Sea Monsters 3D Imax

When I read a captivating novel, I get lost in the words and become so engaged in the story that I sometimes do not here my name being spoken. Film and movies take written media one step further by allowing us to fully enter into the moment on screen by adding sounds and images. And, 3D images take film and movies to the next step of experience and make us feel as if we are actually in the moment on screen. Perhaps 3D films take away the use of our imagination. I believe, however, that 3D images allow us to better use our sympathetic imagination as we temporarily unite with the characters on screen. Viewing the 3D Imax about sea monsters was the ultimate experience of bringing the “ghosts of our past” to life. I felt like I could reach out and grab the sea creatures as they swam out of the screen. Just as imagined story characters can be our role models, I found that extinct animals can possess leadership qualities.
((A dolichrynchops--Birth of Dolly))
As we were transported back to the Late Cretaceous period, we followed the life and adventures of a dolichrhynchops, “Dolly.” I enjoyed how the Imax jumped between more modern times of the discovery of her fossilized bones and the prehistoric watery world of the time. Her bones were discovered in Kansas which I learned was once submerged beneath water. After finding the fossils, the imax recreates the possible life of Dolly:

((Prehistoric shark that attacked Dolly))
The moment that, literally, stuck with Dolly for eternity was a narrow escape from a vicious shark. The shark bit her fin, leaving his tooth embedded in it. While Dolly avoided death, she still bore the scar of the attack as her flesh grew around the embedded tooth. I admired Dolly’s will to survive and ability to escape the attack. The tooth embedded in her fin is a metaphor for working through setbacks and challenges. It also seems symbolic of “scars” we receive when we are emotionally injured. For example, I recently browsed through the book, PostSecret, in which people anonymously mail their secrets on one side of a homemade postcard to the compiler of the book. So many of the secrets on the postcards involved emotional damage cause by molestation or simply the guilt felt for withholding the truth. I could tell that people carry guilt and secrets their entire lives even as they put on a cheerful exterior. Their flesh covers their wounds just as Dolly’s skin grew over the tooth.
((The Cover of PostSecret))
Exploring the depths of the oceans, the Imax also brought us face-to-face with other frightening sea creatures. Nevertheless, Dolly learned to survive in the dangerous waters. She made a life for herself by finding food and kept swimming and swimming. Dolly therefore displays courage and perseverance: both qualities of a leader. Despite the ages between us and the sea monsters, it is amazing the similarities we can find in them. The exotic sea monsters survived in a harsh environment, and the Imax brought that environment to life and allowed those monsters to set an example of control and leadership.