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Mad scientist

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"Mad genius" redirects here. For the related subject, seeCreativity and mental health.
"Mad science" redirects here. For the company, seeMad Science.

Themad scientist(alsomad doctorormad professor) is astock characterof ascientistwho is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know"[1]or "insane"owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly ambitious,tabooorhubristicnature of their experiments. As amotifin fiction, the mad scientist may bevillainous(evil genius) or antagonistic, benign, or neutral; may beinsane,eccentric,or clumsy; and often works withfictional technologyor fails to recognise or value common human objections to attempting toplay God.Some may have benevolent intentions, even if their actions are dangerous or questionable, which can make them accidentalantagonists.

A commonstereotypeof a mad scientist

History

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Prototypes

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Peter CushingasVictor FrankensteininThe Curse of Frankenstein(1957)

The prototypical fictional mad scientist wasVictor Frankenstein,creator of hiseponymous monster,[2][3][4]who made his first appearance in 1818, in the novelFrankenstein, or the Modern PrometheusbyMary Shelley.Though the novel's title character, Victor Frankenstein, is a sympathetic character, the critical element of conducting experiments that cross "boundaries that ought not to be crossed", heedless of the consequences, is present in Shelley's novel. Frankenstein was trained as both analchemistand a modern scientist, which makes him the bridge between two eras of an evolving archetype. The book is said to be a precursor of a new genre,science fiction,[5][6]although as an example ofgothic horror[7][8][9][10]it is connected with other antecedents as well.

The year 1896 saw the publication ofH. G. Wells'sThe Island of Doctor Moreau,in which the titular doctor—a controversialvivisectionist—has isolated himself entirely from civilisation in order to continue his experiments in surgicallyreshaping animals into humanoid forms,heedless of the suffering he causes.[11]In 1925, the novelistAlexander Belyaevintroduced mad scientists to the Russian people through the novelProfessor Dowell's Head,in which the antagonist performs experimental head transplants on bodies stolen from the morgue, and reanimates the corpses.

Cinema depictions

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Horace B. Carpenteras Dr. Meirschultz, a scientist attempting to bring the dead back to life in the 1934 filmManiac

Fritz Lang's movieMetropolis(1927) brought thearchetypicalmad scientist to the screen in the form ofRotwang,the evil genius whose machines had originally given life to thedystopiancity of the title.[12]Rotwang'slaboratoryinfluenced many subsequent movie sets with itselectrical arcs,bubbling apparatus, and bizarrely complicated arrays of dials and controls. Portrayed by actorRudolf Klein-Rogge,Rotwang himself is the prototypically conflicted mad scientist; though he is master of almost mystical scientific power, he remains a slave to his own desires for power and revenge.[citation needed]Rotwang's appearance was also influential—the character's shock of flyaway hair, wild-eyed demeanor, and his quasi-fascist[citation needed]laboratory garb have all been adopted as shorthand for the mad scientist "look." Even his mechanical right hand has become a mark of twisted scientific power, echoed notably inStanley Kubrick's filmDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomband in the novelThe Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch(1965) byPhilip K. Dick.[citation needed]

A recent survey of 1,000 horror films distributed in the UK between the 1930s and 1980s reveals mad scientists or their creations have been the villains of 30 percent of the films; scientific research has produced 39 percent of the threats; and, by contrast, scientists have been the heroes of a mere 11 percent.[13]Boris Karloffplayed mad scientists in several of his 1930s and 1940s films.

Bela Lugosias Dr. Paul Carruthers, the mad scientist protagonist of thepoverty rowhorror filmThe Devil Bat(1940). Slighted at his workplace, the chemist Carruthers breeds giant bats to attack his wealthy employers.

Movie serials

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The Mad scientist was a staple of the Republic/Universal/Columbiamovie serialsof the 1930s and 40s. Examples include:

Post–World War II depictions

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Mad scientists were most conspicuous inpopular cultureafterWorld War II.The sadistichuman experimentationconducted under the auspices of theNazis,especially those ofJosef Mengele,and the invention of theatomic bomb,gave rise in this period to genuine fears that science and technology had gone out of control. That the scientific and technological build-up during theCold Warbrought about increasing threats of unparalleled destruction of the human species did not lessen the impression. Mad scientists frequently figure inscience fictionandmotion picturesfrom the period.[14]

Animation

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Mad scientists in animation includeProfessor Frink,Professor Farnsworth,Rick Sanchez,Rintaro Okabe,andDr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

Walt Disney PictureshadMickey Mousetrying to save his dogPlutofromThe Mad Doctor(1933).

Depictions of mad scientists in Warner Brothers'Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunescartoons include:

While bothTom and Jerrydabbled in mad science in some of theHanna-Barberacartoons, an actual mad scientist did not appear until[citation needed]Switchin' Kitten(1961).

See also

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References

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  1. ^Frayling, Christopher–Mad, Bad and Dangerous?: The Scientist and the Cinema(Reaktion Books, 2005)ISBN1-86189-255-1
  2. ^"Encyclopædia Britannica - Frankenstein".Retrieved10 November2015.
  3. ^Clemens, Valdine.Return of the Repressed, The: Gothic Horror from The Castle of Otranto to Alien.State University of New York Press. p. 93.ISBN9780791499276.Retrieved10 November2015.
  4. ^Wilson, Daniel H.; Long, Anna C. (2008-08-01).The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame.Kensington Publishing Corp. p. 100.ISBN978-0806528793.Retrieved10 November2015.
  5. ^Abrams, M. H.; Harpham, Geoffrey (2014-01-01).A Glossary of Literary Terms.Cengage Learning. p. 355.ISBN9781285974514.Retrieved10 November2015.
  6. ^Corbett, Robert (2001). "Romanticism and Science Fictions".Romanticism on the Net(21): 0.doi:10.7202/005970ar.
  7. ^Tweg, Sue; Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft; Edwards, Kim (August 2011).Frankenstein.Insight Publications. p. 13.ISBN9781921411397.Retrieved10 November2015.
  8. ^Jelinek, Kenneth P. (1997).Gothic Horror and Scientific Education in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
  9. ^"Frankenstein as a Gothic Novel".Retrieved10 November2015.
  10. ^"Frankenstein as a Gothic Fiction".bachelorandmaster.Retrieved10 November2015.
  11. ^"Novels: The Island of Doctor Moreau".Retrieved10 November2015.
  12. ^Geraghty, Lincoln (2009-10-01).American Science Fiction Film and Television.ISBN9780857850768.Retrieved10 November2015.
  13. ^Christopher Frayling,New Scientist,24 September 2005.
  14. ^G., Fraser (1998-01-01).The Particle Century.CRC Press.ISBN9781420050332.Retrieved24 January2017.

Further reading

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  • Allen, Glen Scott (2009).Master Mechanics and Wicked Wizards: Images of the American Scientist from Colonial Times to the Present.Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.ISBN978-1-55849-703-0.
  • Garboden, Nick (2007).Mad Scientist or Angry Lab Tech: How to Spot Insanity.Portland: Doctored Papers.ISBN1-56363-660-3.
  • Haynes, Roslynn Doris (1994).From Faust to Strangelove: Representations of the Scientist in Western Literature.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN0-8018-4801-6.
  • Junge, Torsten; Doerthe Ohlhoff (2004).Wahnsinnig genial: Der Mad Scientist Reader.Aschaffenburg: Alibri.ISBN3-932710-79-7.
  • Norton, Trevor (2010).Smoking Ears and Screaming Teeth. (A witty celebration of the great eccentrics...).Century.ISBN978-1-84605-569-0.
  • Schlesinger, Judith (2012).The Insanity Hoax: Exposing the Myth of the Mad Genius.Ardsley-on-Hudson, N.Y. Shrinktunes MediaISBN978-0-98369-824-1.
  • James T. Webb, Ph.D. (September 12, 2012)."A Book Review of The Insanity Hoax: Exposing the Myth of the Mad Genius".The National Psychologist.Retrieved28 May2015.
  • Schneider, Reto U. (2008).The Mad Science Book. 100 Amazing Experiments from the History of Science.London: Quercus.ISBN978-1-84724-494-9.
  • Tudor, Andrew (1989).Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie.Oxford: Blackwell.ISBN0-631-15279-2.
  • Weart, Spencer R. (1988).Nuclear Fear: A History of Images.Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  • Levi, Pfaff J. (1956).Wahnsinnig genial: Der Mad Scientist Reader.Aschaffenburg: Alibri.ISBN3-932710-79-7.
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