Who's your favorite actor or actress?  Jack Nicholson, Robert Di Niro, Meg Ryan, Demi Moore, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, all come to mind (at least for me).  Now, think about what kind of roles they play in movies - lawyers, businessmen/women, doctors, parents, children, fictional superheroes, etc.  Collectively, they have portrayed an incredible range of characters in just about every profession and lifestyle, except ... you guessed it, scientist!  Now, I'm not a movie expert, so perhaps I missed something, but the movie names and characters that they would have played don't really jump out at me.  (Sorry, but the bombshell blonde astrophysicist in the James Bond movies is not going to be considered here.)

So, who do we have as role models?  Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future, X3), Robin Williams (Flubber, Patch Adams), Eddie Murphy (Dr. Doolittle, X2).  All great actors, sure, but also known for their talents as comedians.  Not the same image that you have of, say, Nicholson.  And the characters they play are always brilliant, but quirky (Robin Williams talking about women with his robot/friend), less attractive (think Christopher Lloyd ... would you want date, or even be seen in public with Dr. Emmet Brown?), clumsy, and socially inept.  And although Russel Crowe was brilliant in "A Beautiful Mind," the character had serious mental health problems.

I suppose the only saving grace in all of this is that, at least in the movies, they always get the girl!  

Now, I know a little bit about some of the other professions, and I know people in those fields will usually admit that what gets into movies is rarely accurate.  But we scientists seem to be getting the worst of the stereotypes.  Hollywood really has no idea what we do, how we do it, or how it fits in with the rest of the world.  Maybe those realities aren't exciting to everyone else, or maybe they don't understand them, or maybe they don't want to try.

So, given this situation, is it any wonder that enrollment in science programs has been a problem for many years now?  Kids get bombarded with media images and stereotypes, and I'm aftraid that we scientists are not doing very well on the "coolness" scale.  Business schools are booming; science graduate programs are having a hard time filling slots with American students.  (Fortunately, many foreign countries seem to be less affected by this problem.)  Why should they spend all that time studying and working in the lab, when the real fun is elsewhere (quickie quiz, where any of the characters in Animal House Chemistry majors? ... quickie answer, no!).

What can we do about this?  Any ideas on how we can educate the world (or at least the US media) about what how great it is to be a scientist?  Can we get an expert on CNN?  How about an MTV reality show?   

Any ideas?

Anyone?