Experts See ‘Jurassic Park,’ Discuss the Fear Factor

The fright factor in “Jurassic Park” is especially intense for young children, concur a group of experts who study child psychology and the effects of mass media.

In an informal survey, The Times interviewed a number of authorities, all of whom saw the popular Steven Spielberg film in its first few days of release, to elicit their firsthand reactions to a subject that has become very topical.

For the most part, all agreed that the film’s rating of PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13) should be taken seriously.

However, several believed that, while “Jurassic Park” portrays violent behavior, it is at least more palatable than the barrage of murder and mayhem to which children are often exposed both in the news and in entertainment.

In the film, which in only six days of national release has attracted an enormous $75 million at the box office, dinosaurs go on a terrifying rampage. The title is the name of a fictional amusement park where dinosaurs have been scientifically re-created.

Norma Feshbach and her husband, Seymour Feshbach, both professors of psychology at UCLA, concluded that the rating did not seem strong enough. They would urge parents to view the movie before exposing children to it. “The dinosaurs were so well portrayed that it gave it a reality. And because of that, it makes them more frightening, especially in a major segment in the film when children are the potential victims,” she said.

She added that she was “shocked that there were so many children at the movie that were younger than 10,” though “they seemed absolutely spellbound.”

Merritt Schreiber, a clinical child psychologist in Irvine, also felt that the level of violence would be “overwhelming for younger kids,” especially since the only experience with dinosaurs many children have is with the cuddly, purple Barney character on TV.

“The two child characters are the subject of a lot of aggression and through much of the movie the adults are really not able to protect the children,” Schreiber said. “The movie plays on that realistic vulnerability that children have.”

On the other hand, Schreiber added: “There are a lot worse things that kids watch like ‘RoboCop’ and ‘The Terminator’ and ‘Rambo’ movies--that have impersonal violence. . . . Movies that depict violence as a solution to conflict.”

John P. Murray, a professor and chairman of the department of human development and family studies for Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., observed: “Children have probably seen much more violence on their screens at home, than they’ll see in ‘Jurassic Park.’ ” He added, “I wouldn’t feel bad about a youngster being frightened by ‘Jurassic Park’ as long as they can talk about it with someone and get a sense of the issues. The fact that the movie had a number of violent scenes is a minus, but it at least showed the consequences of the violence, unlike most things that children watch.

“On Saturday morning cartoons, someone gets shot in the face with a shotgun and ends up with only a brown smudge on their face.”

Murray said he talked with one child who he said accurately explained why the film can be frightening. “It moved very suddenly from what was a peaceful situation to a violent one.”

The film’s distributor, Universal Pictures, contends the marketing of the movie has not been directed at children. Nevertheless, there’s a current flood of dinosaur-related toy products, games, books and candy--all licensed to tie in with and promote “Jurassic Park.”

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Universal said its surveys indicate that only 2% of the audience has been under age 8. But each of the persons interviewed for this article mentioned how surprised they were with the numbers of children in the audience.

“The studio is being disingenuous with all the dinosaur promotions,” said Mary Parpal, a psychologist at the Assessment Treatment Services Center near Costa Mesa, who also has a private practice in Newport Beach. “I can imagine there’s a lot of pressure among kids to see the film.”

Parpal termed the film’s story “a wholesome kind of terror, as opposed to a random chop-’em-up kind of violence” and said that is a plus for pre-adolescents. But she believes it is “way too scary for anyone under 10. It was very loud, with things popping out--things that can induce terror in young children.”

Associate professor Barbara Wilson in the department of communications at UC Santa Barbara also agrees that the movie “is not designed for kids. But the way it is being pitched makes it fascinating to children.”

Wilson, who has 10 years of research on children’s fear reactions to the mass media, said children ages 3 to 7 are gripped by how things look and sound. “The scenes of dinosaurs attacking people, growling and stomping are particularly threatening. This age group really has difficulty in grasping the difference between reality and fantasy. To them, whatever looks real, is real. And, of course, in this movie, the dinosaurs look real.”

Children 8 to 12 begin to look at what motivates characters and question whether things are possible, Wilson said. “In the film there are sudden shifts from good dinosaurs to menacing dinosaurs. As in ‘Gremlins’ (another film produced by Spielberg) you have these cuddly creatures that halfway through the movie suddenly switch. Also, the two main victims in the movie are about 8 and 12. (This) could really elevate the fear level.”

Cautions Dr. Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist in Beverly Hills: “It’s a very dangerous and misleading rationale for parents to believe that because their child survived one violent movie, they should be able to survive another one. The point is, they shouldn’t take them to any violent movie to begin with (because) each movie adds its own cumulative effect to the overall impact of screen violence which leads to more aggressive and desensitized behavior.”