Cinema Science THE LOGICAL LEAPS OF SKYSCRAPER
Skyscraper (Rawson Marshall Thurber, 2018) isn’t the most original Hollywood action film. Unapologetically crafted from the constituent parts of The Towering Inferno (John Guillermin, 1974) and Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) and fronted by the defining action hero of our time, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, the film has little interest in offering anything new. For a piece of entertainment, that isn’t necessarily a problem; in fact, this ranks as one of the better entries in Johnson’s dense filmography (in large part thanks to its use of Johnson as a charismatic leading man rather than a comedian). And, despite its filmic familiarity, Skyscraper has plenty to offer science teachers looking to enliven their classrooms.
It’s not only the film. Since its inception, Cinema Science has largely been motivated by cultural prominence, choosing films that you can expect a majority of your students to be familiar with. Skyscraper’s first act could prompt an investigation into the engineering requirements of mega-skyscrapers, and its second act – in which a towering skyscraper is engulfed in flames and plagued by terrorists – allows for the exploration of elevators, bridges and fire-prevention strategies. But when it comes to Skyscraper’s cultural prominence, the film itself has arguably been eclipsed by the physics-centric memes that sprung up across the internet in the wake of its first poster’s release.1
These memes humorously debate the plausibility – or lack thereof – of Johnson’s character, security consultant Will Sawyer, making an impossible-looking jump from a crane to the skyscraper. Using memes, a contemporary language that students should be familiar with, allows for both engagement and some seriouspresents a rare opportunity to incorporate pop culture into the curriculum … without needing to sacrifice teaching time.
