared no expense, then how do you explain that your helicopter that is used to shuttle your scientific consultants around has a seat belt that doesn’t work?
This is an omen for the rest of the story.
“Spared no expense,” becomes less and less accurate the farther along the story progresses. Much like how the villainous husband in Alfred Hitchock’s Dial M For Murder learns that it’s nigh impossible to pull off a perfect murder, Hammond learns how impossibly complex it is to create a theme park around an extinct and unpredictable breed of animal.
The foreboding seat belt scene demonstrates that Hammond’s dream is already falling apart, and they haven’t even landed on the island yet. Dr. Grant should have assumed the worst from this very moment onward.
Speaking of Grant, the second thing that can be gleaned from this moment is a character trait that defines how Grant deals with obstacles throughout the rest of the movie. Grant is clearly the kind of guy that doesn’t allow setbacks to keep him from getting results. He’s resourceful, and even more than that, he’s creative.
And that’s what makes Grant different. Resourcefulness and creativity are traits that define his character. Much like later in the story after watching the cartoon about how Hammond is able to grow his dinosaurs, the auditorium begins to spin around so the audience members can physically see the scientists working behind a pane of glass.
Grant indicates that he wants to go into the room with the scientists and exclaims, “Can’t you stop these things?”
Hammond responds, “I’m sorry, it’s kind of a ride.”
Unsatisfied, Grant begins to push the lap restraint bars as Ellie and Dr. Malcolm assist. They successfully manage to push the restraints forward and disembark as Gennaro says, “You can’t do that. Can they do that?”
What Gennaro’s character fails to realize is that if you can, you can.
This level of resourcefulness aids Grant throughout the rest of the story. He never sits around waiting for things to happen. He makes them happen.
Grant always seems to find a way.
Which brings us to the most important and groundbreaking revelation regarding the seat belt: the two female buckles.
After the characters witness the birth of a velociraptor in Hammond’s lab, Malcolm asks, “How do you know they can’t breed?”
“Because all of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park are female,” the scientist responds. “We engineered them that way.”
“But again, how do you know they’re all female? Does somebody go out into the park and pull up the dinosaurs’ skirts?” “John, the kind of control you’re attempting simply is… it’s not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh… well, there it is.”
The scientist looks at Malcom incredulously. “You’re implying that a group composed entirely of female animals will… breed?”
“No. I’m, I’m simply saying that life, uh… finds a way.”
Later, after Grant and Hammond’s two grandchildren find a nest of hatched eggs in the jungle, Grant comes to a stunning realization:
“Do you know what this is? This is a dinosaur egg. The dinosaurs are breeding.”
“But Grandpa said all the dinosaurs were girls.”
“Amphibian DNA.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, on the tour, the film said they used frog DNA to fill in the gene sequence gaps. They mutated the dinosaur genetic code and blended it with that of a frog’s. Now, some West African frogs have been known to spontaneously change sex from male to female in a single sex environment. Malcolm was right. Life found a way.”
Which brings us back to the seat belt. The two female ends of the seat belt that gets tied together by Grant symbolize the female dinosaurs finding a way to breed. It’s an essential piece of the plot, and it’s given away almost from the beginning!
It’s a clever and unique way of foreshadowing an idea that is so crucial to the development of the story.
It’s so obvious and yet so simple that I didn’t understand the true meaning behind the two female buckles until much later on. But sometimes, those are the best gems to discover.
They could have left the seatbelt scene out entirely and the film wouldn’t have suffered for it, but because it’s there, it provides a level of meaning that gives Jurassic Park above all else, depth.
