DINO Commercialization

[ceratosaur@juno.com (William J. Bevil)]

<lurking mode off>

Dear all,

At the risk of being skewered by some of the more *volatile*
personalities on the list, I had some thoughts on several messages posted
recently regarding the "commercialization" of dinosaurs in our culture
and its negative/positive effect on the science(s)....

Despite the scientific inaccuracy of such movies as "KING KONG" and "ONE
MILLION YEARS B.C.", I should point out that this particular dinosaur
enthusiast must admit that such films are directly responsible for my
adult interest interest in the subject.  If anything, these movies only
spurred me on to learn more about dinosaurs and to identify the
inaccuracies displayed before my eyes.  

>Roger A. Stephenson wrote:
>One of our young (12 years) dig participants was so sure the "stuff" he
was getting >from THE movies was factual he kept quoting them as one of
us might the >Dinosauria.

"know it all" kids are nothing new, on any subject matter. When I was a
kid, I can assure you that my knowledge of dinosaurs far exceeded that of
most other children in my class (thanks to the movies I watched,
sometimes!)  and I made sure to talk about what I *thought* I knew any
chance I got.  I shudder to think of the totally incorrect babble I used
to hold in high regard....I don't know that we can expect children that
age to behave any differently.

>Roger A. Stephenson wrote:
>When already stinking rich people become even richer because of the
fascination >we have about dinosaurs, and never return even a pittance to
further the science >they exploit, again where is the justice? 

Well, not to plug JurassiCon too much, but there are mainstream Dinosaur
Events out there that aren't run by the stinking rich, and do want to
return something to the paleo community as a result of their efforts.  I
think it might be too broad-brush to say that anyone who doesn't have the
option to be out on digs is simply out for money - they may just be doing
what they can in a way they think is beneficial to the Dinosaur-related
sciences.

>Roger A. Stephenson wrote:
>You have all read my rantings before, and have flamed me , sometimes
>justly. I would prefer real answers to these questions or futher insight
>I'm to close to the subject to see

I hate flaming, and frankly I see it too much on this list, so please
don't misinterpret this as such....:-)

>Judy Molnar wrote:
>I applaud your high standards, but life is full of compromises.  Live
with it.

Basically that sums it up.  I hate that more money doesn't go to help
Paleo and Natural History science efforts.  But, if latching on to this
social frenzy means that Museums can bring dinosaur exhibits to the
public, I must applaud it.  Not every facility is the gigantic AMNH,
either.   Just think of all the small local museums out there whose
attendance increased dramatically from this surge of interest?  

William J. Bevil
Co-Chairman, JurassiCon
P.O. Box 98308 - Atlanta, GA 30359
(770) 455-6995 8am-5pm e.s.t.
JurassiCon@juno.com  OR  ceratosaur@juno.com
visit our web page: http://www.esosoft.com/evolution