(Rant) Hollywood Needs to STOP!

Jurassic World Rebirth poster:

I've been thinking about this all night last night. The catalyst for this rant is that, yesterday, I heard that Shrek 5 is coming out. There's a controversy about the design of Shrek for the upcoming film, but that's not my main concern. I'm more upset that another Shrek film is coming out. The last one came out in 2010. That was about 15 years ago! The franchise was over. But no, Hollywood needs more of our hard-earned money so they're going back to milk the Shrek franchise some more. The problem isn't just with Shrek though. Hollywood is deliberately ruining every franchise that it has in the pursuit of money. How to Train Your Dragon is getting rebooted in live-action. Kung Fu Panda 4 came out last year, and it wasn't well-received by the fans. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) lost its way in every way possible. The last MCU film I saw was Spider-Man: No Way Home. I have no idea what the story is now in that universe, nor do I really care now. Disney is remaking every one of its classic animated films in live-action, and they're getting worse every time. Disney also own the MCU, so no wonder that universe is so screwed up. Disney also ruined Indiana Jones, and Star Wars. Walking With Dinosaurs is getting remade. Heck, there was a rumor earlier this week about the entire Walking With Trilogy getting remade! Finally, Jurassic World is getting rebooted with Jurassic World Rebirth coming out this year...

Are you serious, Hollywood? Are you so desperate for cash that you cannot create a single new property? You have to bring back classic stuff, ruin it, and then expect us to watch it? What do I mean by "ruin?" Well, I've noticed that every time a new film or television show in a franchise comes out, it ruins the franchise with its terrible writing, and having modern-day politics stuffed into them. Most of the politics shoved into these films and shows are Left-Wing politics. However, there are Right-Wing TV shows and whatnot out there as well. I don't want ANY of this stuff in my entertainment. I want to forget about real-world problems, and escape into a fantasy world for about an hour or so. If you want to put in lessons, then focus on universal lessons like the entertainment of the past used to do: treat others the way you want them to treat you, help each other in our times of need, learning to be friends despite our differences, etc. Nowadays, everything is about us vs. them, or me vs. you. One sex, gender, ethnicity, or group of people in general, is better than the other. You're a villain if you say this, or think that. The list goes on. There's no universal lesson to help inspire people for the better. It's about inspiring division, and hatred. Characters in a franchise are changed in order to make them fit with the current political, or idealogical, climate. Instead of making them better, this ruins them from what they used to be before. One great example is Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. Disney ruined his character in their films (I refuse to call Disney's Star Wars films the Sequel Trilogy) in order to make Rey, and even Leia, better then him. Other male characters were made to look worse in those films compared to their female counterparts as well. There's no equality there. Aren't men and women suppose to work together, and love each other? The movies and shows of the past taught me that lesson. Heck, the franchise can be totally rebranded into something different but still carry the name of the franchise. This is just nostalgia bait designed to suck in fans of the franchise and take their money. For example, Walking With Dinosaurs (2025) will have a completely different setup from the original show. Second, it's going to feature two episodes with Pachyrhinosaurus. We saw that before in the Walking With Dinosaurs film back in 2013! Why is everybody shoving Pachyrhinosaurus into their dinosaur documentaries and films!? I'm not hating on the animal. I'm questioning the decisions of the filmmakers. This show will be Walking With Dinosaurs in name only, just like the film was. The stories in these films and shows aren't interesting, and they are repeated over and over again.

Speaking of stories, let's talk about Jurassic World Rebirth. The trailer stated that there's some kind of disease, virus, etc., roaming around and a cure needs to be made. It requires dinosaur DNA in order to be made. A team heads to the island where the first dinosaurs for Jurassic Park were made (Isla Sorna), and then get put into a wild adventure. Spinosaurus returns (not the original one from JP3), and there's even a new dinosaur hybrid in the film! Does this film sound familiar to you? It does because we've seen this film FIVE TIMES BEFORE!!! Enough of the hybrids! Why didn't you bring back the JP3 Spinosaurus? Why do we need to go back to Sorna AGAIN!? Stop ruining my favorite island in the franchise! In fact, enough with the islands period! The Jurassic franchise NEEDS to end. I'm so tired of watching one of my favorite franchises get destroyed. As far as I'm concerned, only Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World Jurassic Park (1997) are canon. End it already!

If something is new, it's filled with modern-day political garbage as well. It's a no-win situation here: Something new? It's a political message getting shoved down your throat. Is it a remake, sequel, prequel, or a reboot? It's political mumbo jumbo being forced upon you, and ruining the franchise. Notice how entertainment isn't the main goal of Hollywood, while it should be!

I should also mention that it's not just Hollywood ruining entertainment. Video games have fallen hard as well. Huge prices for only 50% of the whole game, always online, pay-to-win and live services, bugs and glitches, huge updates that take way too long to be added, terrible writing and characters (including the character designs), and yes, modern-day politics. Mostly, it's Left-Wing politics. Not to mention, they. expect me to pay almost $1000 dollars for a new console that doesn't work any better than the one I already have! Also yes, classic gaming franchises are being censored, rebooted horribly, or continued with sequels and prequels that ruin the story and characters. Heck, even if it's a completely new game, it's ruined by the same problems stated previously.

If you dare to say something about the state of entertainment nowadays, people will attack you as if you're crazy or are a terrible person, calling you every kind of name possible other than the one your parents gave you. As I've stated previously, the entertainment of my childhood, and even teenage years, taught me good lessons as to how to treat people. It inspired me to be a better person, especially when I had a bad day and/or wanted to give up. I had the first six Star Wars films, the original Walking With Quadrilogy (watch Walking With Cavemen!), the Indiana Jones Quadrilogy, Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World Jurassic Park (1997), the classic animated Disney films and shows and Disney films like Dinosaur (2000), The Land Before Time, The DC Animated Universe and DC films, animated Marvel TV shows and Marvel films, and the list goes on! Heck, for video games, I had stuff like the Sly Cooper trilogy. I was inspired so much by all of these things. Where is the creativity nowadays? Where are the lessons that helps us to become better people? 

Entertainment is gone. Well, I must clarify: big corporate entities have ruined entertainment. Individuals who have a dream, and a story to tell, are the only saviors for entertainment. I watch mainly old films and shows, and play older games, nowadays. I will not watch Jurassic World Rebirth, Walking With Dinosaurs (2025), or any modern-day continuation or reboot of my favorite franchises. If this means anything to you too, dear ready, do not give Hollywood, or anybody that ruins your favorite entertainment property, any of your money.

Update (3/4/25):
I just saw that Jurassic World Chaos Theory is being brought back due to Jurassic World Rebirth coming out. My friends on Discord said that the creators of Chaos Theory stated that season 3 was the final one for the show. They all agreed that this is nothing but "corporate greed." They're absolutely right. The Jurassic franchise is dead.

(Biography) The Determination of Louis R. Purnell Jr.

It's the end of February, a.k.a Black History Month. I wanted to take a brief moment to discuss the career of a man who, honestly, helped to reinvigorate my passion for prehistory. Long story short, late 2021-2023 were very challenging years for me and I kind of lost some of my passion for paleontology. However, in late 2023, I found strength in the story of Louis Purnell Jr. Now that I'm moving on with my life, and I regained my passion for paleontology, I wanted to write this post to discuss Mr. Purnell's career at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. 

Louis R. Purnell Jr. as Curator of the National Air and Space Museum (1980s) (The Smithsonian Institution Archives):

According to the Smithsonian Institution Archives, "Louis R. Purnell Jr. was born in 1920" in "Maryland's Eastern Shore," (Smithsonian Institution Archives, African American Groundbreakers at the Smithsonian: Challenges and Achievements, Louis R. Purnell: The Education of Louis R. Purnell, para. 1). After serving as a pilot, and lieutenant in the Tuskegee Airmen, in World War 2 (Into the Air), Purnell got a BS in Psychology at Lincoln University (Into the Air, para. 1; An Insatiable Curiosity, para. 2). In order to make some money for his family, he worked at the Post Office. Looking for some excitement though, he went through a number of different jobs until he landed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 1961. He became a "museum specialist in the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology and Paleobotany," (An Insatiable Curiosity, para. 1-2). He went on several expeditions to collect specimens, and studied the nautiloid collection in the Smithsonian (An Insatiable Curiosity, para. 5-6). This is where Purnell gets into trouble. He noticed that some specimens were missing, and eventually found them. He was going to "write a new catalog based on his research." However, his colleagues said that he was crazy because he didn't have an education in Geology. Purnell took some "classes at George Washington University to learn how to identify the nautiloids and cephalopods that were in the Smithsonian's collections." He published his catalogue in 1968, and the Smithsonian Institution Archives said that it's "still in use today," (para. 6). It's also stated that Purnell "taught himself Geology and paleontology," (Louis R. Purnell, para. 1). The journey to finishing his catalogue was a rough one, due to "the collections manager" trying to stop him. This was due to, once again, Purnell not having a degree in Geology. Even when his catalogue was finished, most of the credit went to his supervisors in the Forward section of the work. These supervisors were the same people who tried to thwart him from publishing his catalogue! Purnell was also promised that he would get a promotion after he published his catalogue. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. Luckily, Purnell never let this experience subdue his "intellectual ambition" (An Insatiable Curiosity, para. 7). 

Purnell had success at the National Air and Space Museum (The National Air and Space Museum), but I wanted to focus on Purnell's experience at the Natural History Museum. I've had a similar experience to Purnell back in 2022-2023. Purnell had a strong will to never give up. He said that "he learned to 'roll with the punches' and 'overlook - not forgive, but overlook - [the] prejudice' he faced," (The National Air and Space Museum, para. 8). You have to get around any barrier (para. 9). Racial barriers were very large during Purnell's time with the Smithsonian (The National Air and Space Museum, para. 1, and 8-9). Nowadays, it's gender and political barriers in the sciences in general. Paleontology has been hit by this as well, and I went through it firsthand. I don't know about racial prejudice in paleontology, but I doubt that it doesn't exist presently in the science. Racism, in general, never goes away. However, no matter who you are, you have to keep going if you want to succeed. That's something that I had to remind myself of.

I hope that Purnell's story inspires you, like it did for me. I'll also leave the link to Purnell's catalogue for you to read if you're interested.

Links: 
Smithsonian Institution Archives. African American Groundbreakers at the Smithsonian: Challenges and Achievements. Louis R. Purnell: 
https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/African-Americans/louis-purnell
-Purnell's Nautiloid catalgoue:
https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/10174/USNMB_2621968_unit.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y