Chaos, Dinosaurs, and Narrative Theory.

by Oliver Spicer.

A man leans over the front seat of a jeep, his tinted glasses and leather jacket would make you guess he’s a rock singer instead of a scientist - and the way he stretches out words doesn’t help. On the back of a hand he places a single drop of water, then goes onto explain how difficult it is to predict the direction it will fall.

This scene is from Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993) and the concept the eccentric scientist played by Jeff Goldblum monologues on is called ‘Chaos Theory’, which focuses to any event where a small change in the starting conditions create a drastic and hard to predict change after a long time. It can be applied to a large range of subjects such as weather forecasts (which is where Chaos Theory was first formulated and why you should bring an umbrella when clear skies are predicted), bird migration patterns, and the stock market.

The inclusion of this scene describing this theory can be seen as serving multiple narrative functions. First, by including a glass of water it establishes a prop that is used later when a T-Rex stomping towards the park-goes causes ripples in the surface of the water. But by connecting the dinosaurs and explanation of chaos with the prop, the meaning of the film becomes clear through the emphasis on unpredictability in chaos theory: that small discoveries in science that are left unmoderated can cause unforeseeable dangers for humanity over time. This is clear for the dinosaurs that are a result of extreme genetic modification which placed entertainment and profit over safety, but also the computer system that is disabled during the film that leaves the park completely broken heightening danger. This scepticism of the unpredictable results of science is not uncommon in sci-fi, with even early additions to the genre such as Frankenstein wondering what horrors would be brought upon by recent experiments such as re-animating frog legs with electricity.

Jurrasic Park, 1993, Universal.

But on a broader scale there is an overall link between the chaos explained and narrative in film, where small events at the start of the narrative result in drastic changes by the end. This can be seen through the emphasis on cause and effect chains in a narrative, the idea in screenwriting that events in one scene should cause outcomes in the next until the emotional height of the script.

This is the story form of ‘The Butterfly Effect’, an expression that states ‘If a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, it sets off a tornado in Texas’ and shows that small disturbances cause drastic results over time. Jurassic Park illustrates this principle through minor decisions causing catastrophic effects later on in the film. One example is how the scientists try to control the population of dinosaurs by only breeding females, but by filling in the gaps of Dino-DNA with a certain species of frog that can switch sex at will it causes the park to become overcome by dinosaurs and reproduce in the wild.

Jurrasic Park, 1993, Universal.

All narratives have a focus on cause and effect to make sure every scene is worthwhile, but many genres emphasis it or put it to a different use. The time travel genre likes to rearrange the cause and effect chains, whilst detective stories place the events in reverse as the spectator tries to understand the steps and motivations behind the criminal, and even rom-coms over emphasise off chance interactions as being the basis behind the relationships depicted. But in totality the sci-fi genre places the biggest value on cause and effect, with films asking what would be the outcome of certain possible scientific discoveries on individuals and society. In terms of Jurassic Park, the effects are people being eaten… but films that look at space travel, cloning, and robots can explore more elaborate and ethically challenging effects.

However, this idea of unpredictable outcomes falls apart when the manufactured nature of a script is considered. The events shown to the spectator are not simply the cause-and-effect chain of a real event, instead they are the most entertaining and meaningful events. Unpredictability is an illusion as there are only one way the story ends and only one possible path - as if Jeff Goldblum was a wind up toy that always delivers the same lines about Chaos Theory in the opening twenty minutes. But it is the job of the screenwriter to make it seem as if the narrative is chaotic, which is achieved by adding events that set the protagonists back (such as all the power shutting down in Jurassic Park).

Jurrasic Park, 1993, Universal.

Rewatchability creates another problem for the connection between chaos and narrative. As because so many films benefit from multiple viewings, there must be more than the unpredictability of narratives that keeps them entertaining. However, many films are brilliant even if you know the ending and every plot point. Sometimes this is because of the form of the film where the dialogue and editing and sound and mise-en-scene are interesting enough, but at the reward of entertainment you can find yourself in a state of self induced amnesia where although you know every plot point and even lines of dialogue - you may choose to willingly forget it to follow along with the narrative. And when this happens the chaotic and unpredictable sense of the narrative is restored even if previously exposed.

Overall, a narrative has the appearance of being chaotic even if it is constructed to serve the purpose of entertainment - and the spectators mind can even help out the storyteller by creating a false sense of chaos. But as for the results of bringing dinosaurs back from extinction, the effect always seems negative even if repeated 5 times.

by Oliver Spicer, September 2022.

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