An Analysis of the Film TRON
The purpose of my project is to discover how technology is represented within the film Tron. To answer this research question, I viewed and analyzed the movie and incorporated information from the text and various websites. While studying this film, I took into consideration factors such as images and language used, how technology is related to society, and what symbols the creator used to convey certain qualities of technology. In this research paper, I will begin by explaining the significance of this project and my areas of research. I will then relay the focus of my investigation, the methods I employed to gain my research, analyze the film, and discuss the implications of my analysis. I will conclude with a summary of the main points.
A film such as Tron, with a plot that centers on science and technology, is an important artifact to study because it demonstrates our capabilities and understandings of technology in 1982, when the film was released. It also illuminates societal views of technology in the 1980s, and possible debates over proper uses of technology. It serves as an example of the manner in which technology was communicated to the public at that particular time.
In my Rhetoric and Public Life class I learned that artifacts such as Tron are part of our social construction of reality. I have learned that popular culture and the film influence each other. I now have an overall understanding of how technology was represented in the movie. I first prepared for this project by researching the movie on the Internet. I found that Tron has several websites dedicated to it, one of which is maintained by a fan named Guy Gordon. From this site, I discovered what the movie is about, "A hacker is literally abducted into the world of a computer and forced to participate in gladiatorial games." By finding out ahead of time what made up the movie plot, I felt I had a good idea of how technology would be represented. This description led me to believe that the outlook of technology at the time, when the Internet was just being introduced to the public, was fear. People feared the unknown power of the new technology of computers. Tron is a story of man battling his own creations, which represents technology as a powerful force with destructive capabilities.
I am interested in this project because I have always liked science fiction/fantasy movies. I like to think about the possibilities that technology holds for our future. I am also interested in how technology influences our culture. I was in high school when this movie came out and had limited access to computers at that time. I wasn’t concerned with the impact of new computer technology then, but remember hearing people say that machines would someday run the world. For example, I worked for a grocery store in the 1980s and remember other employees worrying that new machines were being developed that would replace the cashiers, and we would all be out of a job. I think this movie would probably have a bigger impact now that computers are such a large part of our everyday lives. Artificial intelligence is still a popular theme for science fiction movies, so people must like to consider it a possibility. I’ve read that there is a possible sequel to the movie coming out in the near future.
How is technology represented in the movie Tron?
To answer this question, I focused on how language and images in the film are used to represent technology. I also looked at symbolism and the way technology relates to the individual. Finally, I looked at the ways in which the movie’s creator and producers represented technology.
To gather information I rented the movie Tron from Hollywood video rentals and viewed it. I took notes throughout the movie, concentrating on factors such as images and language used, how technology is related to society, and what symbols the creator used to convey certain qualities of technology. I jotted down the names of characters and their roles in the story. I also took notes on the physical setting of the movie, paying close attention to how technology was represented in the visual surroundings. Finally, I wrote down quotes that illustrated the creators’ views of technology. As I had predicted, I had to watch the movie twice since many technical terms are used and the language is somewhat hard to follow. I missed much of the symbolism the first time around, and paid more attention to the plot. The second time I watched Tron, I was more focused on symbolism and small details and added things I had missed to my notes.I also gathered information from Tron themed websites, which contain facts and information about the movie. Furthermore, I found a website that contained a review of the movie, which helped me to understand some of the symbolism in Tron. I used our textbook as a third tool to serve as a base for technological focus. This now brings me to my analysis of Tron.
The Storyline
The story of Tron revolves around a computer games designer named Flynn, who hacks into his ex-employer’s computer system to find proof that the Senior Executive Vice President has stolen and taken credit for games that Flynn designed. While trying to hack into the system, Flynn is abducted into the computer and forced to fight for survival against the powers of the Master Control Program. The Master Control Program, which Flynn helped to design, has developed a mind of its own and plans to take over the world. Flynn is aided inside the computer world by a group of programs, which are slowly being used up or destroyed by the Master Control Program. In the outside world the people who wrote the programs help Flynn. Together they manage to defeat the Master Control Program and his human accomplice, and peace is restored.
Relationship of Technology to Society - Depiction as Satan
According to our text, some critics of a new medium see it as "the destroyer of civilization" (Adams & Clark, p. 267). I feel that computer technology was viewed with this dystopic regard in Tron. The ominous Master Control Program started out as a chess program, but soon took on artificial intelligence and a desire to run the universe. When Flynn became a threat to the plans of the Master Control Program, he was abducted through a laser into the computer world through "matter transformation." There he was supposed to be destroyed.
The public in the 1980s was fascinated by the possibilities that the computer presented, but at the same time feared them. In his analysis of the movie, Adrian McOran-Campbell states, "The film is an early warning against the cold machinations of a reliance on technology, an elimination or neglect of the human element in aspects of business and science." I agree with McOran-Campbell that society feared machines could replace them and that human concerns would take a back seat to technology. People worried that they might end up serving the machines instead of the machines serving them. At one point in the movie the Master Control Program tells the evil Senior Executive Vice President who created it, "That’s what I get for using humans."
Images and Language
Most of the images in the computer world are dark and cold, representing the unfeeling world of machines. The visual rhetoric of the film persuades the viewer that machines can be sinister and ominous. Two colors appear the most in this world, neon red for the bad guys, and neon blue for the heroes. These images make it easier to depict who is good and who is evil inside this dark setting. It is interesting to me that Star Wars also depicted its hero, Luke Skywalker, with a blue light saber, and the evil Darth Vader with red. Blue represents cool and loyal, yet powerful, whereas red is hot and unstable, but also powerful.
The office of the Senior Executive Vice President of Encom, Dillinger, is also very cold and dark. There are not any human elements displayed in the room, like a family photo on the desk. The desk itself is massive, streamlined and black, with the computer built into the desktop. Lights on the desk are synchronous to the Master Control Program’s deep voice. This is where the Master Control Program and Dillinger communicate. This dark and powerful image helps to give the computer an added sense of foreboding.
The image of the hero in this movie is important as well. Flynn’s persona is that of a fun-loving guy who is very intelligent, yet loves to play computer games. He is very human. This is a sharp contrast to the evil ally of the Master Control Program, Dillinger. Dillinger is cold, calculating and power hungry. He is represented in the computer world by a program, Sark, which is also literally trying to gain power. At one point in the computer world, Sark orders Flynn to kill his opponent in a war game, but Flynn refuses. Sark then kills the opponent. I believe that Flynn represents humanity and Dillinger/Sark, along with the Master Control Program, represents technology. Flynn as humanity is very caring and empathetic, while the Master Control Program and Dillinger are cold and calculating.
The language in the film is technical, which helps to make the story believable. It also makes it more difficult for non-technical audience members to understand certain phrases and jokes. There are several examples in Tron where language creates a threatening view of technology. The creator of Encom spoke one phrase that created a threatening image of technology in my mind. He said, "Computers will start thinking and the people will stop." This emphasizes the dystopic view of technology that as technological power grows, human knowledge diminishes. Another important line spoken later in the movie by a computer program was, "If users can no longer help us, we’re lost." The users are the humans who write the computer programs. This line indicates that the evil in the computer may be too strong for humans to compete with. In a third scene, the Master Control Program tells Dillinger, "With the information I can access, I can run things 900 — 1200 times better than any human," implying superior knowledge and abilities. In this scene the Master Control Program also threatens to expose Dillinger as a thief, and Dillinger realizes he is taking orders from the computer. The language in these examples adds to societal fears that computers can be smarter than we are and have the capacity to negatively impact our lives.
Symbols
Symbols used by Tron’s creators also helped to convey technology as threatening to society. First, the Master Control Program is symbolized in the computer world as a menacing, red neon cylinder of energy. In Flynn’s world it is a cold, hard and dark desk, void of signs of humanity. These symbols of technology leave the viewer with an intimidating view of computers.
Technology is also symbolized as threatening by the game grid battles that take place in the computer world. The gladiatorial-type games that the programs and Flynn are forced to play symbolize a battle of human against their own creations. The programs are waiting for the users to come and save them from the Master Control Program, yet Flynn, a user himself, is forced to fight against them. When a program dies, it becomes useless to the users and the users are forced to deal with only one system, the Master Control Program. Flynn also had a hand in programming the Master Control Program, yet is forced to battle it for survival. This again depicts technology as a menacing force that has the power to surpass our capabilities and to take control of our lives. Yet, the humans triumph in the end.
Finally, the computer world in Tron symbolizes our modern world. It illustrates technology in a negative light with the threat of computers taking control of our lives, just like the Master Control Program’s ability to dictate lives. In the movie, there was a parallel between the computer world and Flynn’s world. The camera would shift from the dark computer world, with its red and blue neon, to the real world, where a helicopter is flying through a dark night sky, silhouetted in red and blue neon. I think the creators of Tron wanted to show the similarities in these two worlds as a warning against replacing human originality and creativity with technology that is cold and limited. They were careful to demonstrate how the activities in the computer world directly affected the real world in the same way.
Through this analysis, I have learned that society can have adverse reactions to a new medium because of the fear of the unknown. In 1982, when Tron was released, computers were fairly new in society and many people had little experience with them. Tron capitalized on these fears with its storyline of a computer wreaking havoc. Tron communicated an image of technology as a new enemy to protect ourselves against. The visual rhetoric from Tron illustrates a society frightened by the new computer medium. This information falls right in line with what I have been learning in this class.
What I have learned from this class is that people make sense of a new medium in the same way they made sense of an old medium. For example, some critics also feared that television would lead to the downfall of society. New media are neither Satan nor savior, but somewhere in between. I feel that I have a more educated view of computer technology now, in that I have learned a lot about how computers and the Internet operate. I will be less inclined to worry about threats from new communication medium, and have a more realistic view of a computer’s abilities.
In this class I have also learned many of the benefits and downfalls of the Internet as a communication tool. For example, we recently discussed many of the benefits of online shopping and education. There are also downfalls to this type of communication, like invasion of privacy and the spreading of urban legends. By analyzing the Internet as a communication tool I feel that it has its strong and weak points, but certainly is not a threat to civilization as depicted in Tron.
With this project, I answered the research question: "How is technology represented in the movie Tron?" By looking at factors such as images and language used, how technology is related to society, and what symbols the creator used to convey certain qualities of technology, I discovered that technology is represented in this movie as a threat to society. By incorporating course concepts, I realize that people often have this reaction when encountering a new medium. I have also learned that there are many benefits, as well as drawbacks to this medium, but it is neither the destroyer of civilization nor the savior of impending doom. It is important to understand how it fits into our lives.
Adams, Tyrone and Clark, Norman, (2001). The Internet: Effective Online Communication. Harcourt College Publishers.
Gordon, Guy, (2002). The Tron Page. Retrieved February 20, 2002 from the World Wide Web: www.Tron-movie.com.
Mcoran-Campbell, Adrian, Tron. The Unorthodox Reel. Retrieved March 26, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.un-reel.co.uk/Tron.htm.
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