(Comments and feedback welcome)
Just as with any industry, Information Technology has a common cultural basis. Just as doctors and lawyers from different parts of the country watch the same TV shows and read the same books, IT people have a common cultural basis.
IT culture is formed by movies (IT people generally watch a LOT of movies) and technology, and ironically, by movies ABOUT technology. The goal of this list (“required reading (movie) list”) is to expose a person to all the basic memes (A “meme” is a cultural element) common in IT culture. This is not a “all the cool movies in the universe” list, as numerous fanboys already have dozens of those, and spend countless hours presumably arguing about them.
To be considered an “IT meme”, and therefore appear on this list, a movie must postulate something NEW, something INTERESTING, or epitomize a METAPHOR.
This list is intended for IT leaders and “non-IT” folks to help them understand more about common IT culture. On occasion, you find a wayward soul who works in IT but lacks some of these key elements, and therefore lives as an outsider, since they don’t get any of the jokes or references, and this list can be provided to help them get back “on track”.
If you watch all the movies on this list, you’ll know what the IT folks are talking about when they walk in to your office and say: “So…. I hear you’ve been having problems with your TPS reports lately….”.
- Office Space (Comedy)
(If you didn’t “get it” or didn’t think it’s funny, watch it a second time. TRUST ME.)TPS Reports: Metaphor for something useless but seemingly importantPieces of Flair: Metaphor for TPS Reports
Lumberg: Metaphor for “the boss” who profits by making everyone’s life hell
Stapler: Metaphor for something IMPORTANT, but seemingly useless
Michael Bolton:
– Metaphor for accepting something you don’t like in order to try to fit in
– Metaphor for something useless that BECOMES important because it SOUNDS importantTom Smykowski: Useless middle-manager
10 bosses: Metaphor for the stress created by conflicting priorities and expectations
“The Bobs”: Clueless consultants who’s input just makes things worse
Concepts:
– Life as a rat in a cubicle maze, and breaking out of the maze
– Tom Smykowski: Gets his big break by breaking all his bones (can’t enjoy his new freedom)
– Milton: Pushed too far and snapsTop Quotable Lines:
(Too many quotable lines to list them all)
“Hey, Peter……. WHAT’s haaaapening?”
“Did you get the memo? We’re using the NEW cover sheets on the TPS reports”
“I take the specs to the engineers…” - Galaxy Quest (Sci-Fi / Comedy)
For those of you who don’t watch Star Trek, this sums up the entire series all in one movie. Galaxy Quest is not a part of Star Trek, but a parody.Idols: The fans obsessively idolize meaningless, fictional charactersGalaxy Quest: a fictional series of TV shows and movies that dragged on and on and eventually became a caricature of itself
Nesmith / Taggart: Metaphor for righteousness as well as redemption
Guy: Expendable crew member (In Star Trek culture, known as a “Red Shirt” or “Nameless Ensign”)
Quotable Lines:
“Never give up! Never surrender!”
“Those poor people!” - 2001: A Space Odyssey (Sci-Fi)
The sequel, 2010 was not that great.HAL 9000:
– The artificially-intelligent computer who blows a fuse and tries to kill everyone
– Artificially calm
– All-seeingMonolith: Metaphor for human evolution
Quotable Lines:
“Good morning, Dave.”
“Open the pod bay doors, HAL!” - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Sci-Fi / Star Trek)
If you see ONE Star Trek movie, see THIS ONEKobayashi Maru: A “no win” scenario / Thinking outside the boxKhan: A nemesis created by a bad decision
Quotable Lines:
“KHAAAAAAAAAAAN!!”
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” - WarGames (Thriller)
This movie started many people off in search of computer-related careers…WOPR: AI that tries to destroy the world because it can’t distinguish a game from realitySocial Engineering: …at it’s finest.
Hacking: The concept of hacking in to change grades, buy airline tickets, play unreleased games, destroy the world…..hackers can DO ANYTHING! (at least… in the movie, they can….)
Phreaking: Before hackers hacked computers, phreakers phreaked phones
Computer nerds: Displayed in their native habitat
Joshua: A metaphor for something lost that might be salvaged
Quotable Lines:
“Shall we play a game?” - Tron (Sci-Fi / Action)
Flynn gets sucked in to the computer to play videogamesUser: Metaphor for GodLight Cycles: CG motorcycles that leave “light trails” behind. In the arena, the goal is to get your opponents to hit your light trail or a wall. EVERY programmer came home after seeing the movie, and wrote a “Light Cycles” program. ALL OF US.
Anthropomorphized: Programs run around inside the computer and look like people
Bit: The helpful helper you never wanted
MCP: Evil program that becomes the gatekeeper between the “computer world” and the “real world”.
Videogame: At the time of it’s release, the Tron arcade videogame was the best movie-to-videogame adaptation.
Memorable Quotes:
“YesYesYes”
“My User!” - Army of Darkness (Horror / Comedy)
“Army” is the third movie in a series of three, directed by Sam Raimi, who later went on to direct Spiderman. The first two movies are “Evil Dead” and “Evil Dead II”. If you like “Army”, watch Evil Dead II. “II” does not really cover any new ground over the original, which was a very low-budget movie, and therefore “II” is more of a remake than a sequel. “Army” is a direct sequel to “II”. Unless you are a die-hard fan, skip the original.Ash: The shotgun-toting, chainsaw-weilding anti-hero who does as much harm as good.Top quotable lines:
“This is my BOOM stick!”
“I said all the words!”
“Protect the book!”
“Shop smart! Shop S-Mart” - Terminator / Terminator 2 (Action / Sci-Fi)
1 and 2 were directed by James Cameron. 3 was not nearly as good. “Salvation” (4), goes in a different direction.Terminator: Merciless, unstoppable killing machineJohn Connor: Grandfather paradox (well… sort of)
Sarah Connor: Symbolizes the need to understand why we do things, not just what we need to do
Top quotable lines:
“I’ll be back!”
“Come with me if you want to live” - Star Wars 4,5,6 (Sci-Fi)
4, 5, and 6 comprise the “original trilogy”, and 1,2 and 3 comprise the “new trilogy”. The “original trilogy” was made before the “new trilogy”, but chronologically, they are reversed: events in the “new trilogy” (1,2,3) precede those in the “original trilogy” (4,5,6).George Lucas did it that way to tell the story that precedes the original trilogy. Or, to keep us on our toes. Or, because he hates us. No one is quite sure…Jedi: Analogy for someone very skillful at their professionLuke: Goes from whiner to Jedi over the course of three movies
Darth Vader: Metaphor for evil, and later, redemption
Light Saber: EVERY IT PERSON HAS ONE AT HOME (OR WANTS ONE). ALL OF US.
Paraphrased Quotes:
(There are very few quotable lines from Star Wars, but IT folks adapt situations in the movie to real life, paraphrasing lines from the move)“Aw…. Now I’ll never be a Jedi!” (Refers to Luke whining most of the way through 4 and 5)
“Do, or do not. There is no ‘try’.” (quote some obscure bit of wisdom while imitating Yoda)
“[Chewbaca Growl]” (Speaks for itself. Very few people actually growl like Chewbaca…. but some of them actually do.)
“My master plan is nearly complete!” (make a nefarious-sounding statement while imitating Darth Vader) Alternately: “NOW! Witness the power of this fully-operational server!”
Comments / feedback welcome.