I was reading on the NCETM website about films that have mathematicians as main characters. Four films are mentioned:
- A Beautiful Mind
- Pi
- Good Will Hunting
- Enigma
One commentator says that these films contribute to stereotypes about maths since they are all about men, men who are unsociable, and that they are uncomfortable in their roles. Films are not helping maths break away from a “nerdy” stereotype.
Then another commentator goes on to lambaste this idea by saying:
“the first three films are about mental illness, not mathematics: the characters happen to be mathematicians, their profession is incidental to the drama that arises from their malfunctioning brain chemistry. The negative, frightening “nutter” stereotype they perpetrate is far more reprehensible, and dangerous, than any “nerd” stereotype.”
The article ends by asking what schools are doing to counteract these stereotypes. For our part, we have named ten of our classrooms after mathematicians. Nine are men and one is a woman: Sophie Germain. They are not all dysfunctional; though Georg Cantor did go insane.
My classroom is named after Paul Erdös but I have yet to capitalise on this with my students. There are so many good stories about Uncle Paul and his love of maths. He was a bit nutty though, so I am not sure he refutes any stereotypes. The truth is, a lot of mathematicians are men and a lot of them are a little odd. (I say this as a proud nerd.) I think this is especially true among academics, and perhaps less so among mathematicians in industry.
Does your school do anything to counter stereotypes of mathematicians?
Tbf there is a movie a female mathematician who is as crazy as his father who was also a mathematician. Just check the (mediocre) film Proof (2005) starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins!