View source for Dissecting the Genius behind the White Lab Coat: Constructing the Images of Filipino Scientists in Films and Biographies

ABSTRACT

Guided by Barthes’ Visual Semiotics, and Adoni and Mane’s Social Construction
of Reality in the Media theory, a textual analysis of eight Filipino films produced
between 1970 and 2009 and six biographical books of Filipino scientists published from
1975 to 2007, was done to surface how films and biographies portray and describe
scientists. A Draw-a-Scientist Test and a Focus Group Discussion with seven students
were administered to demonstrate how both sets of portrayals construct their image of
scientists.

Films portray scientists as either a/an evil expert, a mad intellectual, a helpless
victim, a hermit prodigy, a foolish professor, a well-rounded genius or a heroic creator.
Scientists in the biographies are described as a/an poor kid, a dreamer, a disciplined
youngster, an achiever, an accidental scientist, an excellent apprentice, a dedicated
worker, a strict educator, a well-rounded researcher, a prolific thinker, an inspiring
mentor, and a nurturing family man/woman. The FGD participants’ image of scientists
include evil and mad, crazy and absent-minded, boring hermits, hardworking and
disciplined, and inspiring heroes.

The study argues that the audiences’ subjective images of scientists come from
the interaction of meanings constructed both from the scientists’ symbolic portrayal in
films and objective descriptions in biographies.

Montemayor, G.J.S. (2013). Dissecting the genius behind the white lab coat:
Constructing the images of Filipino scientists in films and biographies. Unpublished MA
Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman.

[http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/flipbooks/Dissecting3355 View Thesis]

Thesis[[Category:CMC]][[Category:Department of Communication Research]][[Category:2012 Thesis]]