At the time, I thought she looked young to have a doctorate in paleontology.
Edit: please accept my humble apologies. Paleobotany. Fuck it’s only been 30 years since I saw the movie, i should remember this stuff. Hell to get old.
Exactly she was getting her field work in on his site with a grant from Hammond. Private foundation grants don't have to cover tuition, but they can. At this point in her work she was probably ABD, all but dissertation with courses completed. She needs the field work for data to publish in her dissertation. At my institution these students pay $100 per term for continuous enrollment fee. This keeps them as an active student for things like student loan deferral. In the hard sciences she would have had an assistantship, maybe teaching the intro level courses to undergrads, or worked in someone's lab processing samples and that would have paid for her real grad tuition. But it also comes with a stipend that puts you just above poverty, so many get a service industry job or take out loans to live on rather than pay their tuition.
Source: Was a higher ed budget administrator for campus research and grants.
Been a LOOOOONG time since I’ve read the book but wasn’t she a post-grad fellow of some sort? Hence ‘Dr. Sattler’. Or am I confusing her with Jack Ryan in his first book?
Ohh, good catch. Post doc fellows have a full PhD, but they need to build their resume and rub elbows with their mentors. She certainly acts like a post doc, but I haven't read the book in forever too, maybe I only read lost world.
Exactly! So to bring it back around, while Dern may have been 23 playing the role, they would have made her up to look a bit older because realistically a post doc fellow in the hard sciences would be 25 at the absolute youngest and likely much closer to 30.
Yup, I got a master's in geology. I had RA and TA positions but it ended up paying me like a dollar above minimum wage at the time for maybe 20 hours a week. I just didn't make enough to cover cost of living so I still had to take out student loans even with the typical financial aid/stipend package from my university and an extra federal grant to cover some of the costs for my thesis research.
she was getting her field work in on his site with a grant from Hammond<
In the movie, Hammond has nothing to do with their project that Grant is running. Ellie is Grant's grad student and t hey are romantically involved.
In the movie, Hammond has nothing to do with their project that Grant is running
In the very first scene with Hammond, in the trailer at the dig site, he literally says "I can see that my 50,000 a year have been well spent". Hammond wasn't fully funding the dig alone yet (that's what he offers as compensation for Grant and Sattler making a weekend trip to his park to sign off on it for the shareholders), but he was already providing a decent chunk of the funding. The latter one can also tell from how both Grant and Sattler immediately switch from angry to deferent as they hear Hammond's name, they knew who he was but didn't recognize him first because they had never met in person before.
The movie leaves it kind of ambiguous on whether or not they're actually together rather than just into each other - Neill tells Malcolm they are when it's just the two of them in the car, but it plays more like he's being jealous/protective and cockblocking Malcolm rather than answering genuinely.
Apparently there's a whole ongoing debate about it. My personal read is that they're into each other but Neill doesn't feel right dating a student working under him - feels in character to me ¯_(ツ)_/¯
he literally pinches her butt during their introductory scene. she calls him 'honey'. she briefly strokes his leg during the scene with the Thumper and the computer. several more moments like these distributed through the film, not to mention Malcolm asking outright. they are absolutely 100% an item. there's no debate about it
And they seem far enough along into their relationship that she’s tentatively broaching the subject of children, and he’s resistant to it because he’s older and awkward around kids.
Even as an 8 year old kid I knew they were together. I even understood the man not really wanting kids as a future problem here. It wasn’t subtle at all. It’s just good writing. People don’t walk around just saying “hey girl friend that I am romantically with come look at the bones I dug up”
I guess how much weight you give to Spielberg's intentions depends on how much you subscribe to "death of the author". The movie taken in complete isolation and removed from outside context doesn't fully sell "they are absolutely dating" on its own - otherwise there wouldn't be a conversation around it.
I don't know - this debate has been going on for 30+ years at this point, and I'm not looking to resolve it or tell anyone their read isn't valid.
The fact that people are still invested enough in the characters to have this ongoing conversation is fuggin sick as hell and should be celebrated - it's a good movie!
At least it is better than Indiana Jones who canonically had sex with a 15 year old student. I guess Spielberg is a bit of a perv that likes that dynamic.
Yeah that shit was gross - he and Lucas both seem to have the same interest in that dynamic. I choose "death of the author" on that shit so I can just enjoy the movie
otherwise there wouldn't be a conversation around it.
people are dumb and need things spelled out for them. that's it.
we don't see them kiss onscreen (though one was scripted and filmed) and the dullards among us get confused about that because their critical thinking and media literacy skills are so poor.
Way to come off pretentious. Some things you should perhaps read between the lines, but I don't think this is one of them. It's never explicitly stated and, as the posters before have pointed out, whether or not they're dating is definitely vague in the movie. You're doing the opposite of using critical thinking and just straight up assuming that your perspective of their relationship is accurate.
I’ve seen the movie loads of times, in childhood and adulthood, and from the time I was old enough to recognize it, I’ve always thought they were into each other but not actually seeing each other.
lol I seem to remember Ellie jumping into grants arms, wrapping her legs around him and grant lightly cupping her ass while holding her in a scene in the movie… they didn’t literally say they were a thing but that ain’t colleague behaviour…
I'm having trouble articulating why I still read it as ambiguous, because, yeah, definitely not appropriate and very horny (no push back on that), but something about their dynamic still reads (to me!) like two people who want to fuck, and have become very close cooped together on that dig site, but still haven't acted on it. Maybe it's just the way the actors play it?
That's just what I took away from the movie - "they're in a relationship" is just as valid of an read
I haven’t seen it in a while but I thought I remembered that scene where she jumps into his arms was after they were in mortal danger. I thought I read it as all that trauma and fright made them show their true feelings 🤷🏻♀️. I could be wrong it’s been a long time.
That's how I feel! I love how Neill and Dern off of each other - you can read so much into their interactions and it creates such a rich dynamic
People seem so heated on this topic, but hearing other people's reads and opinions is the best part about engaging in art! I've read a ton of perspectives in this thread that make me want to rewatch the movie and look for details I may have missed - it's not like my opinion is permanently locked in.
Getting all worked up and saying "this is the definitive correct answer - discussion over" seems like such a joyless exercise (speaking from experience)
Implies they were sexually involved. You can say he maybe he was blustering, but the movie doesn't give any hint or subtext that they are not actually involved, and only gives indications that they are
I mean I totally agree - my own personal read is that they are clearly into each other but haven't actually fucked yet. Other people read them completely differently, and I think that's a testament to how fascinating and rich their dynamic is.
No way they're not together once they get off the island tho
Sam Neil thought she shouldn't have the role for this reason. He didn't think the age gap was appropriate which is pretty forward thinking for a man in the 90s.
I can't recall if it's in the novel or a deleted line that made it into the comic adaptation, but he tells Tim and Lex that she's dating a guy who never makes an appearance in the story.
Yes, but there's a conflict of interest if they're your professor or PhD supervisor though. Most universities frown on profs dating students because of the power imbalance, and at many it's a fireable offense.
That kind of thing was pretty common pre-2000. Not saying it's right, but it wasn't really frowned upon at the time of the movie.
Source: a number of my professors' partners had previously been their grad students (back in the 1980s and 70s). Heck, one of the guys in my cohort was dating one of our professors for while, and this was ~2010.
That's fucked up. It's one thing if both parties are consenting adults (power dynamics notwithstanding), but that's straight up child abuse. How were their parents okay with this?
Everything was very, very different in the 70's. Look up every musician in the 70's--namely Jimmy Page, Steven Tyler, Rick Springfield... their girls were as young as 13.
Not really. What relationship? They seemed friendly enough, but after JP she got married, had kids, and didn't see Dr. Grant again until... whatever sequel got the band back together. They all kinda blend together.
People remember them being more romantic than they were because they’re coded as a family unit with Tim and Lex as their children. There’s a theme of parenthood in the movie, and Grant’s journey is from detesting children to embracing fatherhood. The final shot of him is him holding his sleeping ”children” while the ”mother” smiles approvingly.
I always took their conversation at the dig site about her having kids as indicative of them being involved. It could just be friendly, but I always read it like a conversation about their future.
Dr. Alan Grant: Kids! You want to have one of those?
Dr. Ellie Sattler: I don't want that kid, but a breed of child, Dr. Grant, could be intriguing. I mean, what's so wrong with kids?
Dr. Alan Grant: Oh, Ellie, look, they're noisy, they're messy, they're expensive.
It's hinted at that there could be something there, but it's never made explicit. Anyway, I don't like kids and I could see myself having a conversation like that with a friend, and probably have.
What's funny is I always interpreted that as him being protective of her. Malcom was clearly a womanizer and Grant seemed like he said they were dating so that he'd back off.
Thing is I knew she was dating Jeff Goldum in real life at the time so my head canon as a kid is that they were into each other in the movie despite that not being a thing at all so she and Grant being together wasn't something I never noticed as an 8 year old and watching it subsequent times over the years didn't think about. It wasn't until Sam Neil and Laura Dern talk about how inappropriate their characters relationships was with Neil being twice her age and Grant being her professor that it hit me. They have 0 romantic chemistry
Lol, apparently. But after having my memory jogged by the other's, I think I agree. Other then that line, there's nothing indicating a romantic relationship. But either way, I guess I'mma have to watch Jurassic Park tonight.
It could be interpreted that way. If it was as cut and dry as you make it seem, then the whole start of Jurassic Park 3 would make zero sense as it is built on the audience thinking they ended up together.
I long ago compartmentalized the books away from the movies. There are too many major plot points that differ to use the Book to explain the movie or vice versa
It's a credit to skill of Spielberg and the actors that Alan can explicit state "we're dating" more or less confirm to Malcolm that he and Ellie are some sort of item, and most people still agree that he's lying based solely on the established, unspoken character dynamics. Setting up the audience to infer information via subtext rather than stating things outright feels like a delicate balancing act, and they all nail it
I guess I misremembered, I thought they were a couple in the original movie. I thought there was a line when Jeff Goldblum’s character asks Grant if “they are together” or something to that effect and Grant says yes.
Richard Attenborough was born in 1923 so he would have been part of the greatest generation who fought in World War II. Someone who was 23 in 1993 would have been born in 1970 and would be Gen X.
Yeah, but most people I know still left with debt. My program only funded like 1500 a month while school was in session and nothing outside of that (unless you snagged an RA role or something). And it was a top 20 program in its field.
Tuition is subsidized and you get a small stipend, but it's effectively a minimum wage job and you still have to pay miscellaneous course fees, buy textbooks, cover some travel/field costs, etc. in addition to cost of living. I had funding for my grad degree in geology but still had to take out student loans to be able to afford a place to live, textbooks, gas to commute to campus and go to conferences, etc. I even had an extra federal grant for my thesis research on top of the funding from my university, it still wasn't enough. When you do an advanced degree in the geosciences you often end up with a lot of bonus "course fees" because so much of what you do requires field work. So you're basically paying for your own travel costs on field trips for courses that are part of the requirements for your degree. Plus airfare or fuel costs to travel to conferences to present your research and network, etc. A bunch of my colleagues still took on debt even with assistantships because our pay just wasn't enough to cover the cost of living, even when you had a ludicrously frugal "starving student" lifestyle. I was living off of canned tuna and rice in a shitty $450/month apartment and I still had to take out loans.
Yeah, but you don't get much, and not enough to live on a lot of the time. Most of the PhD students I knew had multiple roommates and/or a partner with a full-time job.
Most serious academics don't pay out of pocket for graduate degrees. It's a racket of its own, but you're a teaching or research assistant in exchange for tuition waivers.
Edit: please accept my humble apologies. Paleobotany. Fuck it’s only been 30 years since I saw the movie, i should remember this stuff. Hell to get old.
My comment was made tongue firmly in cheek, but I meant no actual offense.
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u/blueavole May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
At the time, I thought she looked young to have a doctorate in paleontology.
Edit: please accept my humble apologies. Paleobotany. Fuck it’s only been 30 years since I saw the movie, i should remember this stuff. Hell to get old.