In films, some activities are more likely than others to lead to a character’s demise: embarking on a last-chance space mission, being the old mentor of the hero, or simply renting a haunted house. Surprisingly, the profession of geologist presents a particularly high mortality rate on screen, 1 in 3, as reported by Science. This is the conclusion of a study published last April in Geology Today and cited by the American magazine.
“Out of 202 geologist characters in 141 films released between 1919 and 2023, 69 die on screen or are found dead,” the four authors, “cinema-loving geologists,” began their analysis over a decade ago and have been regularly updating it, but it is the first time it has been published in a scientific journal,” the journalist jokes.
In the study, the researchers specify that they only included “English or American films that were shown in cinemas” and explain how they combed through various databases in addition to those they had watched themselves. To establish the statistics, only characters explicitly identified as geologists are counted.
And, a new unexpected discovery highlighted by Science, the inherent risks in this profession only appear in second place, and by far (12 out of 69), among the causes of demise. The first is unrelated to quicksand or landslides: it is murder (30 out of 69). Among the examples cited is Professor Dent in “James Bond 007 vs. Dr. No,” one of the secret agent’s enemies.
However, most geologists fall into the category of good rather than evil characters. Furthermore, the narrative functions of these fictional scientists have evolved significantly over a century.
“The earliest films featuring geologists were largely westerns, in which characters are often searching for oil. More recent films focus instead on natural disasters, monsters, and extraterrestrial threats,” summarizes Science. A reflection of the changing concerns of each era.
