Inside the computers of Tron, the human is represented by a program which looks just like the program’s human counterpart, or “user.” Even though Flynn is bodily sucked into the computer, he is mistaken for a program throughout the entire film. The Master Control Program (MCP) even threatens to “delete” him, as the MCP would any other program. Though the human is supposed to be the master of the computer and its programs (his own creation), the MCP in particular has gained control over its user. Dillinger’s virtual counterpart is the program Sark, who works for the MCP. This mirrors the fears that many American’s had of computers at that time. Without a clear understanding of the boundaries of computer technology, computers developing a mind of their own and rebelling against users seemed a legitimate threat.
Fast forward thirteen years to the time of Hackers – a time when there was mainstream knowledge and acceptance of computers. Characters in this film wholly dominate the computer technology. A quote from the Hacker Manifesto: “[A computer] does what I want it to do. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me...or feels threatened by me...or thinks I'm a smart ass...”(1) It was proven over time that computers would not somehow manage to overtake humans. Rather than fighting the technology (as in Tron), the hackers fought each other instead. Whoever was faster, smarter, and with more processing power would win the battles of control over pieces of cyberspace.
To create a visual of cyberspace, both Tron and Hackers utilized gender ideas. Tron is particularly male-oriented. First of all, every single program is male, except for one, Lora/Yuri. Her character doesn’t do anything to move the plot forward or even to help destroy the Master Control Program. Her only purpose is to look pretty in her glowing skintight outfit.
Christine Cornea explains, in science fiction films “[men] stands for ‘mind’ and [women] for ‘body’.”(2) Secondly, the computer-reality is also very masculine. Everything is very geometric and square – shapes generally associated with the male.
I believe the male gender is most prevalent in this film because computers were uncharted territory in the early 1980s. Traditionally, men do the dirty work of discovering and mapping new areas before deeming it safe for women and children. Discovering cyberspace is really no different from venturing into an unknown land. If anything is to go terribly wrong, men are generally expected to face whatever monsters exist before women are exposed to it. However, this can, and has led to severe problems with sexism. Certainly many women at the time faced discrimination in the workplace, with lower salaries than their male counterparts and “supportive discouragement and condescending chivalry.”(3) It has taken years for women to be respected as computer-literate. Even in Hackers, the character Dade Murphy is stunned to find out that the mysterious “Acid Burn” who overpowered him while hacking a TV station is not only a girl, but an attractive girl. The stereotypic female in Tron is helpless and in need of a male guide to avoid deletion. Telotte explains, “science fiction cinema has provided… a genre dynamic in which, most often, men do while women watch appreciatively.”(4) Though Lora is supposed to be a scientist, with all the education that career implies, when faced with a computer rather than a test tube she is portrayed as ignorant.
Hackers shows the strengthening of women in the computing communities. By 1995, computers were commonplace in schools, and children were growing up learning the technology. Further, in cyberspace it is truly impossible to differentiate gender. Screen names hide ethnicity, gender, physical appearance, and any other “human” characteristics. A person can create a completely new identity on a computer. The character Dade Murphy has three identities. At one time he can be the young criminal “Zero Cool,” the angst-ridden teenager Dade, or the hacking genius “Crash Override.” Certainly Angelina Jolie’s character Kate Libby’s screen name is the gender-neutral “Acid Burn.”
To visualize cyberspace, Hackers portrays it with both male and female imagery. The curvy lines in the screen capture below are associated with the feminine rather than the angular geometry of the male-oriented Tron.
However, even in Hackers, computers still seem to be male-dominated. The film has one heroine and six heroes, and the only other female character (Margo, an executive with the oil company) is computer illiterate. Further emphasizing the continued male dominance in computer technology is when Dade attempts to “help” Kate during their interrogation by calling her “just my girlfriend” and saying “she knows shit about computers.”(5) Calling an “elite hacker” ignorant about computers seems to be the worst kind of insult, yet Kate is actually grateful for Dade’s lie. The fact that this lie could be so believable is another indication that computer-literate women were still considered a novelty.
In both Tron and Hackers, humans are imagined manipulating a computer generated reality. To visualize this new world, both films use gender-specific imagery to illustrate cyberspace. These gender ideas follow the societal notion of computers as a masculine realm, which was only beginning to change in the mid-1990s when Hackers was released. Though the challenges the characters in both films face are quite different (in Tron the main villain is the Master Control Program, and in Hackers our heroes battle against tech-savvy humans) the films provide a unique historical snapshot of how computers and technology were perceived by the American public. As computers were made accessible to more people, a fear of out-of-control machines was replaced by a common acceptance of the technology. Tron and Hackers colorfully illustrate attitudes towards technology and provide striking visuals of sexism in cyberspace.
Notes:
(1) The Mentor, “Hacker Manifesto” http://records.viu.ca/~SOULES/MEDIA112/hacker.htm
(2) Christine Cornea, Science Fiction Cinema (New York: Rutgers University Press, 2007), 167.
(3) Diane Barthel, “Review: Untitled,” Social Forces. Vol. 67:1 (September 1988): 268. http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-7732(198809)67%3A1%3C268%3AMSBSAC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M&cookieSet=1
(4) Telotte, “Feminism” Science Fiction Film: The Critical Context, 49.
(5) Hackers, dir. Iain Softley, perf. Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, 1995, DVD, MGM, 1995.
Works Cited:
Barthel, Diane. “Review: Untitled.” Social Forces Vol. 67:1, September 1988. http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=00377732(198809)67%3A1%3C268%3AMSBSAC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M&cookieSet=1
Cornea, Christine. Science Fiction Cinema. New York: Rutgers University Press, 2007.
Hackers. Dir. Iain Softley, perf. Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie. 1995. DVD.
MGM, 1995.
Telotte. “Feminism.” Science Fiction Film: The Critical Context.
The Mentor. Hacker Manifesto. Phrack, Inc., 1986.
http://records.viu.ca/~SOULES/MEDIA112/hacker.htm
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