Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

Thoughts on the tech on the TV show Scorpion?

<< < (5/5)

Edvard:

mwb1100:
That Knight Rider clip may have been unrealistic, but it was still awesome.  Scorpion had no "awesome".

Stoic Joker:
That Knight Rider clip may have been unrealistic, but it was still awesome.  Scorpion had no "awesome".
-mwb1100 (November 07, 2014, 12:01 AM)
--- End quote ---

+1 - Good point.  :Thmbsup:

Vurbal:
I guess the problem I had with the show really wasn't the magic tech in and of itself, although solving the real problem would probably fix that as well. The core problem is that you really need a higher level of intelligence behind the scenes. It's the same reason I disliked the one episode of Elementary I watched.

It may not even be the intelligence of the writers per se as much as the reliance on typical studio formulas. What sets really smart people apart from the norm is primarily that they think differently than other people. It's fundamentally just cognitive creativity. Scorpion tries to simplify that by writing smart people as being mostly like other people, but just knowing a lot more stuff and having some personality quirks that mark them as nerds.

For example, in the first episode the main character looks at a group of air traffic controllers and just knows one of them is a coder because he looks like a nerd. That's the sort of conclusion somebody who sees computers as PFM (pure @#!%ing magic). Either that's representative of the writers' perspective, or perhaps some network or studio executive who won't sign off on anything that goes over his head. In either case, it's not something I can bring myself to watch.

The rare exception would be shows which go so far over the line they come off as satire. I watched CSI Miami for a while for exactly that reason.

Innuendo:
What sets really smart people apart from the norm is primarily that they think differently than other people. It's fundamentally just cognitive creativity. Scorpion tries to simplify that by writing smart people as being mostly like other people, but just knowing a lot more stuff and having some personality quirks that mark them as nerds. -Vurbal (November 07, 2014, 12:07 PM)
--- End quote ---

I can't speak for the other characters, but the main fellow is 'supposed' to be a high IQ INTJ type. I've spoken a bit about Myers-Briggs elsewhere, but in the first episode the main guy makes a painfully obvious point to describe INTJ character traits to the other characters, mostly to the the young boy. Speaking as a person who happens to be the INTJ personality type with a high IQ, that character in that role with that writing is the equivalent of writing a live-action version of Groundskeeper Willie into a network drama and attempt to pass him off as what Scottish people are really like.

Of course, if they did that there would be a great uproar because of so many people proud of their Scottish heritage. In this case, they'll probably get away with it. There's less than 2.5% of the world's population who are classified as being INTJ. Less than 2% of the world's population has an IQ over 135. Factor in how many of those people have actually seen the show and that really wouldn't make much of a letter-writing campaign user base. :)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page