Jules Verne Forum

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Re: MYSTERIOUS ISLAND TV SERIES (fwd)

From: Leigh T Hanlon <lthanlon~at~enteract.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 09:32:33 -0600
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il>

Garmt de Vries writes << I wonder why so many movies have Nemo using nuclear
power for his Nautilus. What's wrong with good old-fashioned electricity? >>

I think it's a quick, cheap way to get the plot moving in a way that cuts to
the chase for the Great Unwashed -- who are, after all, the predominant
market segment for most movies. People tend to equate nuclear power with
danger and evil, so filmmakers don't have to waste time explaining how
things work. When people hear about nuclear power, their immediate notion is
that they might get blowed up real good.

When they about electricity, they think about how their laptop computer has
sucky batteries, how their electric golf cart petered out and how much
trouble electrically powered automobiles allegedly are. Despite the fact
that most railroad locomotives are diesel-electric and that atomic subs are
essentially electrically driven, they don't view electricity as a powerful
force other than when you step on a third rail or accidentally drop the
blow-dryer into the bathtub.

Most viewers would accept a character in a movie seeking refuge in an
automobile during a thunderstorm. They would assume that the tires would
somehow insulate them from harm in the event of a strike. Jules Verne,
however, would have explained that it wasn't the tires, but the metal
properties of the car body acting as a Faraday cage.

Leigh Hanlon
Chicago, USA
Received on Fri 11 Feb 2000 - 17:30:03 IST

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