US military sends scientists to film school

[emad]

US military sends scientists to film school

Jamie Wilson in Washington
Friday August 5, 2005
The Guardian

He will have the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the brain of Stephen Hawking. Step forward the Pentagon's perfect Hollywood hero, possibly coming soon to a screen near you.

According to the New York Times, the US military is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to send scientists on a screenwriting course in Los Angeles, with the aim of producing movies and television shows that portray scientists in a flattering light.

It is being billed as a radical solution to one of America's most vexing long-term national security problems: the drastic decline in the number of US students pursuing science and engineering.
The students at a five-day course at the American Film Institute included experts in rocket science, nanotechnology and genetics.

They agreed that films such as Deep Impact, the 1998 blockbuster starring Robert Duvall and Morgan Freeman, were the sort that should be emulated.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1542985,00.html

[Inland]

1. But what scientists really want to do is direct.

Seriously, Americans reward making films and don't reward science, so their solution is to pay scientists to make films.....

How about having scientists be scientists?

[mark11727]

2. No, scientists really want to RULE THE WORLD!

The MAD ones, anyway.

[genieroze]

5. Maybe if our government would stop undermining scientists and outsourcing

engineering jobs more people would go into the field. *co wants people to into science to learn creative design, global warming is a lie and stem cell research is against God.

[leveymg]

3. Oh great. More disaster movies. n/t

[mike_c]

4. who's crazy fucking idea was this, anyway...?

Sheesh. It's come to this....

[Moderator]

6. duplicate

from Wednesday-

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1675152