Representações da paleontologia e do paleontólogonas nas mídias cinematográficas ocidentais

Abstract

Based on the theoretical field of Paleontology at the interface with discourse studies, the present research aimed to understand the imaginary representations of the paleontologist and Paleontology in three foreign films: Bringing Up Baby (1938), Jurassic Park (1993) and Ammonite (2020). The aim was to analyze how Paleontology and the paleontologist and their craft appear in the three cinematographic materialities, understanding the differences and similarities with what is established by the scientific field. In addition to the concept of Paleontology, we appropriate the notion of imaginary and gender in the analysis. The analytical work considered not only the different periods in which the films were produced, but also the genre of each of them, since, as a theoretical assumption, the typology (comedy, action and biographical drama) also counts in the process of significance. As a result, the analysis showed that Ammonite is the film that comes closest to the field of Paleontology, whether due to the use of technical and scientific terms, or the way it portrays the paleontologist's job, while Bringing up baby, as it is a genre film comical, it is the furthest away from the field of Paleontology. Jurassic Park is in an intermediate position, oscillating between a fantastical and stereotypical representation of Paleontology and a relatively appropriate representation according to scientific discourse.