So, I was being a vegetable tonight and watching a bunch of bad television. I started watching a little bit of some crime show (CSI, SVU, AFV, WTF...one of those), and then they cut to the lab scene. Now, I have been working in labs for the past seven years or so, and they were all properly lit. All of the labs on these shows are dark with most of the lighting being provided by high tech monitors and other fancy gizmos. Not only are most of their methods are bull shit, but they can't even create a realistic setting. This is true in all popular media depictions of science.
Jurassic Park...don't even get me started.
Dante's Peak. You can't drive over lava, you can't outrun a pyroclastic blast. The most realistic part of that movie is when the grandma dies from the acidic lake
The Core. I don't think they actually talked to a geologist, looked in a geology book, or even glanced at a rock before writing this movie.
Crocodile Dundee. There is no way an American would be dumb enough to fall in love with an Australian (hehe just kidding. I needed to give you something to comment about)
Monster on Campus. This is a really old horror movie and has heaps of bad science, but it does have my favorite movie quote of all time. To give this quote a little more meaning, I am a paleontologist.
Dr. Blake: "Mary, do you know what paleontology is?"
Nurse Mary: "I know that very attractive men study it."
That was the only thing they got right in the movie.
I could list a hundred more movies that have some sort of bogus science in them. Some movies have fake science and they make it obvious that it is fake or purely for comedic effect (Weird Science, Evolution, etc). It is the other breed of movie that I condemn. Movies come out like The Day After Tomorrow and I get all sorts of questions from friend and family about things they said. 99% is bullshit. No you can't extract dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes in amber, no there are not giant diamonds floating in the earth's mantle. Just say no to the science movie unless you are looking for a good laugh.
Jurassic Park...don't even get me started.
Dante's Peak. You can't drive over lava, you can't outrun a pyroclastic blast. The most realistic part of that movie is when the grandma dies from the acidic lake
The Core. I don't think they actually talked to a geologist, looked in a geology book, or even glanced at a rock before writing this movie.
Crocodile Dundee. There is no way an American would be dumb enough to fall in love with an Australian (hehe just kidding. I needed to give you something to comment about)
Monster on Campus. This is a really old horror movie and has heaps of bad science, but it does have my favorite movie quote of all time. To give this quote a little more meaning, I am a paleontologist.
Dr. Blake: "Mary, do you know what paleontology is?"
Nurse Mary: "I know that very attractive men study it."
That was the only thing they got right in the movie.
I could list a hundred more movies that have some sort of bogus science in them. Some movies have fake science and they make it obvious that it is fake or purely for comedic effect (Weird Science, Evolution, etc). It is the other breed of movie that I condemn. Movies come out like The Day After Tomorrow and I get all sorts of questions from friend and family about things they said. 99% is bullshit. No you can't extract dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes in amber, no there are not giant diamonds floating in the earth's mantle. Just say no to the science movie unless you are looking for a good laugh.
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
kye:
Was cool to see you again. Hope you enjoyed the game!
pocket_rocket:
Thank you for coming
I know you weren't going to to start with, so it means all the more!
