Philosophical thots
on Love Island, Jurassic World: Rebirth, and The Stanford Prison Experiment
I’m having an island summer.
And by that, of course, I mean I’ve consumed over 40 hours of Love Island USA.
That’s more time than I’ve ever spent with my husband’s extended family.
…or studying for any of my university exams.
…or shopping for our first home.
Consuming endless footage of hot people talking about nothing has soothed my soul.
It’s like I took my brain out, dusted it off, and placed it in the villa to rest on a daybed surrounded by neon signs and untouched pools.
This cast of mostly naked (and racist) singles has kept me company during work-from-home days like fish in a dentist’s waiting room: colourful, shiny, and moving around their tank aimlessly.
Do I think any of the relationships are real? Not really.
Am I invested in anyone? Only the editors, who somehow churn this chum into nightly content.
Has it inspired me to buy a bikini that I don’t need? Absolutely. And that’s what TV is all about. Selling products.
Two weeks ago, I received a targeted ad from Hot Literati for a discussion group analyzing Love Island USA through the lens of the Stanford Prison Experiment.
I have never felt more seen.
More understood.
The event was in NYC, so I sadly could not make it, but they did post the winning argument on Instagram:
Love Island is bad for society because it empowers America to become the judge, jury, and executioner over the islanders. (Similar to guards in Stanford)
Supporting evidence:
1. People don't question if they are deserving of power (guards go above and beyond) -> Jeremiah being voted off by the boys because of competition over humanity.
2. Organizer of prison experiment surprised at them taking it seriously -> American participants taking it seriously and diagnosing Huda -> Ariana had to make a disclaimer.
3. Foucault's Panopticon is an idea where prisoners/islanders sees all and all sees none. Promotes relational observation, action, and obedience. Excessive power structures removes authenticity of viewing processes of human intimacy and connection, minimizing the value you can get from it and continuing to feed the cultural move towards apathy, disconnectedness from internal self and others.
Just incredible stuff.
This is what my university degree was made for! Four years studying philosophy finally feels worth it when I can engage in discourse like this!
Friday’s episode only enhanced this argument as family members were brought into the villa. Not only did the islanders break down in a way that underscored the intensity of the two-month-long quarantine, but news from the outside world immediately swayed their opinions. These are prisoners trying to appease the estate! The ever-present eye of the American public is dictating behaviour at all turns!
More thrilling than tonight’s finale is the reintegration of the islanders into society. Does a C-list celebrity ever stop being a prisoner to the social media Panopticon?
Do any of us???
No matter what happens, I am forever grateful for the sacrifice of this season’s tributes. Panem America is only 18 seasons away from the first Quarter Quell. Who knows what fresh hell they’ll unleash then!
Alas, there is no shortage of inspiration for island torture!
There’s Temptation Island.
FBoy Island.
The Island with Bear Grylls.
And July’s newest blockbuster, Jurassic World: Rebirth.
This movie has everything:
Hot people on an island with the looming threat of death.
Dinosaurs!
Vague commentary on how the wealthy abuse science for monetary gain.
Dinosaurs in the sea!!
Lame, overacted lines about ‘sacrifice’ and ‘family’.
Dinosaurs on land!!
Prominent product placement from Snickers and Altoids (but shockingly not dinosaur egg oatmeal)
Dinosaurs in the sky!!!
What else could you ask for? Those are pretty much all of the places a dinosaur could be!!
I really think they nailed this one.
But let’s get philosophical about it. Because why the heck not?!
The Jurassic World universe hinges on a misuse of knowledge for the sake of power and greed.
Did we learn nothing from Frankenstein?!
“Seek happiness in tranquillity and avoid ambition even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.”
In other words, don’t make crazy mutant dinosaurs even if you think your motivations are pure. No good can come from playing God!
The original Jurassic Park understood this deeply
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.”
It also gave us the deep and intellectually probing line:
“Hold on to your butts.”
Jurassic World: Rebirth seems slightly less aware of its place in the mad-scientist torn between morality and external validation lexicon… or at least it’s less on the nose.
But! What it lacks in quotability, it makes up for in an unintentionally complex message.
Unlike reality TV shows (which are real-time sociological experiments on willing participants in exchange for money or the promise of money), Jurassic World: Rebirth can wrap everything up in a neat little bow.
The moral of the story — big pharma shouldn’t have a monopoly on potentially life-saving science — is largely rooted in Stoicism that sees virtue as the highest good. Material success is less important than living in harmony with your values and the natural order of the universe.
The film ends with the decision to sacrifice cold, hard cash for the greater good of allowing everyone to benefit from the scientific findings of their mission to Dinosaur Death Island.
The change mostly happens because the dude with all the money turns out to be mean (shocking), and everyone is traumatized by the expedition he spearheaded.
Having him die by dinosaur wasn’t enough! To quote Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius:
"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury."
Therefore, the perfect ending is to take knowledge (ie, power) away from the rich and put it in the hands of the public.
But does science belong with everyone? This is a pretty egalitarian view for a franchise that also explicitly touts the danger of scientific advancement in the wrong hands.
Not that I expect Jurassic World to dive into Plato-inspired political discourse about a philosopher king (especially when I imagine a vast number of dinosaur-movie fans voted for the current president…).
Maybe the next movie installment will feature incels using the open-sourced knowledge to do something heinous, and we can dive into a deeper debate about censorship and/or ethical scientific practice. Again, why the heck not?
And what about the dinosaurs!? What is their happy ending?!?
The series loosely grapples with this.
First, they are theme park attractions that seek revenge on their makers like Frankenstein’s monster. A poetic justice.
Then, they are hybrid-mutant military weapons that break free of the state’s watchful eye to live in their own surveillance-free utopia.
Now, in Jurassic World: Rebirth, we find them as endangered species who’s only value to the world is pharmaceutical advancement and eating tasty, tasty bad guys.
No one cares about them anymore. The novelty has worn off, and PETA is alarmingly nowhere to be found.
For the first few movies, there was a clear Machiavellian take that dinosaurs should be feared more than they are loved.
But maybe they should be feared and loved (or should they be afraid of how much we love them??)
Personally, I’m ready for the fourth movie in this series to bridge into the domestication of small plant-eating dinosaurs. Is it ethical? Is it a status symbol? Moreover, what does the world look like once they’ve cured heart disease???
That was some pretty deep analysis for a movie that I’m pretty sure did not pass the Bechdel test unless you count dialogue like “run” and “go” as conversation…
Thanks for coming to my lecture!
Hanging Thoughts:
Since we’re on a roll with quotes, here’s one more from Paradise Lost:
“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”
My mind is its own place, and it’s curating a freak show.
Thank god I have a newsletter. I need this digital island to dump all my mental nonsense; otherwise, it would eat me alive.
Anyway, here is a list of things I almost wrote about this week.
Justin Bieber cosplaying as Frank Ocean to make the album of the summer
The unintentional influence of my online behaviour:
Posting ennui - I feel this so so deeply.
Britney Spears posting this captionless picture of Miley Cyrus with the comments turned off?
As always, the comment section is open for your own analysis, commentary, and theses.
