The Problem with Dinosaurs

I really don’t have anything against dinosaurs (aside from the fact that many of them are large, ugly, and fearsome) but I do think that museums tend to focus too much on them. I was recently in Orlando, FL for the Florida Education Technology Conference, or FETC. Along the way, my mom and I visited the Orlando Science Center. Like many other science museums we’d been to, the Orlando Science Center had a large exhibit on dinosaurs. This would be fine if there were more exhibits on other things, but it seemed as though the dinosaurs took up most of the museum’s space.

 

We’ve faced similar exhibits at other museums. Dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs…it might be just me, but I think that museums are trying to cater too heavily to the under-fourteen-year-old boy demographic, since they seem like the crowd who like dinosaurs. While I understand the museum’s need to attract visitors and revenue, can’t you be a little more innovative than mere dinosaur exhibits? Maybe whales or sharks or other large, scary animals? After all, the dinosaur is extinct—maybe the hype about them should be too.

P.S. I hope not to offend any dinosaur lovers. I understand that it’s a magnificent creature and worth investigation; I’m merely expressing my wishes for a more nuanced selection of exhibits in museums.