In recent years a fair number of lab jobs have opened for
Goths, Punks, and other assorted non-comformists. Science isn't just for
Hollywood Nerds, any more. Maybe related to
One of Us.
In
Real Life this may be partly due to the aforementioned modernistic sensibilities of certain subcultures, or possibly childhood fondness of pyrotechnics and the "chemistry lessons" of
The Anarchist's Cookbook. Also, Punks in general tend not to be particularly religious and have far fewer scruples over things like evolutionary theory, stem cell research, and cloning, and a lot of them are used to needles (piercing needles, not neglecting the straight-edge crowd here).
While Goth subculture is not known for being modernistic, for the most dedicated of Goths, the benefits of having a job in forensic analysis (especially at crime scenes) would be considerable.
May also be related to the prevalence of punk-related imagery in many science fiction settings:
Cyber Punk,
Desert Punk, etc...
See also
Bunny-Ears Lawyer.
Examples:
Film
- SLC Punk!: Heroin Bob studied chemistry, which according to his best friend Steve-o was "the wrong ***ing major for a guy like him," who notoriously avoided any chemicals that didn't already come in beer or cigarettes.
Live-Action TV
Real Life
- Seems like an Evolving Trope, since the first punks in mainstream media were pretty much straw punks (similarly with Goths at first and "Emo" kids today, though the "Emo" culture is not as strongly associated with science and medicine as Punk, it seems).
- Similarly, in late 19th century Russia, a number of "nihilists" and other young "radicals" associated with them — generally philosophical materialists — were very much interested in the scientific world view and many of them became doctors or other medical professionals, seeing that as a constructive end that fit their philosophical predilections. This phenomenon made it into the political literature of the area (Russian novels and literary critiques under Tsarist censorship were often thinly disguised political and philosophical Author Tracts). A good example is Fathers and Sons by Turgenev. Also, Chernyshevsky's "What is to be Done?" These Russian nihilists had quite a bit in common with 20th century punk culture in other ways too.
Western Animation
- In an episode of Daria, the titular character once imagined herself working at a gene-splicing lab in a possible future in which she was married (by common law) to Trent, who was still a failed musician.
- Daria is of course neither a goth nor a punk, but "alternative" definitely fits her.
