Walker Reader Article Summary:
Explores the relationship between film, the scientific community and the public’s perception of scientific fact – how fictional technologies shown in movies help audiences imagine and evaluate possible futures and can blur the line between speculation and reality.
Quotes:
“Why do scientists become involved in these fictional endeavors, especially when these depictions are ultimately in the hands of other people? (…) movies can disseminate their science or their technology to the larger world and reach millions of people.”
“(…) [one] reason scientists work on films is to create depictions of future technologies that stimulate desire in audiences for these potential technologies to become realities. (…) they encourage public support by establishing the need for, harmlessness, and viability of these technologies. Diegetic prototypes exist in these fictional worlds as real objects that people actually use and interact with, giving them a social context”
Read Here (Source: Walker Art Center)