Slashdot Mirror
Realistic Portrayals of Software Programmers?
lwbecker2 asks: "Warren Harrison has written a thought-provoking editorial piece on The Software Developer as Movie Icon. He explores the fact that new entrants to Computer Science curriculum are typically clueless about what 'real' developers actually do. While researching the issue of why this is the case, he determined that some potential CS degree seekers are forming opinions from portrayals in movies and cinema. He describes what he asserts to be inaccurate portrayals of developers in War Games, TRON, and The Net, and asks for input and opinions on 'the impact of the cinema and television on new software developers' expectations, as well as learn of any films that do a better job of portraying our profession...' I am sure Slashdot readers have some input on this, and I am curious if people believe _any_ movie has acurately portrayed software developers?"
Has the film industry portrayed any normal person accurately? No. Normal people are boring.
Do cop shows accurately depict cops?
Do westerns accurately depict cowboys?
Do war movies accurately depict soldiers?
Does pr0n accurately depict sex?
The list goes on...
Hollywood doesn't portray anything or anyone accurately, not just programmers, but secret agents, scientists (the most dangerous profession, according to the movies), police officers, psychiatrists, airline pilots, women, and vegetarians as well... even "normal" people are somehow made extra-normal on the screen.
If you look to films and television for career guidance, chances are you wouldn't make a good programmer anyway.
Bob Slydell: If you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Bob Slydell: Great.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door--that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh--after that I sorta space out for an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
"Teachers leave us kids alone
Most people have some idea of what a cop is. They know what the army does. They can identify a firefighter in uniform nine times out of ten.
Outside of the computer industry, nobody knows what a programmer is. They don't know that there's more to computers than Windows, so why should they know about computers?
One portrayal that annoys my wife and me is the portrayal of people in chemical/microbiological suits. The suits always look good on the actors. My wife works in one (she studies ebola). It's a big blue vinyl bag. Not form-fitting. It tends to make you look like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man. It's uncomfortable. You have to shout to be heard in them.
So remember, programmers are not the only groups misrepresented. We're probably not the most misrepresented group. Next time you watch a show that includes any real-life profession, ask yourself how close they are to reality. Then complain about programmers being misrepresented.
I can't say that I don't give a fuck. I've just run out of fuck to give.
In every intro level Archaelolgy course I've taken, there is always a comment in the text books on how Archaeology is nothing like the world of Indiana Jones.
Then again, the intro level courses are to weed out people who aren't ready for the rigors of a given dicipline.
Dolemite
Save the World! Use a Quote!
Hollywood glammorizes ANY professional field, not just software developers, etc. I remember the first time I learned that Court cases took longer than a few weeks (I was 15y/o, mind you), because I followed the OJ murder trial. My intake of movie drama had preconditioned me to think all Lawyers were as thoughtful and explosive as Tom Cruise was in A Few Good Men, wailing at Nicholson, "I want the truth!" And then Nicholson responds, "You can't handle the truth!" It's practically never the case.
:p
I was (and still am) quite disappointed. My first assumptions about Law were based on movies, which, if you ask any Lawyer, are dramatized to the point of fiction.
Much is the same with Technology. Anyone who's sat through Hackers will tell you how much of a (bad) joke it really is. The other great example is Swordfish, when Hugh Jackman hacks into a computer system in 60 seconds, at gunpoint, with a woman giving him head. Come on
The point is this: Anyone who wishes to join any professional field should realize that work takes effort. If a movie gives you inspiration and/or a desire to look further into something you find interesting, fantastic. Seek out what you dream and live it. But be prepared to find something a little less idealized, something a bit more down to earth.
The whole issue of 'flair' and the office issues are really one and the same: it's all about being ra-ra-ra for a company that is much less ra-ra-ra in return. It's all 'smile pretty and join the team or you're outta here' - no matter how much you detest its inanity.
Did you get the memo about the TPS report?
"Why not a show about engineers?"
Go out and rent Apollo 13. It has some of the best engineers as hero scenes on film - complete with computers & slide rules.
Remember the scenes where they have to power up the frozen command module without going over budget on amperage? Yes, software development is sometimes like that - with severe constraints, painstaking work and testing - and rewarding results.