Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow has read Joss Whedon’s critical tweet, and admits that he doesn’t totally disagree with Whedon’s claims.
If early buzz is anything to go by, Jurassic World will be very, very good.
And yet, some fans have lingering doubts about the characterization of the main protagonists, due to one promotional clip released earlier this year:
In the scene snippet, Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt’s characters come off as very archetypal, the female protagonist depicted as a cold scientist out of touch with her emotions, with the male protagonist serving as her passionate, and far more likeable, counterpart.
The clip was so troubling, even Avengers: Age of Ultron director Joss Whedon had something to say about it, on his now-deleted Twitter page.
“I’m too busy wishing this clip wasn’t 70’s era sexist. She’s a stiff, he’s a life-force – really? Still?” Whedon wrote, commenting on The Mary Sue’s link to the clip.
Related: Joss Whedon on Twitter exit: “You don’t change people’s minds through a tweet”
Whedon since expressed regret that he so openly critiqued a colleague. Yet, his point still stood.
And now, surprisingly, we’ve got a direct response to Whedon’s comments from Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow.
While on tour promoting the movie, Trevorrow was asked to comment on Whedon’s tweet by Bad Taste, and said (as quoted by Den of Geek), “I wasn’t bothered by what he said about the movie and, to be honest, I don’t totally disagree with him.”
Trevorrow admitted that he was confused why Universal would choose to release the clip ahead of time, as it showed, “an isolated situation within a movie that has an internal logic.”
In general, the promotional campaign may also have somewhat misled the audience, as Bryce Dallas Howard’s character Claire is, “the real protagonist of the movie.”
Related: Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow not returning for sequel
On the stereotypical way the characters are presented in the clip, Trevorrow assures worried fans that this is very much intentional.
As he explains, the movie, “starts with characters that are almost archetypes, stereotypes that are deconstructed as the story progresses.”
Finally, Trevorrow discusses his approach to female characters, saying, “There’s no need for a female character that does things like a male character, that’s not what makes interesting female characters in my view. Bryce and I have talked a lot about these concepts and aspects of his [sic] character.”
Make of that last comment what you will. Either way, it’s nice to know more about Trevorrow’s thought process when approaching these characters!