'Actually, I am a rocket scientist': the depiction of scientists and engineers in space travel films

摘要

Inspired by the ancient desire to reach for the stars, the 'space travel' film i s one of the oldest cinema genres, finding its origins in the earliest days of film -making. From 1902 , when George Melie s produced his Voyage dans la Lune, until the 1970s, when the excitement and achievements of real -life space exploration rendered fictio nal accounts super fluous, space travel films presented the excitement and adventure of Humanity's dream of the 'conquest of space'. By the very fact that it takes place in an environment beyond the Earth, space travel relies on sophisticated technology and equip ment that must be developed through scientific and technical research. Conse quently, although astronauts are the 'stars' of space exploration (in both the real world and the entertainment media), few films about the conquest of space do not include at least one character that could be, however loosely, termed a 'scientist' or 'engineer'. This paper will examine the depiction of scientists and engineers in space travel films -defined as those where the story in some way incorporates the beginnings of spaceflight and exploration (the so -called -'conquest of space') as distinct from science fiction stories set in a future where spaceflight has become routine. It will briefly examine early films that have a 'space travel/exploration' component, although the focus of the discussion will be on the period 1945 -75, the period in which the majority of space travel films were produced. It will look at the stereotypes that evolved to represent certain scientific 'types', both male and female, and consider how t hey may have represented popular contemporary attitudes to science and technology. The impact of such stereotypes, when viewed as role models for contemporary youth, will also be discussed.