Chapter Three: Evolution of Hacking in the 1980s and 1990s - WarGames

(1983) and Hackers (1995)

4.1 Introduction

The 1980s and 1990s mark a significant time in which technology began to assume a more prominent role in both film and television. A considerable number of potential hacker genre films were produced during this period, exploring the range of the hacker film genre.

Chapters One and Two have considered the emergence of the hacker film genre in the 1970s through the examples of The Conversation and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and how the genre has progressed through comparisons to later films in the late 1990s and 2010s. However, it was during the 1980s and 1990s that computers began to become a part of everyday life, and the technological connections to cyberspace became integrated into the domestic setting; this real-world phenomenon was reflected with an increasing presence and preoccupation with computers in film. As computers began to become part of home and family life, the

technology of hacking and surveillance began to move from the realm of the professional to this domestic and family setting. As a result, hacker genre films begin to shift away from focusing on the ‘professional’ hacker figure to concentrate on more amateur figures during this period, and began to see a transition from older to younger hacker figures. As Douglas Thomas indicates, two films, WarGames and Hackers, ‘had a disproportionate influence on hacker culture, creating two generations of hackers and providing them with cultural touchstones that would be, at least in part, the basis for their understanding of hacking’

(Thomas, 2002, p.xv). Therefore, whilst there are several other significant hacker genre films

Page 146 of 363 in the 1980s and 1990s that I identify in Appendix A, ‘[these other films] are often evaluated on their factual accuracy or technical sophistication rather than as cultural touchstones for hacker culture’ (Thomas, 2002, p.xv). Consequently, this chapter will focus primarily on WarGames and Hackers as key examples of hacker films and the impact the introduction of such a younger hacker figure has had on the representation of hacking in hacker genre films on the whole.

A substantial number of hacker genre films were released during the 1980s and 1990s, which radically progressed the generic features of the hacker film genre. During the 1980s, there was much greater focus on the horrors of technology and the growing fear of artificial intelligence as a rival hacker figure and likely threat to humanity. Thus, films like Electric Dreams depict an artificial intelligence taking on this hacker figure role. The 1990s saw an explosion in the production of hacker genre films and a stronger influence on these films from the 1970s thrillers like The Conversation (Coppola, 1974). 20 hacker genre films from my list in Appendix A were produced and released during the 1990s. In light of this, it may be said that the depiction of hacking and the hacker figure evolves significantly during this time, as film-makers strive to inspire interest and excitement in this subject matter to attract audiences to want to see the films. Whilst films like The Lawnmower Man (Leonard, 1992) continue to play with the notion of fear and horror associated with computer technology, other films like Sneakers (Robinson, 1992), Mission Impossible (De Palma, 1996) and even Jurassic Park (Spielberg, 1993) continue to focus on the surveillance and espionage thriller elements of computer hacking. Given the sheer number of films produced during this decade, it is unsurprising that I have already looked in detail at Enemy of the State (Scott, 1998) in Chapter One and will go on to look at The Net (Winkler, 1995) in the Conclusion Chapter.

Page 147 of 363 4.2 Evolution of Hacker Generic Features in 1980s and 1990s Films

As part of the timeline of my proposed hacker genre, I contend that these hacker genre films from the 1980s and 1990s mark a significant shift in the representation of some of the central generic features. As I touched on in my introductory chapter, Thomas Schatz argues that an individual ‘genre film represents an effort to reorganize a familiar, meaningful system in an original way’ (Schatz, 1981, p.19) and in this manner both WarGames and Hackers represent major shifts in the features of the hacker film genre as each film strives to offer a new filmic approach to hacking. Tracing such generic evolution is part of understanding the emergence and development of a new genre, so I will now outline the manner in which some of the existing generic features I have identified in The Conversation and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy have continued to evolve and expand in WarGames and Hackers. In the same vein, as Rick Altman underscores ‘like a train, genre is free to move, but only along already laid tracks’

(Altman, 1999, p.22) and therefore any variation in generic features inevitably builds on previously established generic traits, developing these pre-existing characteristics to reach new destinations. These generic shifts are far from exclusive to WarGames and Hackers, as the other hacker genre films released during this period also exemplify similar developments in hacker genre features and characteristics. Hackers particularly demonstrates extreme developments in some of the generic characteristics

Feature 1 – The fetishisation of technology develops to include an extravagant visual style: One of the main characteristics I have identified in WarGames and Hackers is a flamboyant visual style that is used to depict the technology utilised by the hacker figure, which often makes the technology both more appealing and more accessible to the viewer.

Given the typically mundane and unexciting visual reality of both computing and hacking, it

Page 148 of 363 is not surprising that Hollywood strives to (re)create hacking as a more elaborate and

engaging activity that appeals visually and aurally to the audience. This links in with the fetishisation of technology I have identified in the wider hacker film genre but these films take this fixation to extreme levels by hyperbolising the representation of computers and their capabilities. Thus, rather than merely depicting the reality of computer technology, these films immerse the viewer in virtual computer environments and ‘futuristic’ bases of operations, or even present the computers as becoming personified with voices and virtual avatars. In effect, the technology begins to become a ‘character’ in many of these hacker genre films. This extravagant visual style is also evident in other films during this period, such as Tron (Lisberger, 1982), Johnny Mnemonic (Longo, 1995) and The Matrix (The Wachowski Brothers, 1999).

Feature 2 – The hacker genre films emphasise speed and sleekness over a lengthy, intricate process of investigation: Another key develop in hacker genre features is the sense of ease and speed in the hacking process; rather than showing an intricate, detailed process hacking is instead presented in a swifter, more stylish fashion. As a result, rather than foregrounding and fetishising the intricate details of methodology and process, thrill and spectacle take precedence to create a sense of urgency and immediate danger to the protagonist. This ties in quite nicely with the generic shifts I have traced between The Conversation in 1974 and Enemy of the State in 1998 in Chapter One, moving from a slow intricate process in which the hacker observed his target from a distance, to a more dynamic hacker figure who actively participates in the action. Therefore, as technology develops to allow the hacker to become a more dynamic figure it is unsurprising that the representation of hacking in film chooses to emphasise this sense of speed to develop the notion of hacking being a vibrant activity. Equally, as Steve Neale argues, genre’s ‘systems of expectations and

Page 149 of 363 hypothesis involve a knowledge of … various regimes of verisimilitude – various forms of plausibility, motivation and belief [and] entails notions of propriety, of what is appropriate and therefore probable (or probable and therefore appropriate)’ (Neale, 2000, p.32) and this is what is at work with the increased sense of speed in these hacker genre films. Neale also underlines the manner in which such tendencies in genre fiction ‘provide spectators with means of recognition and understanding’ (Neale, 2000, p.31). These hacker films create such verisimilitude, in which the viewer comes to accept, and to expect, the hacker film genre narrative to depict hacking as a sleek and speedy process. In many ways this sleekness and stylishness becomes a new object of preoccupation for hacker genre films.

Feature 3 – Over the course of these films the isolated hacker becomes increasingly integrated into, and connected with, wider society: Moreover, the hacker figures depicted in each of these films are not presented as being socially isolated from the rest of the world and in fact are portrayed as becoming more integrated into wider society during the course of the narrative. Instead, the hacker figure in these films seems to be portrayed as more of an average, ‘everyman’ figure, encouraging the notion that almost anyone could become a hacker. As a result, the hacker begins to adopt a different approach to hacking; rather than being a solitary endeavour, hacking becomes a communal activity of shared experience, skills and equipment. This also includes the sense of an emerging hacker community and

subculture, as multiple hacker figures are shown on screen – although a sense of rivalry continues to appear, there is increasingly a sense of hacker camaraderie and community as hackers are shown to cooperate with one another toward common goals. Returning to Thomas Schatz’s notion of genres of social order and social integration that I considered in my introductory chapter, these films begin to offer the possibility of the hacker integrating into wider society during the course of the narrative. Consequently, the somewhat pessimistic

Page 150 of 363 premise of the hacker being doomed to social isolation begins to be substituted for the hacker establishing relationships and making connections with other people, offering a more positive outlook on hacking as an activity and further empowering the hacker figure in the process. A noteworthy point here is that many of these films adhere to Jeremy Strong’s concept of ‘team films’ (Strong, 2008, p.44); just as Strong argues for films depicting the building of teams, so do these hacker films see teams being formed to undertake group hacks. This is increasingly reflected in other hacker genre films such as Sneakers (Robinson, 1992), which presents a group of hacker figures working together to commit a heist, whilst Mission: Impossible (De Palma,1996) shows Ethan Hunt forming a new espionage team to carry out a mole hunt.

What is more, this sense of integration signals an increased emotional vulnerability and exposure in the hacker figure that can be exploited by their rivals and enemies, which continues to develop in post-9/11 productions.

Feature 4 – There is an escalation of scale in hacker genre films: These films present their