How Scientists Are Portrayed in Media Essay

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Since the Victorian era, science and scientists have been portrayed in dichotomous ways. Scientists are above all powerful, able to manipulate the natural world. Through their manipulations and machinations, scientists ironically disrupt the natural order of things, leading to ungodly inventions, abominations, or actual threats to human survival itself. The most notable examples of nefarious scientists in nineteenth century literature include Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll. As the genre of science fiction evolved from these gothic tales, the scientist became even more of a potent symbol, albeit one far more morally ambiguous. By the end of the twentieth century, scientists had taken on a whole new identity: one perched precariously between the role of the nerdy but ironically cute intellectual and that of the genuinely “mad” scientist. The infotainment industry then provided the world with a new generation of scientist celebrities, the likes of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Stephen Kawking, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Each of these infotainment figures offer alternatives to the comic book-like caricatures that predominated in the past. Although American audiences—religious ones in particular--struggle with the role scientists play in their own lives, the media has gradually shifted toward a more positive portrayal of scientific endeavors.

Three of the most common characteristics of scientists in the popular media include intelligent, powerful, and male. Gender may be one of the most universally depicted characteristics of scientists in almost every field. The media lacks examples of female scientists, either in fiction or nonfiction. Female scientist celebrities are cast in feminized roles, such as Jane Goodall’s work as a caring, nurturing primate sociologist.

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In fact, one of the ways to reduce the gender gap in STEM might be to offer the world more examples of female scientists. Exceptions to the rule are mainly fictionalized and in science fiction, such as Sigourney Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley in the Alien series and Jodie Foster’s role as Ellie Arroway in Contact. In both of these cases, the female scientist is in an unrealistic role rather than one that could be fulfilled by a real-life human being. The recent film Hidden Figures is one of the few examples of the media shattering the racialized and gendered science professions, through a biopic of female mathematician-scientists working for NASA.

Although portrayals of scientists in fiction and infotainment are gendered, they are also intelligent and powerful figures. The intelligence of scientists is such that some audiences are expressly “deferent to scientific authority,” (Binder, Hillback & Brossard, 2015, p. 831). Binder, Hillback & Brossard (2015) also show that deference to scientific authority causes cognitive dissonance when two scientists in the same field disagree about the results of a study or on underlying theory. Scientists are endowed with the same godlike powers they once had in the Victorian era, albeit with a modern, real-life twist. For example, Cole (2013) discusses the ways television courtroom and police dramas depict forensic science. Shows like CSI….....

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