Scientific Misconceptions in Movies

Dr. Kat mentioned looking into how movies promote misconceptions.  Showing my age, the first movie that came to mind was Back to the Future!  I know, an oldie but a goodie!  Time travel is not possible but after watching that movie and Michael J Fox, who was a total hunk back then, kids everywhere totally bought into the idea that it was possible.  Ok, maybe those of us who are more realistic didn't really believe it but just enjoyed the movie.

  

There are so many movies that completely blow things out of proportion but there are some that try to recreate actual scientific events such as Apollo 13.  There is a NASA space center in Huntsville, AL that my children's classes have visited.  It was very interesting to see all that the space center had and how it inspired children's imaginations.

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Apollo 13 is still a movie that again for the sake of bringing in money to the film, Hollywood has to dramatize everything.  There really are so many films that Hollywood has made that promote many misconceptions in the scientific world.  There is a movie (a heart breaker no pun intended) about the first pediatric heart surgery called Something the Lord made.  Other movies with misconceptions are some of the horror films that show animals that are 1000 times their normal size attacking.  I really can't name any because I am more of a Pollyanna kind of girl.  Give me a suspense but ends in a feel good way.

 

Hollywood must do everything it can to make a movie something people will pay to go see.  In doing so they will over dramatize and promote all types of scientific misconceptions all for the sake of a dollar.  There are tons of movies that can be examples.  I have just listed a few!