Jurassic Park Syndrome (sic) – “To fall out of love with a personal passion & to grow resentful of others, due to excessive publicity and the discovery of YOUR passion by others.”

The year is 1993 and I’m obsessed with Dinosaurs.

Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous. Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus. I was fascinated. I’d read books, I’d study them (did you know that a fully grown Triceratops was about 30 feet long and weighed 6 to 12 tons… In contrast a White Rhino is apparently 12 foot & weighs only 2.5 tons), or I’d play with solid plastic models from the Early Learning Centre.

By all stretch of the imagination, I was hooked.

THEN… Jurassic Park came!

All of a sudden you couldn’t move for Dinosaur fans. Even worse was the relentless marketing. Whether it was the collector cards (Which I confess to owning the set of) or the chicken pieces in Dinosaur shapes served in the School dining hall, Dinosaurs were everywhere.

As if by act of rebellion, my passion dimmed and I developed a dislike for those who suddenly loved them. A typical conversation [fictional, but a sound example]:

Person 1: The Dilophosaurus is so cool in that movie.
Me: Did you know that the neck camouflage was added by Spielberg’s guys to make it look more exotic.
Person 1: No… They are so cool.
Me: AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!

Put into context that I was 11 at the time, that’s a slightly fictional example of the frustration that engulfed me. By the end of the 1st Jurassic Park, and the excessive hype, my obsession was all but gone… For this, I blame the aptly named “Jurassic Park Syndrome”.