Critique: Dinotopia Night Two (Channel 4)

David, Karl, Marion and Zipeau are taken to the Earth Farm where they meet Rosemary, Marion’s mother and the Earth Farm’s Matriarch. She sends David to become a Skybax rider. Meanwhile Karl is given a dinosaur egg to raises; it was orphaned by the same t-rex group that attacked David and Karl at the start of their Dinotopia journey.

 

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

Clever

 

Matriarch Rosemary is very negative about both Karl and David, lumping them together and saying they aren’t partaking in Dinotopian life.

Yet David has been very good and obedient, gleefully engaging with Dinotopian way of life. So treating them both as problematic is not logical. However, Crabbe is banned from the library due to his ancestor’s actions. Hence, in Dinotopia, if one person does a crime then their whole family is tainted.

Whilst this isn’t fair, this system was how the Chinese justice system worked for centuries. As the Earth Farmers have conical hats from Vietnam/south China, it’s not unreasonable that the Chinese justice system was passed on, too. (Or it could have developed independently.)

 

Many times, characters’ words and behaviours were thought through very carefully.

Mayor stops Crabbe from speaking by saying, “In the interest of democracy, we must let others speak.” But it’s antidemocratic to stop Crabbe from keeping the government to account. It just really shows the Mayor’s paranoia and lack of control over the sunstone situation.

Marion tells Marion that she needs to loosen up, relax, break the rules, lie. Basically, all the things David won’t do. Characters thinking others need to improve with the very things they themselves need to do is always funny. Mind you, David thinks things through, so maybe he recognises these perceived faults in himself; as such, he might be the perfect person to point this out to others.

Crabbe agrees to give Karl a sea-chart to escape the island if Karl gets the Hatchery’s sunstone. Crabbe says Dinotopia has loads of spare sunstones to persuade Karl, even though Crabbe just revealed to the Senate that there are no sunstones. Crafty. When they make the exchange, Karl checks the sea-chart is correct; Crabbe, to look better, makes a point of not checking the sunstone in the bag. Once Karl is gone, Crabbe does check it, finding that it was just a rock. Crafty.

Following Karl’s boat, 26 jumps into the water. Karl manages to save her from the sea which is nice, considering he couldn’t save his dad from the sea.

 

 

Humour

 

Appropriate for the serious tone of this episode, its amount of humour is lower than the first.

When Crabbe kidnaps Zipeau, Zipeau begs, “Why can’t we live in harmony?” So funny.

When David goes back to the pedestal on the edge of the cliff to call a Skybax, Karl’s first thought is that David’s going to jump. It’s morbid but funny.

Karl tells Marion about the story of ‘Karl and Goliath’. Him changing the name of the hero to make himself look better by association would be funny by itself. Yet considering the true name in the story is ‘David’, his brother’s name, by changing the hero’s name Karl makes sure David won’t look good to Marion. Crafty.

 

Captain Oonu gives his cadets saddles apart from David, saying he must spend the night in a Skybax nest first.

Marion goes with him and we find out she’s jealous of David’s fellow cadet Ramona. Yet when David says he loves her, all she says is, “I’m flattered.” So funny.

Then a messenger bird gives Marion a singogram. So Karl, to David’s outrage, manages to interfere even though David’s in the middle of nowhere. Considering Marion just slapped David down, Karl’s message definitely didn’t make anything worse, which just makes David’s outrage hilarious. Which is even funnier because Marion just slapped David down so really Karl isn’t making anything worse.

 

 

Problems

 

When the students graduate, Rosemary assigns them a habitat.

Someone’s sent to study dolphins, another the weather. David is sent to Canyon City and Karl to the Hatchery.

Marion, in front of the whole class, is told she isn’t being given a habitat. Everyone would assume that meant she failed, so saying that in public isn’t good.

Also, Rosemary unilaterally decides what everyone in Dinotopia will do for the rest of their lives? This is a highly problematic situation.

 

Rosemary sometimes speaks nonsense.

Marion said she went after the boys because that’s what she thought her mum would do. Rosemary dismisses this by saying, “They’re outsiders. They don’t know our ways.” So what, people only deserve help once they are accepted as Dinotopian? That doesn’t seem to align with Dinotopian values.

Rosemary says to David, “You’re clever but unhappy. Will you always stay outside of life, watching it go by.” David’s thrown himself into Dinotopian life, learning the language and speaking to the natives. That’s hardly watching life from the outside.

 

Some things were just wrong.

Samantha tells Karl that 26 (what he names his dinosaur) is a chasmisaur, part of the hadrosaur family. However, chasmisaurs are in the same family as triceratops, a group to which hadrosaurs aren’t a member. Seeing as Samantha lives with dinosaurs, how could she make that mistake?

Marion’s sunstone drives off the Pteranodons. It’s very bright so it should shine through her clothes, which it doesn’t.

The sounds of voices were noticeably wrong at times. Marion, despite having an English accent, says, ‘albino’ like an American. Also, the English-speaking voice of 26 does not match her dinosaur noises. There should be continuity.

 

Some behaviours don’t make sense.

            Samantha, Marion’s sister, tells Karl that cold eggs become female and warm eggs male. Yet when Rosemary calls Karl’s egg a girl, Karl is surprised Rosemary knows. If temperature determines the sex, all one has to do is feel the temperature and you’ll know. Also, Rosemary’s in charge of the Hatchery, so she’s the one that would be deciding what temperature each egg is.

David and his fellow cadets are climbing the canyon walls. David’s struggling so his solution? Turn around to face outwards. The ledge is tiny so turning would only increase his chance of falling. Plus it’s harder to cling onto the wall when facing out. Also, it meant he was visually reminded that he was high up, which he didn’t like. So it makes no sense whatsoever for someone in David’s position with his fears to turn around on that ledge.

Karl puts 26 to sleep on David’s bed. There’s no door on the building and it’s right on the edge of a cliff lacking barriers. This isn’t safe for any baby unsupervised! Also, Karl’s already had to rescue 26 from following him: he knows she follows so this sleeping space is especially not safe for her!

Karl and Marion broke student rules by leaving their rooms. So Marion’s a student? She was travelling when the boys met her and she taught the beginner’s class in Waterfall City. Why would a student do those things?

 

There are a few things that are convenient at best and lazy at worst.

Karl swings into the girls’ dormitory. The rope conveniently hanging outside the boys’ dormitory also happened to be long enough to reach the girls’ dormitory.

The back pattern of the Skybax’s is the exact same shape as the saddles they wear. Was this done for CGI convenience, or was this pattern the inspiration for the saddle in the first place? Their backs even have the 3D shape of a saddle, not just the outline, so unfortunately the answer is the bad one.

 

 

 

Night Two focuses on the boys becoming Dinotopian with further integration into the island’s way of life. David and Karl’s characters develop a lot in this episode, something that was handled really well.

 

Infinite Monkey Theorem Misleading?

Two mathematicians find issues with this theorem. However, their conclusions don’t add up.

 

The infinite monkey theorem is the idea that a monkey could write all of Shakespeare’s works, given that they had an infinite time to do so.

 

The probability that this could happen is so low that the time it would take is longer than the universe’s lifespan, according to Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta.  So they decide this means the theorem is misleading. As Woodcock puts it, the probability ‘doesn’t match… the constraints of this universe.’

 

But the theorem is about infinite time, which our universe does not have, so the theorem has nothing to do with the constraints of our universe. For the researchers to discredit the theorem over something it has nothing to do with is neither logical nor sensible.

 

A final thing to note is that they measured the probability with chimps, not monkeys like the theorem is named after. Chimps aren’t monkeys, and nor did chimps evolve from monkeys. The calculations they made on chimps could have been made on the monkeys; as such, there was no need to use chimps, making that choice bizarre. So using chimps to disprove a theorems about monkeys is odd.

 

Simply, their conclusions don’t add up.

Critique: Dinotopia Night One (Channel 4) 2/2

*****SPOILERS*****

 

Problems

 

Watching this mini-series in my youth, I never really noticed these issues. However, rewatching this as an adult has given me a new perspective.

 

Sometimes, how Dinotopians act don’t match their values. Sure, people are often contradictory, but these appear to be institutional issues.

When crossing the Rainy Basin, Marion told Karl they didn’t have weapons. Yet the hadrosaurs have staffs that clearly aren’t used for walking. So clearly they’re weapons. So, no weapons for fighting dangerous predators, but yes weapons for the city full of peaceful citizens? That isn’t at all feasible.

Crabbe asks Karl to get a book from the library for him. Crabbe himself isn’t allowed in the library because of something his ancestor did. Punishing someone for something someone else it is bizarre, especially for a people who are usually kind.

 

 

Sometimes, things just didn’t make sense.

They call the groups of t-rex a herd. However, herd is a word only ever used for herbivores, not carnivores (i.e. what t-rex are), so a ‘t-rex herd’ is peculiar. A pack is a common term for carnivore groups. Flock is another possibility, given how t-rex and birds share relations (the Dinotopians might not know this, of course). Maybe ‘pride’ could be used because lions are the ‘kings of the jungle’ and ‘rex’ in t-rex means king.

Karl introduces Zipeau to table tennis. Karl even has the right-sized ball. The balls must be used for something in the library because it doesn’t make sense for the library to have the balls otherwise. As we never see their purpose, this makes their presence suspect. Unless Karl had the ping-pong ball in his pockets since before the crash. But this seems more a cop-out that an explanation.

The signs reads, ‘School for Mammals’. Why not ‘Humans’? The show doesn’t show any non-human mammals, let alone any smart enough to go to school.  (Yes, there are simian calls in the rainforest in ‘Night Three’, but without visual there’s no confirmation.) So to use the group term for one specific species isn’t appropriate.

At the Stone with all the Codes of Dinotopia, a child reads one out. Marion tells him, “Very good” and the kids grins and nods his head at an angle. Seeing as the children know how to read and write (they write an essay, after all), he shouldn’t be so arrogant and proud to be able to read it aloud. Even if he couldn’t read, the Codes are how Dinotopians live their lives, so he’d know them anyway.

At school, their exam asks, ‘How are we to live?” Considering Dinoptians are expected to live by the Code, this seems more like a bullet point answer that shows their memory rather than an exam demonstrating they understand the Code. Karl’s answer is the first few lines of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Whilst this is funny (especially considering he won), those lines aren’t about how to live, so they aren’t relevant, meaning Karl shouldn’t have won.

 

There were two other issues.

Karl grabs David by his shirt and David says, “Let go of me. Let go of me.” This was delivered so awkwardly, especially in regards to timing, tone and volume. It was a stiff performance. David’s character is stiff (which matches his personality), but considering how David delivered this line, it makes me wonder if the stiffness is instead a problem with his acting skills.

The same mosasaur is shown as both 3D animation and a 3D model. Yet the model is shorter than the animation. Considering they’re the same animal, this is problematic.

 

 

Unanswered Questions

 

The buses of Dinotopia are brachiosaurs, their backs reached via perfectly vertical ladders.

For someone with a cane like Crabbe, this would be incredibly difficult. For someone with more serious disabilities, this ladder would be impossible; with how tall and vertical the ladders are, it’s not like people can be carried up it, either. This can be applied to the young and injured, too.

Dinotopia makes itself out to be a kind place but making life inaccessible for people definitely isn’t kindness. Mind you, they use cranes to lift brachiosaur armour onto the dinosaurs, and presumably do the same for goods, so maybe they might use it for people that need it, too?

 

Questions aren’t always relevant to the plot but they are to the worldbuilding.

Marion says the convoys carry meat to appease the carnivores. Considering Marion shows disgust at the idea of eating meat, it’s clear this appeasement meat doesn’t come from farm animals. So where does it come from? Dead dinosaurs? Dead people?

The brachiosaurs walk right into Waterfall City. Even other dinosaurs are small compared to the brachs, let alone humans. It seems very risky.

The Mayor of Waterfall City is also the Speaker of the Senate. Both jobs in their own right would be a big undertaking, so for Waldo to be both seems odd.

Dinotopians have fireworks and vinyl. How did they replicate these?

In the Senate, humans are lower down and dinosaurs stand on the second tier. This seems odd: why make the larger dinosaurs climb when their weight would damage the masonry? Although perhaps humans descend into a lower level.

Every Dinotopian has a saurian life partner yet Marion lacks one. However, David and Karl only get theirs after they graduate from the Earth Farm. Marion joins them for this, implying that she’s graduating at the same time they are. Then, because she’s not assigned a habitat, maybe she can’t be assigned an appropriate dinosaur?

 

Why did David and Karl get invitations to the Sunstone Parade? It looked open to everyone: having an invitation to an open event is odd.

Maybe it was so that David and Karl knew about it and were welcome to join (as newcomers, they wouldn’t know about Dinotopian festivals). But if this were the case, surely someone could have just told them about it?

Maybe they were invitations for their particular seats? There was a free space of the bench big enough for Karl when he showed up. If the seat was free for anyone, someone would have taken it considering how crowded the parade was, with so many people standing. So the fact no-one was sitting there could suggest people knew it was a reserved seat.

 

David is unconscious after Karl pulls him from the river.

Marion puts her hand on David’s shoulder which causes him to wake up. Yes, she shows she can calm dinosaurs and pteranodons.s etc, but I don’t see how this translates to healing. (Plus she doesn’t show any healing capabilities ever again.)

However, maybe she woke David up by controlling his heartbeat, and he could have calmed the reptiles in the same manner. Considering sunstones have magical properties, it’s not unfeasible for Marion to have this unusual ability.

 

Marion tells the messenger bird to fly down river until sunset.

Karl makes a campfire after dark and, when it’s light again, the messenger bird arrives. So the messenger bird didn’t follow instructions, as ‘until sunset’ would mean stop at sunset, not continue until to following sunrise.

Marion makes a whole deal about how reliable messenger birds are, so the audience’s first experience of messenger birds not following orders doesn’t seem like a sensible choice. Maybe it’s rebelling against being kidnapped but that’s me grasping for straws.

 

Critique: Dinotopia Night One (Channel 4) 1/2

Brothers David and Scott crash their plane in the sea during a storm, washing up on this island called Dinotopia. Scott was unable to free their father Frank from his seat belt.

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

Story

 

The first dinosaur the brothers sees is an ankylosaurus rampaging through a market. A woman, who Crabbe calls Marion, calms the dinosaur down.

Oonu, Captain of the Skybax Riders, saves the group from t-rex at the decimated outpost. Marion thinks the t-rex are attacking because the sunstones are failing.

Zipeau thinks the Temple is the entrance to the World Beneath, the sacred place where dinosaurs sought refuge and survived the mass extinction event. This is because this temple is surrounded by predators and the World Beneath is said to be guarded by predators.

 

 

Clever

 

Playing with expectations.

David is an obedient bookworm with a shaved head. Usually, shaved heads are associated with rougher characters who don’t enjoy literature, so this was a great creative choice. Also, shaved heads are associated with the army and army personnel follow the rules, just like goody two-shoes David. So having a shaved head despite his personality both went against, and supported, expectations.

David says that because there’re no telephones, “the rules are different.” Karl declares, “Screw the rules.” This is useful character info that shows rather than tells their personalities. Also, they’re using ‘rules’ in different ways, a bit of word play I always enjoy: David means ‘rules’ as in what’s normal whilst Karl means it as in behavioural expectations.

When the bus kiosk hatch is shut, David’s the one who banged on it. When David is the rule-follower and Karl is the wilful one, it’s almost like the wrong character banged on the hatch. However, David is the nervous one: if he’s stranded in a new place and delayed on his journey, of course the nerves would get the better of him.

 

There were a bunch of small yet positive details.

After Marion pulled out the ankylosaurus tooth, the dinosaur started to pant. Also, the breath of the t-rex comes out their nose at night.

David and Karl spend their first night on top of a roof. This seemed odd: why wouldn’t there be a place for new arrivals, considering new arrivals happen throughout Dinotopian history. However, there is a sign on the roof that faces inwards, not outwards, hence the sign is meant to be read from the roof. This indicates that the roof is a public space.

 

Humans and dinosaurs are considered equal on Dinotopia.

Karl says that humans are superior.Marion says humans are recent guests on Earth. Plus Marion points out the dinosaurs aren’t slaves but instead they work, just like people.

A dinosaur called Zipeau is housing the brothers. Karl says, “We’re staying with a dino-” at which point Zipeau interrupted, “Librarian.” The most important part of his identity is his job, not his species. If species isn’t the most important part of someone’s identity, of course Dinotopians wouldn’t view dinosaurs as lesser beings. Although Zipeau demonstrating this is amusing, considering he’s obsessed with mammals.

 

The brothers quarrel a lot.

Being on Dinotopia has put the brothers on edge. David says something wonderful has happened to them to which Karl replies, “seeing Dad ruined it for me.” David talks about how they should embrace Dinotopian life and Karl says, “That’s because you don’t have a life back home.” Karl takes every opportunity he can to take shots at David.

At one point, Karl says David is coming with him when he leaves and then in the same breath says, “I can’t believe I’m stuck here with you.” Despite arguing and conflict, there’s still obligation and love.

All the bickering and conflict does escalate. David says he’s “almost glad he’s [their dad] gone.” This causes the boys to have a rough and tumble, falling into the river.

 

 

Humour

 

This show was by no means a comedy. However, the use of humour throughout keeps on re-engaging the audience.

Marion says, “Only one in five convoys across the Rainy Basin get attacked.” She said this in such a cheerful tone, so at odds with the substance of what she said, that it made me chuckle.

On their way to Waterfall City, they check out an outpost decimated by t-rex in which the sunstone had failed. The brothers joke about how silly it is David thinks there’s a t-rex out to get him. Then one crashed through the roof.

Marion is disgusted to find out Karl eats meat. She asks David if he does it, too, and David lies because he wants Marion to like him. Karl rolls his eyes.

David, explaining how Karl is his half-brother, says, “Dad had an active social life.” That’s a polite way of putting it, sure.

Mayor Waldo asks David for an update on world history. David mentions the Berlin Wall being knocked down and, confused, Waldo asked, “Why, was there something wrong with it?”

Seeing a portrait of Zipeau’s dead human life partner, Karl calls her a babe. In a forlorn voice, Zipeau says, “I’ll bever find another like her. Babe.” The word and the tone of voice are so opposite that being together is hilarious.

During class, Karl does graffiti of stegosaurus mating. Marion calmly announces, “That’s not how stegosaurus reproduce.” This is funny in and of itself. But this implies she’s watched stegosaurus go at it.

By far my favourite moment was when a mosasaur bites off Zipeau’s tail and Zipeau shouts, “I hope you choke on it!”

Transrace

This term refers to a person who identifies with a race they’re not part of biologically. It happens, for example, when white people identify as black.

Some people say others claim to be transrace so they can get away with misappropriating culture (even claiming to be transrace itself is misappropriation).

Others say this denial of identity is gatekeeping, just as much as denying transwomen are women.

 

This has six sections: Concept of Race; Claiming to be Black is Problematic; Being ‘Transcultural’ Already (kind of) Exists; Being ‘Transethnic’ is Impossible; Comparing Transrace to Transgender; and Claiming to be ‘Transracial’ to Misappropriate Culture.

 

 

Concept of Race

 

Race is a complex concept. It ties together the idea of ethnicity (something biological) with the idea of culture (something social).

So, to be transrace, someone would need to change their culture and biology. They’d need to be both transethnic and transcultural. Yet when someone says they’re transblack, it’s only the culture they’re claiming as their own (because clearly changing ethnicity is impossible).

Hence, as only culture can change and not biology, the term ‘transrace’ isn’t actually describing what’s going on.

 

 

Claiming to be Black is Problematic

 

White people claiming to be black is itself problematic.

There are more black cultures than there are white/Asian/Aboriginal/Native American/Pacific cultures combined. Saying ‘black culture’ thus reduces all black cultures into one, a massive misidentification that can’t be anything but racist. Yes, many people in this situation use ‘black’ as shorthand for ‘African American’ (which is appropriate). But I’ve seen more people claiming to be ‘transblack’ by identifying with Africa as a whole.

 ‘Transblack’ is thus not an appropriate thought, identity or term to start with in regards to Africa. If a white person is claiming to be black, surely they’d know the term they’re using is inappropriate?

 

 

Being ‘Transcultural’ Already (kind of) Exists

 

Liking, admiring, and being fascinated by other cultures is a good thing. It allows for better understanding, communication and co-operation. But admiring something doesn’t mean you are it.

There are plenty of ways to be part of a culture. Live where a culture is prevalent (i.e. moving abroad) and people can adopt the food, language, activities and attitudes of that culture (all countries want their immigrants to integrate, after all). People often adopt and marry into another race. They’ll live, and be treated like, anyone else in that community.

So there are already ways to be part of another culture without having to use something as controversial as ‘transrace’. Notice all these methods require an invitation, whereas people claiming to be transrace is self-imposed.

 

Let’s look at a white child being adopted by an African American family.

This child goes to a black school and consumes black media. That white child is without doubt part of the black community on a cultural level. If black culture is the only thing that white child has ever known, it wouldn’t be fair to exclude them.

But this doesn’t make that white child black. Instead, they’ve been adopted by a culture with the permission of that culture. As it’s given rather than taken, it’s not misappropriation.

As it’s an adoption of culture without changing ethnicity, it’s not a change of race. So ‘transrace’ is incorrect.

 

 

Being ‘Transethnic’ is Impossible

 

Changing culture is one thing. However, there’s no way to change ethnicity, the biological side of race.

The genetic differences between different ethnicities are huge. It can’t be changed with hormones alone. It would require re-writing someone’s entire genome in every single cell in their body. Different ethnicities have big differences in biology: colour, texture, shape, proportions, sizes, biological processes… Such a big transformation would be dangerous to a living organism.

Therefore, changing someone’s ethnicity is simply impossible. If someone can’t be transethnic, and transethnic is a requirement of being transracial, then being transrace is likewise impossible.

 

 

Comparing Transrace to Transgender

 

Both come with social and biological aspects. Transgender people change their biosex (biological) to fit their gender (social). Likewise, transracial people identify with another culture (social) and hence would need to change their ethnicity (biological).

            However, as previously demonstrated, people can’t biologically change their ethnicity to align with their race. Crucially, transgender people can biologically change their biosex to align with their gender.

            This gender-biosex divergence is most easily seen in transgender people. However, it is more prevalent in people who have genetic conditions where they are genetically one biosex but physically another; the gender identity is based off of the physical aspect, not the genetics. Most of these individuals now, and in history, never know about this divergence.

Gatekeeping is practiced on transwomen, saying they aren’t real women because they aren’t genetically women. But most gender-biosex divergence is based on gender being the person’s physical body, not their genetics. So why would identifying transpeople be the opposite way around?

            There is no equivalence between changing biosex and changing ethnicity, so comparing transrace with transgender isn’t feasible. So claims of gatekeeping transracial people is ludicrous.

 

 

Claiming to be ‘Transracial’ to Misappropriate Culture

 

The concept of transrace has another complication.

We’re seeing a rising number of white people claiming to be trans-black as just another way to take black culture without permission. (But it’s not misappropriation if I’m black.) So this claiming to be transblack is just a transparent workaround to take what hasn’t been freely given.

Being transrace is thus not an identity to have but a tool to use. That is not okay.

(This isn’t a dig at white people. Rather, it’s a dig at a few individuals who are doing something wrong. Anyone of any race claiming to be trans-race would be just as guilty.)

 

 

Conclusion

 

To be transracial, one must be transcultural and transethnic. One can be transcultural in real life if it’s given to them. One simply cannot be transethnic. Thus, as transrace requires both cultural and ethnic elements, if one element is impossible, then transrace itself is impossible. Not only is it a controversial term but it is a nonsense term, too!