It is interesting and informative to return to the past and see how programmers were represented in popular culture. What did people think of us? Did they know who the programmer was?
It is important to remember that until 1946 there were no programmers, that the computers themselves were practically unknown until the end of the 50s. Almost no one lived next door to the programmer at that time.
Today, almost everyone in the Western world, and even in most developing countries, is surrounded by computers. And although programming remains a mystery to many, programmers are common neighbors.
So, let's scan the past six decades and see how culture is changing the way we are and what we are doing.
Forbidden Planet (1956) (Forbidden Planet)
It’s best to start from the beginning. The first truly classic sci-fi movie. Forbidden Planet. If you have not watched it, then you are missing something deep and exciting. I urge you to look, even study it.
There are no explicit references to computers or programmers in this film. This concept is simply not something that the public can relate to. However, there was a car. Very big car. And it was implied that she was smart, but not intelligent.
In the film, the anti-hero Dr. Morbius finds himself in the uninhabited world of Altair IV. He discovers an ancient alien machine. Two decades later, rescuers arrive on the planet.
The programmers of this large machine have long been dead, but they are described as belonging to a highly developed and benevolent alien race.
There is another car on this planet. This is a robot named Robbie.
Robbie is clearly smart and intelligent. He speaks English, with a twist of a true British butler, in Carson's manner in Downton Abbey. Dr. Morbius claims to have created the Robot, so he is clearly a programmer.
Morbius is diligent, strict, even severe. He is not evil, but he is a hermit and does not particularly like the company of others. He is also very smart, but quite antisocial.
Now remember that these were the 50s. In those days, scientists had a special stereotype, and Dr. Morbius corresponds to this, although with a hint of Captain Nemo.
Tobor the Great (1954) (Tobor the Great)
Yes, I go back two years, but only to say that I have not forgotten this film. I just don't consider it significant. It was a movie for children, and the semi-intelligent robot is much more like Lassie than Robbie. The creator of Tobor is an outstanding scientist who also follows the pattern of the 50s.
Star Trek (1966) (Star Trek)
In this series, we learn very little about programmers. The computer, however, was fascinating. The computer was voiced by Majel Barrett, the wife of Gene Roddenberry. She also played nurse Chapel and "number one" in a pilot episode of Star Trek. She voiced the computer in a completely monotonous voice. The information was factual. The computer never expressed its opinion and did not experience any emotions. He was nothing more than a tool.
The exception was an episode called The Ultimate Computer, in which a new intelligent computer was connected to the Enterprise ship. The creator (and implicitly programmer) of this machine was Dr. Deystrom. He and the computer had a simultaneous nervous breakdown, and Kirk had to "pull the plug."
The point is that programmers are so smart and motivated that they lose emotional stability over time.
This is one of the first examples of a computer acting as a villain.
2001: Space Odyssey (1968) (2001: A Space Odyssey)
The HAL 9000 computer is the villain of this story. We know little about the programmer, Dr. Chandra, except that he taught computer song.
Please note that in this era, it is the computer that is the character. Programmers, if any, are auxiliary.
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) (Colossus: The Forbin Project)
Another film in which the computer is a hyperintelligent villain, and the programmer is a scientist by the template of Dr. Morbius.
Blade Runner (1982)
Computers are some of the main characters and are essentially slaves. We will not meet programmers, but it is clear that they were moral bankrupt.
Tron (1982) (Tron)
Hero programmer defeats an evil computer. This is the first time we see a programmer as a good guy who defeats a computer. The film also portends The Matrix, because the main character is transferred to the computer. As a programmer (although he is called a "user"), he had power.
The hero-programmer here is described as a world famous scientist and businessman. He does not live next door.
War Games (1983) (War Games)
The computer is again a character, although this time an innocent duplicator. The boy meets with the programmer and conducts his psychoanalysis to convince the computer not to destroy the world. The programmer is portrayed as a famous scientist who is emotionally unstable. The computer is depicted as a character similar to a child who likes to play games.
The Terminator (1984) (The Terminator)
People program an evil computer, Skynet, who will then program Terminator to kill Sarah Connor. So this is a prediction of singularity. Computers program the computer.
One interesting aspect of this film is the image of a man who looks like a car that is fully focused on its mission. At first you think of the terminator as almost human, but gradually this humanization disappears. In the end, you see only a machine, dilapidated, having lost legs and the remains of a human form, still pursuing only one goal.
Short Circuit (1986) (Short Circuit)
(Sigh) Johnny No. 5 is a combat robot that was struck by a lightning strike. This makes the robot intelligent and purely innocent. In the end, the robot invents its own code of ethics, which is far superior to everything human.
Thus, in this case, there is no programmer - other than nature or God or anyone else.
Nice movie, but very dumb.
Jurassic Park (1993) (Jurassic Park)
This is our first real look at a humanized programmer. Dennis Nedry is not a crazy scientist, not a respected researcher, he is just an ordinary programmer. And he is a flawed man. Oh, there is something like Twinkie food, a basement stereotype, but this is the first time the films show the programmer as someone who can live next door.
A computer is not a character at all. It is just a tool (“Unix system”).
Network (1995) (The Net)
The main character is a programmer, who must use her programmer skills to defeat the ruthless conspiracy in which she is accused of murder and other vile things.
This is another case where a programmer can be someone in the neighborhood.
The Matrix (1999) (The Matrix)
All human characters are programmers. They all live in the neighborhood, but given the red pill, they are transferred to an alternative reality, where they can "see" the code. They are fighting an apocalyptic struggle for good and evil. The protagonist is a type of Jesus.
Total
Pay attention to the progression. Over the years, the presentation of the computer changes from the main character (good or evil) to an auxiliary character and instrument. A programmer turns from a non-existent into a mad or spoiled scientist, into nature or Skynet, into a guy next door, into a hyper-conscious Savior.
I also stopped this review shortly before the millennium. Have there been films since then in which programmers played a significant role? In fact, I think we moved from the screen and became part of the film industry. Almost no film currently shot can be made without huge computer graphics and programming efforts. So now they know us closely. We live in the neighborhood. And they no longer need to show us on the screen.