I went to the Science Museum today for my little brother’s birthday because he wanted to see a movie about Vikings in the I-Max Theater. After watching that, we wandered around to look at various exhibits and I ended up visiting the gift shop for a while. They always have neat stuff to buy there: books, t-shirts, posters, jewelry… and action figures. They had action figures (I assume for the kids) which would either help stimulate their intellect or give them yet another target for G.I. Joe and his semi-automatic “Blow Your Scientific Ass Off” rifle. But what really surprised me were the figures they chose.
Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin weren’t a big deal. Leonardo da Vinci and Sigmund Freud seemed a little out of place in the museum, given its exhibits regarding dinosaurs, weather, etc. And then there was Bigfoot. BIGFOOT! In the Science Museum! Who the hell decided that would be a good idea?! “Even though its existence is based entirely on rumor, myth and fuzzy black-and-white videos, let’s pretend that it’s a scientific fact!” We lie enough as it is in the political sphere–why bastardize the natural sciences, too? On the other hand, if Bigfoot had been carrying a Norwegian flag, wielding a sword and wearing a helmet with horns on it… maybe that’s why the last five minutes of the movie were so fuzzy.
