Hello and welcome back to Favourite Character Praise Friday!
This is one of my absolute favourite posts to write and I hope you enjoy my
picking apart of my favourite characters enough to stick around while I examine
my next victim, I mean, character. Don’t worry, I do not rank these characters
in a particular order, it just so happens that some characters are better worth
sharing praise for at a different point in time to others! Remember, every
fifth instalment is Least Favourite Character Praise Friday, so keep an eye out
for me probing at characters I can’t stand and raving about how well they were
written in order to evoke such a reaction.
So, who is the subject of my next Favourite Character Praise
Friday?
Claire Dearing from the Jurassic World Franchise!
Warning, the following will contain spoilers for Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom!
Claire was a character who I initially didn’t mind when
watching the first of the two current Jurassic World films, however, the more I
watched it, the more I fell in love with her. Her arc was a classic hero’s
journey with her being the only person that could guarantee her nephew’s safety
and it was initially amusing to watch her attempt to show she was capable of
amazing things, especially in those heels! When compared to the previous
heroines from the franchise, at a glance Claire looks like she’d fall short of
par.
Between the first and second film, Claire has gone through
an immense aesthetic change, appearing more typical of a heroine from the
Jurassic Franchise, wearing earthy tones and more appropriate footwear. I
thought the transition, albeit appropriate for someone who had lost her
high-paying job only to start up a non-profit organisation, was slightly
forced. Of course, I understand her reverting back to what I would assume is
her natural blonde hair, as the upkeep of red hair is an expensive luxury she
could definitely not afford, I would have preferred to see more of her original
colour palette appear again in the second film. But that doesn’t take away my
love for her at all!
I found that the more I watched the Jurassic World films,
the more Claire stood out to me. She was a very capable and level-headed woman,
even in crisis, or when in a lot of pain, she was quick to jump in to help
people in need. This shines through with animals as well, considering with her
previous job being so high-up in the Jurassic World administrative ladder she
would have had no issue entering a similar field, but was there to take care of
the animals as they still needed her protection.
But back to the praise! The three things I took from her as
a writer, instead of a consumer were as follows:
She demonstrated a protagonist learning that it’s okay to
change your mind and opinions after gaining new information. In Claire’s case,
she used to work in a position in the company where it was easier to perceive
each dinosaur as a specimen, numbers and figures instead of a living breathing
creature. After seeing the havoc that the indominus rex inflicts when she
escapes, Claire realised that these dinosaurs exist just as other wild animals
do, and they therefore, regardless of the damage they inflicted, ought to be
classified as endangered species’ and thus ought to be protected. This
transition in opinion comes across as natural considering the trauma she
endured. I, personally, didn’t think too much about how this transition would
appear until she was confronted by the antagonist of Jurassic World: Fallen
Kingdom, Eli Mills. It was when he mentioned that they both exploited the
animals that I realised how much her character had developed and how she had
learned to better herself. I thought that the way it was handled was really
well done and I hope that one day I’ll be able to execute something like that
in my own prose.
Another thing that Claire Dearing as a character does very
well is show that you can still be strong as well as feminine. Admittedly this
comes across more so in the first film, where she is still wearing the iconic
silky looking blouse and matching skirt with the purple tank top beneath it,
and the ever iconic high heeled shoes. However, she has always been portrayed
as strong. Not necessarily in terms of brute force, as that aspect of strength
is clearly more suited to her love interest, Owen, however her strength lies in
both emotions and resolve. She manages to keep a front together for her nephews
and remains insistent that she will keep them safe when the dinosaurs break
free of their containment. Despite her outward appearance in the first film,
she demonstrates a level-headedness needed in order to preserve the most human
life, even if she could have been killed in the process.
However, what I loved most about Claire’s arc was her arc as
a mother. Despite being a woman that is constantly shown to be capable, it
seems the thing that she falls short of, is being a good romantic partner. This
is demonstrated by the way she and her sister bicker over the phone while they’re
both supposed to be working and Claire declares that her emotional sister is
sounding like their mother after she had rambled about how she didn’t
understand as she didn’t have kids of her own. Yet despite the fact that her
nephews were not her children, she went above and beyond to keep them safe, to
the point of releasing a T-Rex from her enclosure for better odds of getting
out alive against the indominus rex. One can argue, relatively easily, that she
did this due to them being in her care, despite her being very willing to pass
them off to her assistant during the start of the film. The same cannot be said
for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom where she risks her life to protect Masie
Lockwood, despite being wounded by the indo-raptor. She, again, showed that she
was very capable of protecting herself, her love interest, and the child that
was caught in the middle. I really like how, despite her being shown to have little
want for children in the future, something she and Owen appear to share, that
she will take on any role to ensure the safety of those who cannot protect
themselves. Which, again, translates to her role in attempting to preserve the
lives of the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar.
Ultimately, I love Claire’s character, regardless of what
she taught me. I hope that my analysis will help you see her in a new light!
Please, if you have opinions on Claire Dearing, feel free to
share them with me! Don’t forget you can check out my previous Character Praise
by looking through the hashtags below.
And remember!
Per Aruda Ad Astra!
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