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More Than 20 Years of the Web on the Big Screen
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "WSJ.com has compiled clips from a dozen movies over the past 23 years that depict the internet, with varying degrees of accuracy. Among the selections: WarGames, Sneakers, .com for Murder, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The Matrix Reloaded used real Linux code, while Mission: Impossible had the improbable email addresses Job@Book of Job and Max@Job 3:14. In a related article, WSJ.com reviews some of the more-absurd Hollywood conventions when it comes to the web. Harry Knowles, of Ain't It Cool News, says, 'The thing that always gets me is watching people send emails. You click "send" and the entire document begins to fold into an envelope and disappear into the screen. I tend to send around 300 to 400 emails a day, and that would drive me insane.'"
Regardless of how probable or improbable Wargames may have been, it was and will likely remain one of my favorite "nerd" movies. I don't think I could ever get tired of it. The chick's hot too. Jason had some of the best lines, even if they did sound like they were delivered by a Speak N Say. Perhaps because of it. Wouldn't you rather play a nice game of chess?
Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to conviction
Subject says it all.
Trolling is a art,
The Web != The Internet
Also, just to further nitpick, I don't think Wargames even had the internet in it -- he found WOPR by dialing it up directly.
As a narrative device it's lame, okay, but frankly I'll take that over the postmodern delayed deus ex machine of the geek's solution to a technical problem: Oooh, our brainwizard has been working away steadily at a problem all plot long, and now that we're ten minutes shy of the ending, she's finally broken through the security system/discovered the answer to the riddle/broken the code. The writers may as well have Geordi adjust the trust old modulation on the phase transponder, it's the same plot device.
Lately we're up to the level found in the funnies (other than FoxTrot): names get dropped. Ooh, she "googled" that term! That's about how far we've gotten with the Web in movies and TV... and the brain dead comic strip "B.C." for that matter.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
All true geeks use a Model M.
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
Comic book action stuff aside, one of the things that kicks the belief out, are the frequent computer superheroics. "Oh, I just machine coded up a thing-a-ma-bobbie to frammit the security on that secure line." (Ok, that's not a direct quote from the show - I said I watch it, not that I was an obsessive quote collecting fan.)
I am sure the same thing happens in just about any field that takes any expertise - entertainment media is bound to get things wrong, because their expertise is entertaining, not the subject matter of the plot vehicle. (Often on purpose - I mean who wants to watch a "real-time" show on a long drawn-out legal battle, for instance.)
In the end, the patient needs to be better at the end of the hour, the case solved, and the Internet deliver whatever lines it needed to to finish the story.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Independence Day is on the list. That very scene too. But in the film Area 51 had 50 years to reverse engineer the computer systems on the crashed alien ship, so it's not entirely unrealistic.
Disclaimer: I've not seen the film in years and my memory of it is a little patchy.
Actually, in fairness to the film, if you watch the special edition/director's cut that whole part makes a LOT more sense than the theatrical release which outraged us all so very much.
In the director's cut, they add back enough footage to show that the communications of the aliens is sound/radio wave, and that he (Goldblum's character) had figured out the way their communications worked.
He didn't write a computer binary virus on his Mac and upload it to the aliens. He used his Mac which had been outfitted with signal processing gear, and transmitted a series of signals which acted on their system in the way a virus would operate on a computer. So the bar could be the same as an upload status -- "this much more signal to transmit".
As much as I thought it was a travesty when I saw the theatrical release, I thought the expanded version's explaination was plausible.
Likewise, if you want to see a film that made no sense in theatrical release but becomes clear in extended release -- The Abyss is a good example. SO much of what was cut ouf ot he theatrical release caused it to become muddled and confusing. The extended release made sense.
In both cases, the films were somewhat crippled by the way theye were initially released to the public, but SO MUCH BETTER in a director's cut.
Anyway, just some musings from a film geek.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
And you could argue that the Internet includes a piece of paper I have sitting on my desk. You'd be wrong either way.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
Are you kidding me? Every night on CSI they zoom in 100x on digital photo and are able to make the photo clear as an original, with no pixelation. People have no idea what's possible with computers. They just assume that everything they see on television could really happen.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Remember, that film took place in the System 7 days--the Mac OS *was* the virus. What you were seeing was the installation progress bar. :-)
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
For many years, all the phone numbers used in films have been bogus, I.E. 555-123-9876. If a real number is shown, thousands of people would dial it up to see if it was real. Not cool! :\
:)
Same thing seems to be starting for web addresses. If you use something bogus, like , the audience cannot flood some unsuspecting web site with "are you there" messages.
In other words, If you show too much reality on films, you get slashdot effects.
They mentioned that in the movie, IIRC he got in through some contracting company or something in the same area code as the game company, that still had a connection open to WOPR because of an oversight. And as someone in the military, I do know that accidental glaring oversights happen all the time. Love the "...whoops" moments.
Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to conviction
It's a damn good thing that show has other good qualities...
Mmm yes... Her Great Gloriousness Elisha Cuthbert for example.