How Science Is Represented in American Pop Culture

Introduction

Americans view science—particularly genetic engineering—as a potentially dangerous tool that should never fall into the wrong hands. That is the message delivered in an article by Arthur Caplan in The Chicago Tribune. The article argues that one should not fear the rise of "super babies" (children genetically engineered for superior traits); rather, one should fear who gets to control the technology. In other words, science is something that only the "good guys" should have—not something the bad guys should possess. It is a familiar trope, one that harkens back to the films of Indiana Jones. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana had to stop an army of Nazis from getting their hands on the powerful Ark of the Covenant. The Ark itself was not evil—but if the Germans possessed it, they would use it for evil. The American hero, therefore, had to protect it from them.

The same message is essentially conveyed in Caplan's article when he writes: "Let your great-great-grandkids fret about whether they want to try to make a perfect baby. Today we need to worry about who will own genetic engineering technology, how we can oversee what is being done with it and how safe it needs to be before it is used to try to prevent or fix a disease. That is plenty to worry about." The gist of the article is that the morality of genetic engineering is something future generations can worry about. What we need to focus on today is simply making sure that we control the technology.

It is a rather simplistic presentation of science, and it carries an Indiana Jones vs. the bad guys ring to it. It does not seriously consider the moral implications of genetic engineering; instead, it assumes that this science exists and that, since it exists, it had better be controlled by the good guys. The implicit message is that Americans are the good guys and that they should be the ones controlling the science.

Who Controls the Science Controls the World

Yet there is an alternative view of science in American culture—one that is not entirely one-sided. Few things are in this country and this culture. With science as with everything else, there is a kind of bipolar pop-culture representation of the topic. Thus, if one side is interested in framing science in good-versus-evil terms with respect to who controls it, the other side wants to slow down and ask whether something like genetic engineering is even morally justifiable in the first place. That is what Joy Victory does in her article "9 Tips to Combat Stem Cell Hype in Your News Stories" for HealthNewsReview.org. The site's stated mission is to "improve your critical thinking about health care"—clearly the opposite message from that given by The Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune can be considered a mainstream news source, while HealthNewsReview functions more as an alternative outlet. The Tribune is probably more reflective of general pop culture, but the alternative site actively encourages reporters to ask questions and challenge assumptions, especially when it comes to stem cell research. The assumption in mainstream coverage is that stem cell science is straightforwardly good, but Victory argues that the science is not as advanced as some people make it appear.

These two opposing viewpoints show that science is a polarizing issue in American popular culture. On the one hand, it inspires a rallying, everybody-defend-science mentality; on the other, it urges the public to slow down, consider the real issues, and acknowledge that science is an ongoing process—not a finished product. Whether the debate concerns genetic engineering or stem cell research, there are limitations to what the public forum will actually engage with. The public seems to want talking points more than nuance, and that makes the entire issue problematic. Health science is not a simple topic; it is deeply complex, with moral, philosophical, social, political, economic, and even religious dimensions that some want to address and that others prefer to avoid entirely.

A Divided Culture

But that is life in America: perspectives are sharply divided, and that division runs straight through the topic of science in popular culture. Perhaps no single television episode better illustrates this than the South Park episode "Go God Go!" from Season 10. In that episode, the fourth-grader Cartman is cryogenically frozen for 500 years, and upon being thawed in the future he encounters a vastly different world in which "God" has been replaced with "Science." So instead of people saying, "God help us!" they exclaim, "Science help us!" Rather than treating science as a method or a process, people in this future world embrace it with unquestioning, faith-based devotion—as though Science, with a capital "S," possessed godlike properties.

The episode satirizes multiple points of view on science, evolution, atheism, and lazy thinking in general. Its central argument is that science itself is no guarantee of freedom, peace, or health. People will still be people at the end of the day, and that means they will carry their moral problems wherever they go. The idea that science can be "saved" by the good guys—or protected from the bad guys, as depicted in the Tribune article—is therefore somewhat simple-minded. Science is not an ark, and it is not like an Infinity Stone, although pop culture tends to portray it as such. People do tend to deify science as though it were infallible, and at least one half of pop culture seems to think that way. But that, according to the other half, is precisely the wrong way to think. That other half represents science as a slow-moving process that can lead to dead ends, that can go nowhere even after years of effort—and that is the reminder Victory tries to convey.

Conclusion

In the end of the "Go God Go!" episode, Cartman returns to his native time, happy just to have access to the Nintendo Wii—a gaming device considered hopelessly obsolete 500 years in the future. For some people, simple things that may seem primitive to others are more important than anything supposedly progressive. It all depends on perspective. And in America, those perspectives are divided right down the middle.

One half of the culture celebrates science as though it were the Ark of the Covenant, in need of protection from evil-doers—as though it were some black box just waiting to have its secrets unlocked. The other half sits back and more cautiously advises against any sudden moves. Yet, as the essay has shown, one never quite knows what the actual intentions of either half are, or what each truly intends to do with "the" science. What is clear is that the public understanding of science is shaped as much by cultural narratives, political anxieties, and media framing as it is by the science itself—and that tension shows no sign of resolution.

References

Victory, J. (2016). "9 Tips to Combat Stem Cell Hype in Your News Stories." HealthNewsReview.org.

Caplan, A. (2016). "Don't Fear the Rise of Superbabies." Chicago Tribune.

Parker, T. (Creator). (2006). "Go God Go!" South Park, Season 10. Comedy Central.