SCIENCE

MOMENT

SPOILERS AHEAD

!!!SCIENCE MOMENT!!!

I love Star Wars. It's one of my all time favorite movies. But the science in Star Wars is truly terrible. George Lucas cannot even be charitably referred to as a “well educated layman” when it comes to astronomy, biology, basic physics, you name it. He's a very good storyteller, however, and for that reason I'm willing to cut him an astronomical amount of slack.

I tell you this so you'll understand that even though I proudly call myself a science geek and that I enjoy the rare movie that pays attention to the science and roll my eyes when they get things wrong, it's still perfectly possible for me to enjoy a well told story. That being said, I do want it clear that getting the science right should not be such a low priority. Science fiction serves as the inspiration for many people who go on to careers (or, like me, geekdom) in science and actually getting the science right really isn't difficult and doesn't make the movie into a science channel documentary.

So that's why, when I review a movie that has any kind of science-fiction storyline (fantasy is exempt), I take advantage of their mistakes to discuss some real science. I know many people don't really care about the science (they're called morons) but Hollywood has never appreciated just how big a percentage of their audience does care. If you agree, disagree or (best of all) manage to spot my mistakes (ha!), please let me know because I love to argue. Feo and I argue about this stuff all the time.*

Reach me at my blog, lunarwindfarm

- Kelly Parks

BEWARE THE SCIENCE FROM THESE TITLES OF THE

1950s - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s - 1990s - 2000s

* FeoNote: We don't argue, we debate.

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