Phillip Greenspun talks about a topic that interests me - the Hollywood portrayal of scientists/engineers/programmers. In describing the engineer character in "Flight of the Phoenix", Phillip says:

Elliott turns out to be a prima donna.  He has a Che Guevara-like desire to be the one who gets to execute prisoners/traitors/etc. and shoots a captive Mongol smuggler in the head.  Elliott is devious and drinks more than his fair share of the limited water.  He generally abuses everyone and reminds them of how screwed they would be without him.

So at the end of the film people would say "Wow, if I actually thought about engineers I'd realize that I needed them for some of the things that make my modern lifestyle possible but on the other hand wouldn't it be more pleasant never to meet or think about an engineer?"

This isn't at all unusual in films. The technically oriented characters are invariably portrayed as social rejects of one sort or another - is it any wonder that my daughter has already developed negative stereotypes about technical people - even with both her parents and most of their friends being in the software field?