Got any ideas for Asha?
We thought we'd share this recent letter that came in to Car Talk Plaza, in case any of you out there could lend a hand!
— The Lackeys of Car Talk Plaza.
Dear Tom and Ray,
I am a professor of urban planning who focuses on transportation issues. I've started a new research project for which I need lots and lots of help of the kind that I think your listeners would be ideally suited to provide. The project is to look at how women drivers are portrayed in American movies, both past and present.
One key task is for me to identify movies in which there ARE women drivers, especially movies in which the woman's driving is somehow interesting or meaningful. (E.g.: Is she an aggressive and courageous driver? A distracted and silly driver?) Since I can't watch every movie ever made myself, I need help!
Would you be willing to ask your listeners to email me suggestions of movies to watch? All I need from listeners is the name of the movie plus a sentence or two describing the scene(s) in which women drive.
I hope this topic might be fun for your
listeners to think about. And of course
you/your show, and your listeners, would get
full credit for helping me with the project
in any future presentations I give or
eventual articles I publish. (I like the idea
of including "Thanks to Tom and Ray of
Car Talk" in an article published in some
serious, dry academic journal.) I'd also be
willing to share with you a summary of my
preliminary research results in six months or
so, once I have them.
You and your listeners can contact me at this address.
Thank you very much for considering my request. Please let me know if you have any questions I can answer.
Sincerely,
Associate Professor
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
San José State University
