• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Britain: Police State?

I remember Kate Winslett playing a scientist in some movie and she spent amounts of time in an interview saying how she had to frumpify herself for the role. Why? Aren’t scientists allowed to be hot?

They usually wear specs which they whip off at a crucial moment, also letting their hair down at the same time. Then the male hero suddenly fancies them.
 
I remember Kate Winslett playing a scientist in some movie and she spent amounts of time in an interview saying how she had to frumpify herself for the role. Why? Aren’t scientists allowed to be hot?

Only if they're men. Then they're ruggedly handsome and don't get listened to until the disaster they've been warning against has happened.

If they're women scientists they have to be in one of six categories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrayal_of_women_scientists_in_film#Ways_of_Analyzing_Women_in_Film
 
Dear me, Mr Holmes. Surely we are not expecting the absurd media to in any way reflect the likelihood - or otherwise - of scientists / engineers conforming to some absurd geek stereotype?

On the Cummings point. I was a Civil Servant. I left because of the utter contempt within said service for anyone who actually understood the job they were responsible for. They have this creed that anyone should be able to manage anything - this might have been reasonable in say 900AD - it is absurd now.
 
Dear me, Mr Holmes. Surely we are not expecting the absurd media to in any way reflect the likelihood - or otherwise - of scientists / engineers conforming to some absurd geek stereotype?

On the Cummings point. I was a Civil Servant. I left because of the utter contempt within said service for anyone who actually understood the job they were responsible for. They have this creed that anyone should be able to manage anything - this might have been reasonable in say 900AD - it is absurd now.

The Irish Civil Service wasn't all bad, I worked in Social Welfare, was a full time trade union official for a few years, then back in Social Welfare
working on more complex cases. Then IT, to become a Systems Analyst I went through a 2 stage exam and a structured interview. To get into middle management, again a 2 tier exam and a structured interview. I eventually became a Bernard rather than a Sir Humphrey (stereotypes again). i completed many training courses including a diploma in systems analysis and systems design through the BCS: https://www.bcs.org/
 
Morality is, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. We can't go into the details here. no way of avoiding the politics. But let's just say I hate unions with a passion you can only dream of. They are the most elitist organisations you can think of.
That has not been my experience of trade unions. Quite the reverse. I have found them humane and caring, and helping ordinary people avoid excessive exploitation and endangerment at the hands of dictatorial employers who were quite happy to let them die on the job. I regard trade unions as a net social good if they haven't been infiltrated by organized crime... but then how many businesses have been infiltrated by organized crime... and police forces... and governments... ? To describe trade unions as elitist is interesting, as it is not the usual characterisation of them. What happened?
 
Quote from The Spectator.

..but to encourage the rest to practise ‘crimestop’: ‘the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought…

Sounds oddly familiar.
 
I remember Kate Winslett playing a scientist in some movie and she spent amounts of time in an interview saying how she had to frumpify herself for the role. Why? Aren’t scientists allowed to be hot?
To be fair, science doesn't generally attract immensely good looking men or women. Those types tend to skate on their looks for quite a while until age catches up with them.
 
To be fair, science doesn't generally attract immensely good looking men or women. Those types tend to skate on their looks for quite a while until age catches up with them.

I'm going to speculate that you don't regard yourself as good looking.
 
That has not been my experience of trade unions. Quite the reverse. I have found them humane and caring, and helping ordinary people avoid excessive exploitation and endangerment at the hands of dictatorial employers who were quite happy to let them die on the job. I regard trade unions as a net social good if they haven't been infiltrated by organized crime... but then how many businesses have been infiltrated by organized crime... and police forces... and governments... ? To describe trade unions as elitist is interesting, as it is not the usual characterisation of them. What happened?

I'm afraid my experience of unions is similar to INT21's. Dominated by cliques and dedicated to the comfort of the senior union officials. I would prefer it otherwise.
 
I'm going to speculate that you don't regard yourself as good looking.
I may be an academic, but I'm a linguist more than an actual scientist. Consequently I am a complete goddamned Adonis:
Adonis.jpg
 
To be fair, science doesn't generally attract immensely good looking men or women. Those types tend to skate on their looks for quite a while until age catches up with them.
That is rather a strange thing to say. Have you done a scientific study on this? I have known (and know) a lot of very good-looking scientists.
 
I was just yesterday talking to a gorgeous chemist. I just wanted to brag, she's my ex-girlfriend.
It's about believability though. If you want to sell someone as being a scientist in a movie, having them be fit or good-looking doesn't help. I don't see Dwayne Johnson being cast as a scientist either. I'm not counting Jumanji.
 
Back
Top