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Comment by yummyfajitas | Hacker News Reader

Is it true that there is a "rise of pop-culture portrayals of scientists as white or Asian male geeks"?

I've seen a little bit of TV this year - every hacker I saw was female, and most were goths. Doing a google search of "top TV 2014" and looking up the ones that are likely to have a hacker as a character, I discover "Arrow" (female hacker), NCIS (female hacker), 24 (female hacker), Criminal Minds (female hacker), Person of Interest (male and female hacker), Agents of Shield (female hacker) and The Strain (female hacker).

Why do we believe that pop culture portrays scientists or computer people this way at all?

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The most egregious recent example I have seen is Dark Matter.

The women are all hyper-capable, responsible and determined. The men are all petty, flawed, impulsive and frequently fighting with each other. It's absurd if you realize what is happening.

Well, try to portray them the other way around and see what reaction you get.

Doesn't have to be either or. Currently Hollywood appears to be terrified of having a female character who screws a lot or has petty motivations.

*screws UP a lot.

NCIS LA: Female hacker -> cool. Male hacker -> bumbling idiot.

That was probably just the writers trying to use an inverted trope:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InvertedTrope

What's inverted about "bumbling idiot male hacker"?

>a trope that typically applies to males is applied to a female character, or the other way around (Gender-Inverted Trope)

If the trope is "basement dwelling male nerd = good hacker" then they're inverting it and making the female a good hacker.

They're both excellent hackers. In addition, she is cool, whereas he is a bumbling idiot responsible for comic relief.

You're missing the point, "cool female hacker" isn't a trope.

The original comment suggests that it quite definitely is a trope.

(Which is fine, of course. But let's not kid ourselves that we're breaking media stereotypes that were gone years ago.)

These days, I guess it's partly because the media keeps telling us that pop culture portrays scientists and hackers this way. Which makes me wonder - is there any study on the effect of articles like this one on women in STEM fields and computing?

> Doing a google search of "top TV 2014"

Hollywood has a history of being a canary in the coal mine when it comes to stereotypes...both good and bad. For example, when homosexuality started becoming more accepted in American culture one of the first signs were prominent gay sitcom characters.

> For example, when homosexuality started becoming more accepted in American culture one of the first signs were prominent gay sitcom characters.

I suspect that was a cause, not an effect, of widening acceptance of homosexuality.

Disagree. In decades past, an acknowledged gay character on a prime-time show would have resulted in advertiser boycotts.

It's both - there's a feedback loop.

Was it different in the past? Thinking back, the main "hackers" have been Keano Reeves, Angeline Jolie, Sandra Bullock and Justin Long.

Now that I think of it, was the reality of hacking being primarily male ever displayed in popular media?

Certainly in the 80s -- War Games, Tron, Weird Science, et al.

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