In this collection, contributors analyze the depiction of scientists in a wide range of films and television programs that span across genres, including horror, science fiction, crime drama, comedy, and children’s media. Scientists in popular culture, they argue, often embody the hopes and fears associated with real-life science, which continue to be prevalent in both fictional and non-fiction media. By becoming the “human face” of scientific insight and innovation, the scientist in popular culture plays a key role in encouraging public engagement with scientific ideas. Scholars of media studies, popular culture, and health communication will find this book particularly useful.
Rebecca Janicker is senior lecturer in film and media studies at the University of Portsmouth.
Chapter One: Frankenstein Goes West: The Mad Scientist from Classic Literature to Modern Sci-Fi Horror
James Francis, Jr.
Chapter Two: “Pay attention, 007”: The Evolution of Q in the Bond Film Franchise
Chapter Three: 2001: A Space Odyssey: The Moonwatcher, the Scientist, and The Art of War
Chapter Four: The Scientist as Sixties Icon: Cinema, Politics and Collective Memory
Chapter Five: “Why is Everything so Heavy in the Future?”: Science and A Nation at Risk in the American Teen Movies of 1985
Jerod Ra’Del Hollyfield
Chapter Six: Through Heroism and Science “Woman Inherits the Earth”: Female Scientists and Dramatic Acts in the Jurassic Park Film Franchise
Rachel L. Carazo
Chapter Seven: A Scientific Method to Muppet Madness: The Enduring Significance of Innovation at Muppet Labs
Chapter Eight: “All of It, Madness”: Cosmic Horror and the Scientists of Chernobyl
Philip L. Simpson
Chapter Nine: A Feeling for the Clone: Feminist Science in Action in Orphan Black
Chapter Ten: Dexter: Forensic Scientists, Orientated Audiences and the Dark Defender of the Social Order
Chapter Eleven: “It’s my time now. The time of science”: Mad Science in American Horror Story
Chapter Twelve: “I suggest you don’t worry about those things and just enjoy yourself”: The Scientist, Time Travel and the Development of Narrative Conventions
Dylan Pank and John Caro
About the Contributors
The Scientist in Popular Culture: Playing God and Working Wonders traces the portrayal of scientist figures in film and TV from the mid-twentieth century to the present. The twelve chapters offer both a very accessible introduction for a general audience and incisive, compelling criticism that engages with vital contemporary issues concerning the dangers and opportunities confronting us in science and technology.