One thing I love about Babylon 5 is the idea that humans got out there into space and found out we were actually the least melodramatic motherfuckers in the galaxy.
Like okay, you've got the species whose rulers live their entire lives in a dark room with no furniture to symbolise their commitment. The people who directly equate hair circumference with social class and get super angry if all six of their penises aren't accurately depicted on an action figure. The reptilian marsupials who will force a guy to become the central prophet of a new religion whether he likes it or not. The celestial entities who are so obsessed with being mysterious they pretend they can't breathe normal air and wear fake spacesuits everywhere they go.
Even the minor species are like this. The Roswell grey type guys who literally communicate only in crop circles. The ancient beings who will make you wait four hours for them to answer a phone call and then just say "Zog" and hang up on you. The species that apparently consists solely of ten of the same guy, and every one of them starts every conversation with a comment about how much it sucks having a menial job.
Imagine being the first human to meet any of these. You would have to immediately go back to Earth and sign up for a series of Shakespearean improv workshops.
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy being like, "I am 100% committed to respecting your 'no', but I heard you wouldn't promise my aunt not to marry me so I had to come and check just one (1) more time."
Mr. Collins would be such a fan of ai. He would love it. He would have it write scripts for him to use for complimenting people. He'd ask it what to do in social situations and then when someone would tell him "I think that's a bad idea" he'd be like "my dear madam it's so good of you to be concerned but I think the highly esteemed Grok knows a little more about this than a lady like yourself" and then he'd go humiliate himself publicly.
But throughout his career, Neill was also known for scientist roles in films like The Dish and Event Horizon, with none more celebrated than Dr. Alan Grant, the rugged paleontologist and undisputed hero of Jurassic Park.
As fans paid tribute to Neill, remembering both his wonderful performances and the charming updates about the farm animals on his idyllic New Zealand vineyard, one clear theme emerged with respect to the iconic Dr. Grant.
âHow many of us were inspired to become scientists after watching Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler?â wrote Lucky Tran, the director of science communication at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, in a post on X that included an image of Neill and costar Laura Dern examining a sick triceratops in a scene from Jurassic Park. Thomas Ronge, a marine geologist working for the Scientific Ocean Drilling Coordination Office at Texas A&M University, shared on Bluesky that the sci-fi blockbuster had led him to pursue studies in paleontology and that while he had ultimately gone into a different field, âI'm always Dr. Grant at heart.â
Speaking for myself, I can say that after seeing Jurassic Park at age 9 I entertained great dreams of being a paleontologist like Alan Grant (or perhaps an actor, like Sam Neill). Just what was it about this character that had kids clamoring to apply to STEM programs?
âThe heroes of my favorite movie were level-headed scientists who used their wits, not guns or physical strength, to overcome obstacles,â Kevin Holloway, who worked as a neuroscience researcher at the University of Oregon in the late aughts and early â10s, tells WIRED. âThey also had a clarity of purpose and absolute conviction in their beliefs.â
As Grant, he says, Neill was âthe quintessential âman of scienceâ role model [by] which all others are measured.â Ultimately, Holloway didnât pursue a PhD, and he now works as a nurse âdoing diabetic foot care, advanced wound care, and street outreachââbut he still âabsolutelyâ credits Neillâs turn as Grant for steering him into science.
Jurassic Park hit theaters when Jim Porter was 23 and completing his undergraduate studies with a geology field camp in the western US, he recalls. âI read the [Michael] Crichton novel on the way there, then saw the movie in a small-town theater,â he says, noting that the fieldwork was âcertainly different after that.â He loved Neill's âconvincing and endearing portrayal of a scientist whose priority was understanding and revering Earth's history rather than opportunistically monetizing it,â saying this âreinforced my career choice as an environmental scientist.â
It wasnât merely Grantâs distinction and principles as a researcher that made him such an aspirational figure for so many. He was also a potent counterexample to the violent, macho action stars of the 1980s and 1990s.
âHe's believable as a field scientist and also has such a gruff kindness about him,â says Jamie Anderson, who earned a DPhil in archaeological sciences from the University of Oxford in 2018 and calls Jurassic Park her favorite film. She cites âthe way he takes on looking after the kids even though they've been driving him nutsâ and his treatment of Dr. Sattler âas his equal and someone he's proud ofâ as reasons that Grant made âa great antidote to more toxic masculine figures in many other action movies, especially from that era.â
James, who works as a civil engineer in Orlando, Florida, and requested to withhold his last name out of professional concerns, offers a similar assessment of Grant as a direct, accomplished, and brilliant man without the off-putting arrogance. âSam Neillâs character and how he responded to everyone with confidence but also kindness really stuck with me,â he says. âItâs clear he knows his shit, but heâs not an asshole about it. Simple enough but shocking how uncommon that is.â While James may not have pursued his childhood ambitions of becoming âa paleontologist, or an archaeologist, or volcanologist, or some sort of â-ist,ââ he aims to bring Grantâs values to his engineering work. âI get to use my brain and also try to be decent to people,â he says.
Like just about everyone who grew up obsessed with Jurassic Park, Richard Ferro, a family medicine physician in California, has memories of wearing out an old VHS copy. When he was 5 years old and sick with chickenpox on a visit to family in Costa Rica, it was all he had to entertain himself, and he rewatched it continuously.
âTo me, Dr. Alan Grant was the epitome of what it means to be a scientist,â Ferro tells WIRED. âHe was thoughtful and analytical. He could be lighthearted in one moment and muse about the philosophy of scientific theory in another. But when he saw a triceratops for the first time, he was a kid again, grinning from ear to ear while lying on its chest, feeling his body rise and fall with each breath. His character taught me at an early age that intelligence and wonder can and should coexist.â Ferro says he wouldnât be where he is today without Neillâs âmonumental performance.â
With Neill gone, that guiding light will nonetheless endureâif on streaming platforms instead of videocassettes and DVDsâand another generation is bound to be swept away not only by Steven Spielbergâs thrill-ride adventure but the people who made it seem real.
James says he canât wait to introduce his young son to Jurassic Park and its beloved star to his âlittle guy,â and though he notes that his wife thinks it âmay be a bit scary,â he has no such reservations.
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