Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Monstrosity fascinates us because it appeals to the conservative Republi-
can in a three-piece suit who resides within all of us. We love and need
the concept of monstrosity because it is a reaffirmation of the order we
all crave as human beings […] it is not the physical or mental aberration
in itself which horrifies us, but rather the lack of order which these aber-
rations seem to imply. […] After all, when we discuss monstrosity, we
are expressing our faith and belief in the norm and watching for the mu-
tant. The writer of horror fiction is neither more nor less than an agent of
the
status quo
. [King 1983, p. 30]
While this comment applies to any example of horror from the super-
natural to the psychological, from drug-induced states to the rampage of
a serial killer, in the case of the evil alchemist and particularly of his
fictional scientist descendant there are additional intensifiers. First, an
audience is prepared to suspend disbelief about the 'chamber of horrors'
that science might unleash in the foreseeable future; from extra-terrestrial
events through
Silkwood
(1983) and
Jurassic Park
(1993) to
Erin
Brockovich
(2000
)
it seems that scientists can be plausibly implicated in
almost any disaster. Turney (1998) has explored this latent suspicion of
science, particularly in the biological sciences. Second, there is the
attraction of seeing the powerful one dragged down (and in fiction and
film he almost invariably is: the threat is averted, natural order is restor-
ed). Third, there is the lingering suggestion that such fictional events
could recur in the real world, causing similar havoc and disaster.
(viii) Scientists themselves have continued to provide writers and
film-makers with ongoing instances of the alchemist stereotype in the
following ways.
(a) Mystery and obfuscation. The symbols, formulae, and theories of
chemistry and physics are as opaque to non-initiates as those of alchemy
were in their time.
(b) Ruthless determination to achieve their goal. A 2001 BBC pro-
gram
Celluloid Scientists
opened with the words: “the scientists were so
preoccupied with whether they
could
that they didn't stop to think if they
should
”. Enrico Fermi is quoted as having said in relation to his work on
the bomb, “Don't bother me with your conscientious scruples. After all,
the thing is beautiful physics.” (Buck, 1959, p. 206) and there have been
copious literary examples of this attitude derived from twentieth-century
