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Science in the Movies
In the contemporary Western world, almost everyone watches movies. Scientists are often portrayed in movies, and as a consequence, every Western citizen has some experience of science and scientists as portrayed in the movies. And scientists also watch movies. These are all good reasons to take the representation of science and scientists seriously in cinematography. This is true from at least three points of view: the insights that these representations provide for the understanding of public perception of science, the effects they may have on public perception of science, and the effects they may have on science itself.
Popular movies are an example of so-called implicit science communication, that is, an effective and powerful form of communication about science and its perceived goals, impacts, and values that are embedded in cultural products but do not include science communication among their explicit objectives.
Movies reflect how science permeates—and sometimes is permeated by—popular culture. In this sense, they represent a powerful tool in the hands of both researchers in science and technology studies and practitioners such as journalists or science exhibition developers. These two points of view will be briefly introduced, followed by an overview of some especially relevant trends in the way science and scientists are present in the movies, from the origin of cinema until the present time.
Studying Science in the Movies: The Researcher Point of View
Despite the obvious relevance of cinema to popular culture, only few researchers have produced solid work about the role of cinema in science communication and its influence on public perceptions of science, and although the situation appears to be changing, the “critical mass” necessary to talk about a real subfield of studies has not yet been reached. Moreover, there are several angles from which it is possible to study the role of cinema in science communication, and some are very different from one another and require different competences. David Kirby, a pioneer of this emerging subfield, has identified four main research questions:
- Production: How is science representation constructed in cinematic text? This includes the analysis of the interests of the main players—namely, scientists and filmmakers—who interact to produce a movie.
- Content analysis: How much science and what kind of science appear in popular films? This includes quantitative and qualitative analysis of science in the movies, as well as the categorization of the main characters of the cinematic scientist.
- Cultural meanings: What are the cultural interpretations of science and technology in popular films? This includes more contextual content analysis, as well as frame analysis attempting to view science in movies as an expression of the public relationship to science in different epochs, countries, or cultural environments.
- Media effects: What effect, if any, does the fictional portrayal of science have on science literacy and public attitudes toward science? This includes not only analysis of the impact of movies on public perception of science, but also the potential influence of movies on science itself.
Exploiting Science in the Movies: The Practitioner Point of View
Why is it important for science communicators to be aware of cinematographic culture? How can movies be used by a professional science communicator?
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