Pretty much any time I see a computer on screen (with very rare exceptions), I know I’m going to groan at some point at the way it’s referenced and used.
First, there’s hacking…
Hollywood LOVES showing hackers in movies flex their hacking skills to infiltrate what’s typically a TRON-like interface and “hack the mainframe.” It’s always this tense scene where they magically pull it off. This is actually a great depiction of IRL vs movie hacking.
Phishing is the most common way to infiltrate a system. Having someone’s password gives you their access, and people are not very good about securing passwords. Of course, movie hackers need to do things with flair.
They always know some fantastical command that can do anything. Like Richard Pryor in Superman IIIusing the command “OVERRIDE ALL SECURITY” to bypass his employer’s security. He then accesses the HR system, ordering it to simply funnel everybody’s half-cent pay to his own paycheck.
If only command line prompts worked that way. I love how the other character tells him the computer knows. Even AI voice assistants like Siri and Alexa wouldn’t know what he’s talking about.
And as they navigate these gorgeous(?) graphical renderings that for some reason companies built, they’re often only fighting one IT person. That brings me to the next point, IT…
We’ll use Jurassic Park for this example. This is a state-of-the-art park. It’s the most technologically advanced project of its age. Everything is automated (or at least assisted by automation) from the tours to the feeding of the animals to the security, incubation, etc.
John Hammond spared no expense – except on IT. This entire automated park has one underpaid engineer in charge of everything. Not only do you have only one person both developing and running everything, but you’re also antagonistic toward him?
Not a great idea, Hollywood. Jurassic Park was doomed to fail by design. It’s a CTO, CIO, and an entire technology division away from being a viable business.
Then there are just simple misunderstandings about computers in general. For example, it’s hard enough to find Apple-approved devices on Earth, so I find it hard to believe the alien mothership in Independence Day was Mac-compatible.
Also, movies like Mission Impossible show a whole lot of unnecessary security for a workstation that could just be shut down. Why would the government spend all that money to isolate one computer in a massive room with every type of sensor to resolve an issue that can be resolved by having employees lock their workstation when they leave?
Perhaps the most often mocked depiction of computer technology comes in the “zoom and enhance” feature law enforcement has. Although AI is bringing this closer to reality, the power The police have to enhance and rotate 2D video and images in movies is still impossible.
Of course, we can’t blame Hollywood entirely for these faux pas. The reality is they often get away with it because the average person thinks computers are magic. For the average person, the idea of being able to create a real-life magic genie by hooking a computer up to a doll is plausible enough.
Although there have been TV shows and movies in recent times that do a better job of depicting technology, they still make plenty of mistakes. Sometimes it’s through ignorance and sometimes it’s on purpose.
At least Hollywood is still trying, and they’re not making computers blow up as easily and often as cars yet…