We've been examining stereotypes of female scientists appearing in movies.
In the previous video, I described the Naive Expert, who is brilliant professionally, but
naive and emotional in her interactions with people, which requires being saved by a male
character.
The antithesis of the Naive Expert is the Evil Plotter, which is the final stereotype
we'll examine.
An example of the evil plotter is the character Dr. Pamela Isley, aka "Poison Ivy", played
by Uma Thurman in the 1997 version of Batman and Robin.
Dr. Isley, prior to her transformation into Poison Ivy, was a student of advanced botanical
biochemistry.
Shy and devoted to her work developing ways to help plants defend themselves, Isley discovers
that her scientist boss is using her research findings for evil military purposes.
When she refuses to join in his scheme, he throws her into a vat of plant chemicals,
where she is transformed into a toxic creature whose kisses can kill.
Her criminal activity is conducted using various plants and their toxic derivatives.
She has developed the ability to control all plants and make them do her bidding.
Her immunity to plant poisons enhances her capacity to interact with the more toxic taxa.
She is on the side of plants, willing to commit murder to defend them from human depredations.
She embarks on a crusade to help plants take over the world.
Now that's a botanist.
Sort of makes growing potatoes on Mars look like a high school science project.
OK, I know.
She's evil and has questionable goals.
In addition, the Evil Plotter exhibits a schizophrenic nature with respect to the men in her life.
On the one hand, she seems to love men, but then seems willing to kill them when it suits
her goal.
Another example of the evil plotter is Dr. Elsa Kast, a genetic engineer played by Sarah
Polley in the movie Splice.
Kast, along with her scientist partner, combine human and animal DNA to create a new, dangerous
creature, ignoring legal and ethical considerations and their pharmaceutical employer's demands
to focus on something else.
In contrast to the Assistant stereotype, Elsa Kast is an equal partner to her scientist
boyfriend, Clive.
Actually, Dr. Kast is the one who calls the shots; when her partner periodically expresses
doubt about a decision or a desire to stop their bizarre work, Elsa talks him out of
it.
As the hybrid organism grows and matures, Kast and her partner move the creature to
an abandoned farm where they can continue their observations without interference by
others.
The two scientists continue to make poor decisions that not surprisingly lead to mayhem, disaster,
and death.
In summary, the Evil Plotter stereotype paints a dark picture of what can happen to a woman
in the grips of a scientific obsession.
She has the superficial characteristics of a scientist, brilliant and driven, but her
motives are suspect.
She has a serious character flaw, which leads to morally questionable behavior.
Instead of pursuing scientific insights that will benefit society, the Evil Plotter uses
science to fulfill her own personal desires.
Although the mad scientist is usually male, the Evil Plotter shows that the condition
can also afflict fictional female scientists.
This stereotype may reflect society's fear that scientists and the technologies they
create are not to be trusted.
Well, this is the last stereotype in this series.
In the next and final video, I will try to pull things together and make a few concluding
remarks about stereotypes of female scientists in the cinema.
For more information on the research behind female stereotypes at the movies, please see
the references I've included at the end of this video.