Profs & Pints Northern Virginia: A Scientific Plunge into Ocean Movies

Profs and Pints Northern Virginia presents: “A Scientific Plunge into Ocean Movies,” a marine biologist’s fact-check of Jaws and other films set in the sea, with Chris Parsons, associate professor in the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Exeter University and former director of the environmental science program at George Mason University.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/ocean-movies .]

The underwater environment has long been a setting in science-fiction and fantasy movies as well as thrillers like Jaws. But how well do the premises underlying such films hold up when subjected to deep scientific scrutiny?

Join Chris Parsons, a science podcaster and marine-life expert who has given excellent Profs and Pints talks based on his research, for an informative and often-amusing look at how well various ocean movies hold up when we peer beneath their surface at what’s known about water and aquatic life. He’ll look at where they got the science right as well as where they got it very, very wrong, and how they hold up when compared to the actual observations and experiences of those who have worked (and even lived) underwater.

If you have ever contemplated how fast Aquaman actually might be able to swim or wondered how many humpback whales could fit into a Klingon spaceship, this talk is for you.

We’ll go back 150 years to look at Jules Verne’s science-fiction classic Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas as well as the 1954 Disney film based on it. You’ll learn how Verne took care to base much of his novel on fact and proved somewhat prescient in his predictions related to ocean science, but also made assertions that don’t hold water.

From there we’ll dive into movies such as Aquaman, The Abyss, Underwater, Avatar 2, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, harpooning their scientific fallacies while giving them credit for scientific truth where it’s due. We’ll talk about the actual size of prehistoric Megalodons like the one depicted in The Meg and whether huge sharks possibly could lurk in the Mariana Trench.

Interested in learning about all of the scientific flaws in Jaws, now 50 years old? Chief Brody would say, “We’re going to need a bigger beer.” (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: From a poster advertising the 1907 silent film Under the Seas, a Georges Méliès parody of Jules Verne’s classic novel.