Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
data no particular attention was paid to specific disciplines (Weingart
et
al
. 2003). For the present analysis of the depiction of chemistry, the same
film material was used and data for chemistry were extracted where ap-
propriate. However, because of that some overlap with the results already
published is inevitable.
The items that were selected provide an initial picture of the represen-
tation of chemistry in fiction film.
3.2 Popular disciplines
The assumption is that the relative frequency with which certain fields or
disciplines appear in movies reflects most likely the degree of public
concern associated with the knowledge produced by them. Chemistry
ranks third in the sample after 'medical research', on the same level as
psychology. If one assumes that disciplines with an image of being
potentially life threatening and/or being involved in experiments with
human identity receive particular attention in film scripts, chemistry is
clearly in a prominent position. This is especially true considering that
chemistry is often involved in medical research and to some extent even
in psychology. After all, Dr. Jekyll is a chemist who tries to solve a
psychological problem,
i.e.
the separation of the 'good' part of man's
soul from the 'bad' one. The archetypical Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's
novel seems to use “chemical instruments” to bring his creature to life,
and it is only in James Whale's movie (
Frankenstein,
1931) that an elec-
trical process is used.
3.3 Settings of research
One of the most characteristic aspects of alchemy that distinguish it from
modern science is its secrecy. Likewise, the most characteristic feature of
the 'mad scientist' film is the secret basement laboratory, usually orna-
mented with gothic elements of medieval castles. Secrecy is involved
even where these stylistic elements are missing (modern type basement
laboratories can be found, for example, in
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
[1963]
and
The Fly
[1958]). The secret laboratory is also typically the
private
laboratory of an
individual
scientist who works at most with one
