A woman scientist in pursuit of truth: A rising trend of representation with Chernobyl

Abstract

Sky/HBO’s miniseries Chernobyl (2019) tells a human story behind the catastrophic disaster that had begun with an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine on 26 April 1986. Over the course of five one-hour episodes, Chernobyl dramatizes the incidents that paved the way to the massive explosion, such as the Cold War era, the dysfunctional Soviet bureaucracy and the power issues among the male political and scientific establishment. The highlight of the miniseries is female agency being the symbol of scientific approach, rational thought and common sense. This article analyses Chernobyl and the character of a Belarusian nuclear physicist named Ulyana Khomyuk (played by Emily Watson) by focusing on women’s representation on popular television in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. It also questions whether Chernobyl is one of the very few examples in popular culture of changing patterns of women’s representation in STEM.