How bad is it in the US? 4

[corus]

In today's Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1542985,00.html

it is reported that engineers and scientists are being sent to movie school in order that their ilk can be portrayed in a more flattering manner to offset the dramatic decline in the number of students entering the profession in the US.

Will we see remakes of famous movies such as 'Bridge designed over the river Kwai' and 'Titanic' - a story of romance, love, and brittle fracture under impact loading?

corus

 

[andyenergy]

Fantastic! Only in the US!

I love the idea of those films, or rather a cinema fill of the people,who might like to go and see them!! Imagine the general hubub as they whisper to each other subtle changes that they might implemented or worse still, the quality and grammar used in the title credits!

 

[vooter]

Consider the source...

The supposed "...dramatic decline in the number of students entering [engineering] in the US" is due soley to the fact that real estate, finance and "management" pay a heck of a lot better from the start than does engineering. Also, it's less work in school for a bigger payoff.

People become successful engineers because it's what they want to do and what thye've wanted to do all their lives.

The best portrayal of a Civil Engineer on film I've seen was in September Affair - everyone should see it.

 

[casseopeia]

'Bascule Bridge Designed over the River Kwai', now there's a real reason to see the remake!

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[SomptingGuy]

When I watched the Hollywood Apollo 13 film the bits that pissed me off were the cuts to the "scientists" trying to find solutions. They were all dorks (sweaty fat blokes with slide-rules). As it happened, (where I live) a documentary about the event was aired on a different channel just after said film. That documentary was ace. It portrayed the engineers much more like the ones I work with and know. Clever people solving hard problems under pressure.

Maybe Hollywood has us all pigeon-holed already: "Give me 5 engineers, including one super-fat one - make them all extra nerdy!".

 

[BillPSU]

SomptingGuy
You need to watch Mythbusters especially the ones on the Hollywood myths. The tank blowing up in Jaws in the sharks mouth. People being shot and being thrown back by the impact of the bullet. These are Hollywood's depiction of what "they" think the public will believe. There aretons of examples of the deceptions.

However they portray and engineer in a movie is what the filmmaker wants to give to the public.

People remember the bad events; airplane crashes, bridges falling, ships sinking and the like. People don't care the elevator doesn't fail, the car starts and runs every time, the sewage magically goes into the sewer never to be seen again, video games are great, the air conditioner keeps us cool, and of course what would life be like without electricity. Engineers did all the good things and the bad things yet the public only remembers the spectacular failures.

 

[2dye4]

I have noticed for some time in the US many news stories
where ENGINEERS are prominent in the text.

When this started it struck me as odd because it seemed out
of place given that prior to the time you never heard a
mention of an enginner, even in the 90's tech boom.
Now glowing tv,magazine,newspaper articles can be found
glorifying the profession. Even recently with the Shuttle
trouble, the ones working on the problem were Engineers.
It use to allways be Scientist that did this work.

Where does it come from and why??

 

[CajunCenturion]

In a number of ways, I think this thread ties back to the thead: The public's view of our profession in the US. Is the perception because of how engineers are portrayed by Hollywood, or are they portrayed in that light because that's what the customer expects to see. It's not so much a matter of what the filmmaker wants to give to the public, it's what the public will pay to see.

What is the most efficient way to alter the public's perception of the profession?

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[BitTwiddler]

Engineers are practically invisible on American TV.

I can't think of a single human character on any current or recent fictional TV shows set in modern America who is an engineer. As far as TV writers are concerned, engineers don't exist. It's a bit ironic that the workers who invented TV are never shown on it.

I do not count science fiction shows such as "Stargate" or "Star Trek" because they occur mainly on alien planets or in the future. I also don't count documentary-style shows such as "Mythbusters" (Discovery channel) or "Modern Marvels" (History channel).

The only two characters I can think of who might qualify are cartoons: Dilbert (an actual engineer who is a stereotypical nerd) and Homer Simpson (a nuclear "engineer" who isn't qualified or competent).

Small wonder that our kids have negative impressions about engineering and science. Whenever they watch cartoons they learn that only dorks want to study science and engineering.

Can anyone else name a few more characters? Perhaps I'm just not watching enough TV

 

[CajunCenturion]

Closest I can think of are the mathematician and physicist that play on Numbers.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[JAE]

Ya, but that math guy on Number3 is a real phony in my book...the guy is simply designed to be a schoolgirl gushing teen heart-throb - the kind of guy who is a hero and doesn't know it...real cute and totally cool and very very sensitive. There's always a female graduate student standing next to him in which the viewing audience of gals can identify with.

Anyone like this guy would not be a math wizard - they'd be a folk singer or artist....right brain vs. left brain if you get my drift.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I'll take your word for it, as I don't watch the show.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[HgTX]

Homer ain't no engineer, he's a safety tech.

Hg

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[whyun]

I don't think MacGyver was a licensed engineer but I consider him a very good engineer.

 

[MadMango]

Homer was a lot of things.

[green]"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."[/green]
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[HgTX]

But not an engineer.

Hg

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[ScottyUK]

Do any of you US members watch 'American Chopper'? It's become something of a cult with British kids and I guess I watch it from time to time. Is what these guys do engineering, or art? Some of the lads at work think that the bikes are amazing pieces of engineering, but I personally think it is art with one or two bits of bought-in engineering thrown on. I'm not quite sure whether a Harley engine counts as engineering either, or if it's some form of agricultural technology...




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One day my ship will come in.
But with my luck, I'll be at the airport!

 

[HgTX]

Say, did you see the one where they made the drag bike? They were talking about cutting away some of the frame to make room for the gas tank, which sounded like some terrible engineering to me, but then I had to leave the motel room. What came of that?

Hg

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[ScottyUK]

Can't remember the specific episode but they all kinda blur into one: the lippy kid argues with his gorilla dad; the dopey kid forgets something important and gets shouted at; the painter saves the day and is revered like some latter-day minor deity. In the mean time they 'design' a bike without use of a calculator or computer, or even an pencil and paper. They chop out lots of important structural elements from the frame to mount an antiquated design of engine while making the contraption look pretty/menacing/ugly/silly. Every time. Yawn...

I don't think the Japanese or Italian motorcycle industries will be losing sleep at nights!!



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One day my ship will come in.
But with my luck, I'll be at the airport!

 

[monkeydog]

OK now I will date myself,
Fred McMurry in "My 3 Sons" he was an aeronautical engineer.