{"title":"Autonomy and bioethics in fan responses to <i>Orphan Black</i>.","authors":"Ayden Eilmus, Avery Bradley, Jay Clayton","doi":"10.1177/09636625231187321","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Viewers' responses to <i>Orphan Black</i> (2013-2017), a popular, genetics-themed sci-fi television series, reveal much about public understanding of the ethical challenges associated with genetic science. In this article, we assess how fans of <i>Orphan Black</i> process the bioethical themes that are prominent in the show through an analysis of 182 viewer-created blog posts. Using a mixed methods approach, our findings reveal that <i>Orphan Black</i>'s fans distill the essence of the show down to its characters' fight for autonomy. Furthermore, fan blogs reveal two notable pathways through which this bioethical principle is explored: gender and reproduction. Viewers draw striking connections between the moral problems they observe on screen in <i>Orphan Black</i> and those they see in the real world-both today and in a possible future-particularly as those problems affect women. While existing scholarship acknowledges these themes in the show itself, our approach demonstrates science fiction fans' active participation in meaning-making and bioethical reasoning and offers a novel approach to studying fan-generated content for public understanding of science research.</p>","PeriodicalId":48094,"journal":{"name":"Public Understanding of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10832314/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Public Understanding of Science","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09636625231187321","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/8/10 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Viewers' responses to Orphan Black (2013-2017), a popular, genetics-themed sci-fi television series, reveal much about public understanding of the ethical challenges associated with genetic science. In this article, we assess how fans of Orphan Black process the bioethical themes that are prominent in the show through an analysis of 182 viewer-created blog posts. Using a mixed methods approach, our findings reveal that Orphan Black's fans distill the essence of the show down to its characters' fight for autonomy. Furthermore, fan blogs reveal two notable pathways through which this bioethical principle is explored: gender and reproduction. Viewers draw striking connections between the moral problems they observe on screen in Orphan Black and those they see in the real world-both today and in a possible future-particularly as those problems affect women. While existing scholarship acknowledges these themes in the show itself, our approach demonstrates science fiction fans' active participation in meaning-making and bioethical reasoning and offers a novel approach to studying fan-generated content for public understanding of science research.
期刊介绍：
Public Understanding of Science is a fully peer reviewed international journal covering all aspects of the inter-relationships between science (including technology and medicine) and the public. Public Understanding of Science is the only journal to cover all aspects of the inter-relationships between science (including technology and medicine) and the public. Topics Covered Include... ·surveys of public understanding and attitudes towards science and technology ·perceptions of science ·popular representations of science ·scientific and para-scientific belief systems ·science in schools
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