A tiny Jurassic Park detail makes John Hammond's fatal flaw much deeper. First introduced in 1993's Jurassic Park, the seemingly well-intentioned John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) endangers the lives of many through his ambitious project to bring dinosaurs back from extinction using a combination of cloning and gene splicing. Though the disaster that stems from Hammond's decision is well known - it has now served as the basis for five films, with the sixth, Jurassic World Dominion, set to release later this year - the character is still not seen as a villain.
The film characterization of John Hammond makes changes to his Jurassic Park book counterpart, as the original novel saw him act as a rich, greedy, and generally ignorant villain. The Hammond of Spielberg's Jurassic Park is far more affable, not only insisting that he'd "spared no expense" but also treating his guests with kindness, respect, and generosity. This extended to his offering a gourmet meal prepared by his personal chef, Alejandro: Chilean sea bass. However, Hammond's particular choice of meal says much about the sort of man he really is.
The Chilean sea bass technically does not exist - it is in fact a name given to the Patagonian toothfish in order to market it more easily. Though its name might seem inconsequential, the idea of using such a simple lie in order to better sell something adds a slightly more sinister note to the character of Jurassic Park's John Hammond. By literally feeding his guests a lie, Hammond seems to secretly reveal his true nature.
Jurassic Park's meal of Chilean sea bass says one of two things about John Hammond, and neither of them can be considered flattering. The first is that he's simply entirely ignorant, and has no idea that the Chilean sea bass isn't a real fish at all. This is somewhat easier to believe, but it paints John Hammond as a much more gullible figure - particularly where it pertains to nature and the knowledge of certain animal species - subtly foreshadowing the disaster that strikes when Jurassic Park's dinosaurs escape, much to Hammond's surprise.
The other potential meaning is that John Hammond willfully perpetuated the lie of the Chilean sea bass. This paints him as a man willing to utilize lies to sell his ideas, making him seem more like a ruthless and charming con-man than a kindly billionaire. This interpretation puts a more sinister spin on the character, as it hints that he is aware that Jurassic Park may not be entirely safe, but is simply trying to convince everyone present that it is.
Regardless of which of the two possibilities is more likely, the simple fact remains that it paints John Hammond's legacy as something built on lies. Whether those lies were deliberately told by Hammond or simply perpetuated in ignorance is wholly unimportant, as it evidences a man either unaware or unconcerned with the truth. Though feeding his guests Chilean sea bass may seem like an act of generosity, John Hammond was actually secretly revealing his true nature to his guests through his choice of meal in Jurassic Park.
