August 04, 2005
Well, it Worked for Top Gun

Pat gets a very brainy no-prize for bringing us news of that most unlikely of government entities... a cheap Pentagon project:

At a cost of roughly $25,000 in Pentagon research grants, the American Film Institute is cramming this eclectic group of midcareer researchers, engineers, chemists and physicists full of pointers on how to find their way in a world that can be a lot lonelier than the loneliest laboratory: the wilderness of story arcs, plot points, pitching and the special circle of hell better known as development.
...
Exactly how the national defense could be bolstered by setting a few more people loose in Los Angeles with screenplays to peddle may be a bit of a brainteaser. But officials at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research spell out a straightforward syllogism:

Fewer and fewer students are pursuing science and engineering. While immigrants are taking up the slack in many areas, defense laboratories and industries generally require American citizenship or permanent residency. So a crisis is looming, unless careers in science and engineering suddenly become hugely popular, said Robert J. Barker, an Air Force program manager who approved the grant. And what better way to get a lot of young people interested in science than by producing movies and television shows that depict scientists in flattering ways?

Of course, science fiction writers have been working with Hollywood for nearly as long as both have existed, with what could only charitably be called "spotty" success (at least as far as accuracy is concerned). But who knows? Certainly they couldn't come up with anything worse than Battlefield Earth.

Could they?

Posted by scott at August 04, 2005 03:27 PM

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I think the real problem is that actual science and engineering is nowhere near as glamourous as Hollywood sci-fi directors make it look. This disappointment leads students to stray into the world of snake oil and pseudo-science, a world from which they very rarely emerge again, and even if they do, they can never be fully trusted not to fudge their data to support whatever conclusion they want.

Posted by: Tatterdemalian on August 4, 2005 03:51 PM

Battle Beyond the Stars.

Attack of the Killer Leeches.

Titanic.

Yep - they can do worse...

Posted by: ronaprhys on August 4, 2005 08:18 PM

Can do better, too. Four words:
"Beam me up, Scotty." That character did wonders for the field of engineering.

Posted by: Kathy K on August 4, 2005 08:50 PM
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