Crichton merited a better sendoff
Michael Crichton- who, as the LA Times once observed, was probably the only man ever "to have a No. 1 book, No. 1 movie and No. 1 TV show all at the same time,” died on Election Day. That's no doubt one reason why his passing received less attention than one would expect for the death of the guy responsible for both Jurassic Park and ER.
But TIME omitted Crichton from its tribute to those who made news- whether by dying or otherwise- in 2008, and the media generally seem to have had surprisingly little to say about the death of a man who had such a profound impact on the popular culture.
Could the reason be his skepticism about the catastrophic view of global warming so devoutly espoused by the media, Hollywood, and the other moguls of the popular culture?
For his best-known book, Jurassic Park, Crichton invented a fascinating and even compelling, but highly fictionalized, "villain:" Velociraptor, an admittedly vicious dino which, in reality, weighed only about seventy-five pounds and was the size of a small dog. Nor- contrary to the story line- was Velociraptor anywhere near as intelligent as dolphins or other mammals; while the real Velociraptor might have had more brains than your average dinosaur, that doesn't say much. Dinosaurs as a class were hardly mental giants, and Crichton simply gave Velociraptor too much credit.
But for whatever reason, the media seem to have done the same thing in reverse to Crichton, shrinking his importance to the popular culture in death to a size far smaller than he merits.
HT: Real Clear Politics
But TIME omitted Crichton from its tribute to those who made news- whether by dying or otherwise- in 2008, and the media generally seem to have had surprisingly little to say about the death of a man who had such a profound impact on the popular culture.
Could the reason be his skepticism about the catastrophic view of global warming so devoutly espoused by the media, Hollywood, and the other moguls of the popular culture?
For his best-known book, Jurassic Park, Crichton invented a fascinating and even compelling, but highly fictionalized, "villain:" Velociraptor, an admittedly vicious dino which, in reality, weighed only about seventy-five pounds and was the size of a small dog. Nor- contrary to the story line- was Velociraptor anywhere near as intelligent as dolphins or other mammals; while the real Velociraptor might have had more brains than your average dinosaur, that doesn't say much. Dinosaurs as a class were hardly mental giants, and Crichton simply gave Velociraptor too much credit.
But for whatever reason, the media seem to have done the same thing in reverse to Crichton, shrinking his importance to the popular culture in death to a size far smaller than he merits.
HT: Real Clear Politics
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