Pack your bags and leave your conception of the social fabric that binds us behind because we’re going to two private islands in this episode! From the darkness of Dr. Moreau’s experiments to John Hammond’s capitalist enterprise, these journeys into the human desire for control rarely end well for anyone involved.
REQUIRED READING
Island of Lost Souls. Dir. Erle C. Kenton, 1932.
Jurassic Park. Dir Steven Spielberg, 1993.
EXTRA CREDIT
The Man Who Hated Moms: Looking Back on Philip Wylie’s “Generation of Vipers” – Island of Lost Souls‘ co-writer has some serious mommy issues.
Dinosaurs as a Cultural Phenomenon – Why have dinosaurs gained such a hold on the public’s imagination?
Of Fossils and Androids: (Re)Producing Sexual Identity in “Jurassic Park” and “Blade Runner” – An essay on how sexual identity anxiety is explored in sci-fi.
The Devil in Our DNA: A Brief History of Eugenics in Science Fiction Films. David A. Kirby’s deep dive into how one of the darkest chapters in modern science was utilized on the big screen.
Marx for Cats. The history of cats big and small as viewed through a Marxist lens.
The story of amusement parks is the story of America. A look at how the history of amusement/theme parks reflects America.
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers. Jude Doyle’s excellent book about female power and monstrosity.
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Another great episode with loads of knowledge nuggets about the evolution of film through the Hays Code and beyond. I appreciated the historical pieces (e.g., Francis Galton, founder of eugenics, was cousin to Darwin – those must have been some interesting holiday meals).
I am looking forward to re-watching “lost souls” with the primer you have given us – thank you as always for your passion and scholarly rigor!!
The popularity of eugenics was not limited to white people. W. E. B. Du Bois was also an enthusiast.
I didn’t see any similarities to Dracula in Lugosi’s Sayer of the Law.
Despite being called “natives”, none of them are actually “indigenous”. We see that Moreau is having animals imported.
Regarding how well the children of dead writers knew them, I’m surprised nobody brought up the recent stories about Alice Munro’s daughter
On Poor Things: I think most doctors nowadays would revive someone who commits suicide if they could, and if the person was unconscious and near death, they would attempt to save such a life without requiring “consent” from the person they’re saving.
If capitalism rather than technology is the problem, then is it done better in Communist countries?