# Movies and books that inspired career choices **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2017, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016 "2017-02-28T06:36:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/1 "2017-02-28T06:36:58Z")
Bill Paxton’s sad death was marked by one particularly lovely tribute from storm-chasers, marking his role in \*Twister \* which inspired people to become meteorologists and weather enthusiasts. [Link here](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-27/storm-chasers-form-gps-tribute-for-twister-actor-bill-paxton/8306026) I know _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ boosted archaeology enrolments, but what other vocationally inspiring movies, books and TV shows are out there? Did cranky-pants borderline sociopath architects all read Ayn Rand’s \*Fountainhead \*when they were kids, thinking ‘Wow, that’s for me!’. Do small invisible burglars all compare notes and realise they were \*Hobbit \*fans? Which professions have which books and movies [and other media] to thank for inspiring people to give them a try? ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/2 "2017-02-28T08:52:49Z")
Hi moderators - I meant to post this in Cafe Society. Can you please shift over? thanks ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/3 "2017-02-28T09:23:06Z")
_Top Gun_ was the United States Navy doing air arms world over a solid and increasing their recruitment. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/4 "2017-02-28T13:42:33Z")
Paul de Kruif’s _[Microbe Hunters](http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/life-and-legacy-paul-de-kruif)_ has inspired countless doctors, especially [microbiologists](http://schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2014/04/the-microbe-hunters-by-paul-dekruif-a-major-force-in-microbiological-history.html). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/5 "2017-02-28T14:20:17Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Hi moderators - I meant to post this in Cafe Society. Can you please shift over? > > thanks Done. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/6 "2017-02-28T14:31:06Z")
Rachel Carson’s book _[Silent Spring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring)_ inspired the environmental movement in the US. I don’t specifically know that it inspired career choices, but it seems likely. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/7 "2017-02-28T14:35:55Z")
My mother still has a book about the early years of 15 famous women. Isabel I, blah. Marie Curie, oooOOoooooOH! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Pork-Chop_Express)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/8 "2017-02-28T15:17:48Z")
The Last Kiss Goodnight inspired me to become a teacher. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/9 "2017-02-28T15:52:05Z")
Apparently the NCIS shows have inspired a surge in forensic science majors. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/10 "2017-02-28T16:07:11Z")
The book and movie “Hidden Figures” seems to have increased interest in the STEM\* fields among girls. I hope it sticks. STEM\* = science, technology, engineering, and math, for those who don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/11 "2017-02-28T16:31:32Z")
Star Trek created uncountable amounts of scientists and engineers. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/12 "2017-02-28T16:35:59Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Did cranky-pants borderline sociopath architects all read Ayn Rand’s \*Fountainhead \*when they were kids, thinking ‘Wow, that’s for me!’. You joke, but _Atlas Shrugged_ actually put the bug in my ear about engineering. I mostly wanted to be a scientist, but I was in the Army and knew I would only have about 4 years worth of college covered by the GI Bill when I got out. At the time I read _Atlas Shrugged_, I wasn’t even sure what an engineer was. But I knew it was vaguely science-y and didn’t require frequent groveling for grant money or 8 years of school. And it was possible to make decent money doing it. Later, I read a few Henry Petroski books, like _To Engineer Is Human_ and _The Evolution of Useful Things_ that really made me appreciate the profession. That, and Richard Feynman really seemed to be a fan of engineers. But Ayn Rand made me realize that engineering was even an option, and also that it was possible to look up to engineers rather than just writing them all off as nerdy businessmen. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/13 "2017-02-28T17:14:05Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > I know _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ boosted archaeology enrolments, but what other vocationally inspiring movies, books and TV shows are out there? Boy, how disappointed were those people when they realized gunplay, bullwhip training, and learning to fly (but not land) weren’t part of the curriculum? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/14 "2017-02-28T22:16:59Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Apparently the NCIS shows have inspired a surge in forensic science majors. The _CSI_ series have had the same effect. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/15 "2017-02-28T22:24:01Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Did cranky-pants borderline sociopath architects all read Ayn Rand’s \*Fountainhead \*when they were kids, thinking ‘Wow, that’s for me!’. In my case, I had already wanted to become an architect. _The Fountainhead_ inspired me to be a _better_ one. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/16 "2017-03-01T14:39:30Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Apparently the NCIS shows have inspired a surge in forensic science majors. > [@Superdude](#): > > The _CSI_ series have had the same effect. And _Bones_ for the trifecta. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/17 "2017-03-01T17:33:24Z")
I remember hearing that the movie _Wall Street_ inspired countless people to become traders. Gordon Gekko was their hero. For me, it was after watching the movie _There Will Be Blood_, that I embarked on my academic career to become a petroleum geologist. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/18 "2017-03-01T17:40:10Z")
> [@The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](#): > > The Last Kiss Goodnight inspired me to become a teacher. **Starship Troopers** did it for me. I always ask myself “Would Col. Dubois approve of this lesson?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/19 "2017-03-01T17:55:54Z")
My mother decided at age 12 to become an attorney after watching episodes of _Perry Mason_. She went on to be one of only 3 women in her law school graduating class, and had a long, successful legal career. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-that-inspired-career-choices/781016/20 "2017-03-01T21:15:24Z")
> [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](#): > > I remember hearing that the movie _Wall Street_ inspired countless people to become traders. Gordon Gekko was their hero. :eek: Hero?