laura@utcsstat.UUCP (07/10/83)
In case any of you technologically-minded people are wondering what other less-technologically minded are getting out of WARGAMES, I can let you in on the secret that lots of them are hearing TECHNOLOGY is BAD, pure and simple. I still havent seen the movie, but when I went home to my parents the other night to celebrate my brother's birthday I found the whole family was debating whether WARGAMES was a vehicle for demonstrating the virtues of Marxism. (My brother discovered Marxism 2 years ago and still thinks it is the neatest thing since sliced bread.) Everybody was agreed that it says that "TECHNOLOGY is EVIL"; not that hard a proposition for my family to swallow, all of whom believe that Technology is at best "not-very-good". Both my brother and my mother claimed that "everyone they knew" thought that technology was "more evil" as a result of seeing WARGAMES. My mother, interestingly enough, has also not seen WARGAMES. Laura Creighton utzoo!utcsstat!laura
jm@tekid.UUCP (Jeff Mizener) (07/12/83)
If you agree with Laura Creighton (utcsstat!laura) about WARGAMES
promoting the "technology is evil" attitude (I do), what about
BLUE THUNDER??? It says: "Technology Is Good For Repressing People".
Are people making these movies because they want to cash in on the
current popularity of being stupid, or because they are trying to
propagandize us into thinking that we should smash all the computers?
I wonder.
Some of my best friends are technologists...
Jeff Mizener
Tektronix Inc., ID/ADG
Beaverton, OR
{pur-ee,ihnss,cbosg,aat,uw-beaver}
uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,chico,ssc-vax,groucho}!teklabs!tekid!jm
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CSnet: tekid!jm@tek
ARPA: tekid!jm.tek@rand-relay paul@uofm-cv.UUCP (07/12/83)
1950s movies "Technology is good, aliens are bad" Now "Aliens are good, technology is bad"
tim@unc.UUCP (07/13/83)
Although technology is more good than bad, some on this group
seem to be offended by any suggestion that there is any potential for
abuse whatsoever. For instance, someone objected to Blue Thunder on
the grounds that its message was that technology is good for
repressing people. Got news for you, guy -- technology IS good for
repressing people. Better snooping technology, better weapons
technology, better restraint technology, better behavior control
technology... All these are realities now, and are a dictator's wet
dream.
With new power comes new problems. Your knee-jerk pro-technology
reactions are no better than Luddism. Usually the extent of the
problems is overstated in movies, but this is an inherent problem with
the medium. If you want rationality, read a book. There just aren't
enough words in a movie to explain complicated issues well.
______________________________________
The overworked keyboard of Tim Maroney
duke!unc!tim (USENET)
tim.unc@udel-relay (ARPA)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hillmsc@qubix.UUCP (07/13/83)
If you agree with Laura Creighton (utcsstat!laura) about WARGAMES
promoting the "technology is evil" attitude (I do), what about
BLUE THUNDER??? It says: "Technology Is Good For Repressing People".
One of the many things technology is good for, unfortunately, is repressing
people. One of the basic necessities for repression is the collection of
vast amounts of data about the people and that is as we all know one of the
things computers are good at.
If this discussion is to be continued it should move to net.politics or
fa.human-nets.
--
Mark
...{decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!qubix!msc
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decwrl!qubix!msc@Berkeley.ARPAmcewan@uiucdcs.UUCP (07/24/83)
#R:utcsstat:-77200:uiucdcs:10700035:000:242 uiucdcs!mcewan Jul 23 17:00:00 1983 ***** uiucdcs:net.movies / uofm-cv!paul / 2:33 pm Jul 12, 1983 1950s movies "Technology is good, aliens are bad" Now "Aliens are good, technology is bad" ---------- Yes, but ALIEN technology is good! Scott McEwan uiucdcs!mcewan
kline@uiucuxc.UUCP (07/25/83)
#R:utcsstat:-77200:uiucuxc:4000050:000:466 uiucuxc!kline Jul 24 19:22:00 1983 We need a see-what-technology-does-to-make-everyday-life- easier movie. And not the gee-whiz timbre of "Fast Forward" and "The Computer Programme" either. NASA has been using this approach for years: if people want to complain about evil technology and government waste on the space program, let them give back their microwave ovens and pocket calculators and non-stick pans. I think Wargames was a step in the opposite direction. Charley Kline, U of I CSO.