Scrambled eggheads: ambivalent representations of scientists in six Hollywood film comedies from 1961 to 1965

The American public's longstanding preference for intelligence over intellect informed ambivalent portrayals of American scientists in the postwar era. This essay considers how six popular Hollywood films from a largely neglected genre—comedy—projected ambivalent images of scientists from 1961 to 1965. It argues that scientists were often respected for their intelligence, but were mocked or even feared for their intellect. In the comedic subgenres of the family film and slapstick, scientists who were safely contained at institutions of higher education committed merely social transgressions and became objects of mockery. In the political satire of Dr. Strangelove, however, the direct threat of nuclear annihilation cast the scientist as an object of fear and a real threat to the security of the nation. This discussion of popular comedies thus accounts for an under-studied cultural barometer and powerful medium in the popularization of science.