Um, about that Nicholson film

At last: an advocacy group with a sense of humor.

The Society of Actuaries, concerned about what the public might think about their profession based on the portrayal of one such actuary in the new film “About Schmidt,” issued a press release Thursday. But rather than denouncing the filmmakers for their insensitivity and decrying the harmful effects on impressionable children, the nonprofit organization took a lighter tack.

“While highly humorous, the perception of actuaries -- based on the character portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the film -- is incorrect,” said Deborah Bowen, spokesperson for the 17,000-member Society. “To be more to the point (literally), the perception that actuaries are math-obsessed is 94.00632% incorrect, the perception that actuaries are socially disconnected is 98.3434% incorrect, and -- most shockingly of all -- the perception that actuaries tend to favor bad comb-overs is 99.67893% erroneous.”

Lee Margulies