History Main / ThisAintRocketSurgery

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/BountyHamster'' revolved around Marion the hamster being [[LiteralSplitPersonality split into varying personalities]] aligned with the Seven Dwarves. The "Dopey" specimen said both "it isn't rocket science" and "it's not brain surgery" at varying times. And yes, he said "it's not brain surgery" two seconds before finding out it ''was''. Ditto with rocket science.
--> "Actually sir, it is!"
--> "Doh..."

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/BountyHamster'' revolved around Marion the hamster being split into varying personalities aligned with the Seven Dwarves. The "Dopey" specimen said both "it isn't rocket science" and "it's not brain surgery" at varying times. And yes, he said "it's not brain surgery" two seconds before finding out it ''was''. Ditto with rocket science.

* Averted in ''Literature/SpaceCadet'' when the protagonist it told that astrogation is actually an easy subject because like all knowledge-based subjects it can be taught via SleepLearning. Applying that information is the hard part.

* Comicbook/{{Doctor Strange}} is one of the seven most intelligent people in the {{Marvel Universe}}, and he was a brain surgeon before he became a wizard.

A high standard of success is applied to anyone who becomes one of these two roles. Their intellect is not associated with absent-mindedness nor [[EvilGenius cold villainy]] using [[MadScientist science with malicious intent]]. They are obviously able to accomplish great feats. So the level of rocket surgeon or brain scientist can leave a big empty gap when one fails to live up to it.

The brain surgeon and rocket scientist are often held as the benchmark for careers that require highly intelligent, skilled, and successful people. They get this accolade not only for their obviously complicated and specialized jobs but also for the importance of their roles. The brain surgeon spends hours with a scalpel to the body's most vital organ, where even just the tiniest mistake can cause serious damage. The rocket scientist deals with sending multibillion-dollar projects into the loftiest frontier -- and, as amply demonstrated by the U.S.'s earliest space rockets, as well as more recent interplanetary probes, one mistake can result in disaster.

* Abbey National used this in an ad campaign once. A guy asked a brain surgeon to explain [=ISAs=], and got the response, "What do you think I am, a rocket scientist?". After thinking to himself "Rocket scientist ...eh, close enough", he goes to RealLife astronomer Sir Patrick Moore who was also stumped. Then it turned out the [=ISAs=] being offered by Abbey National were so simple anyone could understand them.

* In 2015, there is a PublicServiceAnnouncement campaign in Philadelphia whose tagline is "[[http://www.itsroadsafety.com/ It's Road Safety, Not Rocket Science]]", reminding people of the importance of things such as waiting for the light to turn green and looking both ways before crossing the street "just like your first-grade teacher taught you."

* Sarcastically employed in ''Film/RoboCop3''. A thug tries to rob a donut shop but forgets about [[DonutMessWithACop the stereotypical customer of late-night donut shops]] and gets several dozen {{laser sight}} dots painted on him. The store clerk smugly puts icing on the donut by asking the hood, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaUqdIFUbxE What's it like, being a rocket scientist?]]"

* ''Website/TheOnion'' had a headline that was, "[[http://www.theonion.com/articles/suborbital-ballisticpropulsion-engineer-not-exactl,8992/ Suborbital Ballistic-Propulsion Engineer not exactly a rocket scientist]]."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' - In a Halloween special, Smithers is initially startled when Mr. Burns plans to remove Homer's brain using an ice cream scoop. Mr. Burns retorts, "This isn't rocket science. It's brain surgery."

-->'''Homer:''' I'll figure it out! Geez, it's not rocket science!
-->'''Lance:''' Well actually, there are several rockets mounted to the-
-->'''Homer:''' Boring!

-->'''Cyborg:''' Come on, this isn't rocket science. ''*{{beat}} as Beast Boy glares and he realizes what he just said*'' Okay, it ''is'' rocket science, but it's not that hard!\\

* Referenced by ''Videogame/KerbalSpaceProgram'''s slogan: "[[TemptingFate How hard can rocket science be, anyway?]]"