How nerds grew into cynics in 60 years

Selectel

We studied bright films from different eras to share with you a retrospective of the image of a “typical IT specialist.” Below the cut we share our conclusions and observations.

60–80s: IT guy – nerd and city crazy

The image of an IT geek began to appear in films from the early sixties, when working with computers began to emerge as a separate profession and new specialists were needed. At that time, this area of knowledge was incomprehensible and mysterious to the audience, so the film IT specialists were also eccentric: who knows what they are doing behind these new huge machines.

At first there was no clear image of a typical IT specialist. Engineers, mathematicians, and cybernetics worked on computers and similar technologies. And outwardly it was difficult to distinguish a programmer of those years from a specialist at a research institute or a graduate student in mechanical engineering: a shirt and sweater, a small beard, glasses. In the seventies, the image of an IT specialist began to emerge more clearly in popular culture.

For example, a typical IT specialist from a 70s movie is a geek who understands new technologies, but at the same time seems unsuited for real life.

Here are some striking characteristics of IT specialists from films of that era.

Distracted and awkward like Richard from the movies Office set” (1953)

Richard is a kind of Neanderthal among IT specialists, no longer young, but an energetic inventor. He is sensitive to his brainchild, the “electronic brain,” but at the same time he confuses such little things as the days of the week and, for example, comes to a meeting a day early.

Girls like Richard, but he himself, first of all, likes his smart car. He enthusiastically discusses where he will put the invention, but does not see at all how upset his colleagues are – after all, Richard’s machine can replace them.

The IT specialist’s absent-minded appearance is emphasized – by corporate standards, he wears a formal suit, but his feet are often wearing different socks – and Richard doesn’t even notice it.

Still from the film “Cabinet Set” / 20th Century-Fox / 1953.

Unprepared for real life like hacker Dave in the movie “War Games” (1983)

Dave loves computers and comes back to them all the time; he can easily interrupt a family dinner if a brochure on game development catches his eye. And while trying to find the password for the game, he falls out of life for a whole week: he forgets about sleep and food, does not go to school, and his friends find it in a pile of papers.

90s: IT guy can do anything

Since the 90s, IT specialists in films have ceased to be mysterious and secluded and began to receive more attention on the screen: advising the main characters (or even being them), solving all technical problems. Such IT specialists have begun to communicate more, but often it is the cyber part of their work that remains in the background.

An IT specialist from the culture of the nineties is like a superhero: he can cope with any problem, while looking beautiful and leading grandmothers across the road.

IT people from the movies of that era:

Persistent and not giving uplike tester Angela in the film “Network” (1995)

Sandra Bullock’s character is like an unlucky girl for whom everything goes wrong. She is the first to be eliminated on the list of cyberterrorists and the police, and ends up either in prison or in the hospital. Even the house is being sold without her knowledge. However, Angela is very persistent and does not like it when she cannot solve a problem. She does not give up – she searches for the truth, defends herself and, of course, destroys the Trojan program, which almost caused big problems in the world.

Invincible and solving all problems, like Neo from “Matrix” (1999)

Neo is resourceful, thinks and reacts quickly, and is always ready to help. He deftly fights off agents at the beginning of the film, and by the end he easily stops bullets with his hands and avoids death.

Neo is a real superhero. He can hack a website, deal with the Smith army, and save humanity from slavery, putting an end to the war with machines.

Still from the film “The Matrix” / Warner Bros, Village Roadshow Pictures, Groucho II Film Partnership / 1999.

Saving the world from environmental disasterlike Dade and the team of high school hackers in the film “Hackers” (1995)

Dade is a born computer genius. At the age of 11, he was able to infect the New York Stock Exchange with a virus, and at 18, he easily changed the broadcast program of local TV channels. It’s not difficult for him to hack into the network of an oil corporation on a dare. But Dade is not just a talented hacker, he is a true IT specialist of the 90s: he creates problems for bad guys, fights for the truth and, of course, prevents an environmental disaster on a global scale.

00s: IT specialist – the guy next door

Since the beginning of the 2000s, the image of an IT specialist has acquired new features. IT specialists have stopped being superheroes and become people who are simply good at technology. Now the IT specialist is not only a half-genius and half-crazy hacker – more and more universal human traits appear in him.

An IT specialist may not live by work alone and not save the world, but relax a little and even joke. He is a living person with his own character – and not always ideal.

Another typical IT guy from the movies of the 2000s:

Problematic, but come to his senses, like the hacker Stanley in the movie “Password “Swordfish”” (2001)

Stanley is a hacker who served time for cyber crimes. He decides to change: he pumps up his muscles and charisma, wears an earring in his ear, and is ready to fight for his family. Stanley is an IT specialist, a loving father, and even a bit of a hero-lover. But life periodically throws challenges at him that force him to reconsider his principles.

Still from the film “Password “Swordfish”” / Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures / 2001.

With a full range of human weaknesses, like Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues in the film “The Social Network” (2010)

Mark Zuckerberg’s story is controversial: some accuse him that to create Facebook* he stole the work of a colleague and did not pay him money. In addition, for Mark, his career as an IT specialist essentially began with the fact that he created a controversial site for assessing the appearance of female students at Harvard.

But despite all his vices, the insults he writes on his blog, and even the lawsuit, this film IT specialist remains true to his idea and achieves success, albeit in a not very ethical way.

* The activities of Meta Platforms Inc., which owns this social network, are recognized as extremist and prohibited in the Russian Federation.

Simple-minded and endearing, like Gena from the movie “Hottabych” (2006)

It seems that the main character of the film, Gena, is always doing nonsense. His image is frivolous: he either wants to create a beer opener on a computer mouse, or get a lot of money (in the end it ends up not on paper, but in papyrus) or even to make the hacker heroine fall in love with him.

The life of IT specialist Gena well conveys the atmosphere of the 2000s: a kind of fun pastime in which he and Hottabych surf the Internet and use ICQ.

Lover of dark humoras biologist-hacker Ivan in the series “Trace” (since 2007)

Sometimes not only IT specialists, but also biologists become hackers. Ivan loves cynical black humor, and always tells jokes with the most indifferent face possible, without laughing himself. Like other IT specialists of the 2000s, Ivan often looks like a gamer who doesn’t leave the house for weeks; it’s hard to surprise him with anything. This IT specialist himself is not averse to making unconventional “jokes”: for example, he once hacked into the accounts of businessmen and transferred their money to drug treatment clinics.

Still from the series “Trace” / 2007.

Modernity – an IT specialist can be anyone

Over the past decade, IT as a field has lost its mystique for audiences: now anyone can work in it, so there is no point in holding on to stereotypes about unknown worlds or alternative personalities. IT people are people who have their own concerns, opinions and passions.

Here’s how IT people are represented in cinema today:

Geek social phobeslike the hacker Elliot in the series “Mr. Robot” (2015–2019)

Elliot is a classic techie who feels lonely all the time. That is why he does hacking, to observe the lives of others, to feel like he is among people. At the same time, he doesn’t really like the real world: he prefers to stay at home, suffers from psychophysical disorders, and his mental abilities are stronger than his fists.

Talented and frivolouslike the characters in the series “Silicon Valley” (2014–2019)

Perhaps the format of the series speaks about the carefree nature of the characters – it’s a sitcom. But there are several situations when we understand that the heroes are really careless in life. For example, one of the characters with Canadian citizenship ignores immigration requirements because, in his own words, he is a “citizen of the world.”

In one of the first episodes, the characters are afraid that artificial intelligence will take over the world and do not want to work with it, but by the sixth season they are creating a bot that responds to annoying messages from friends.

Silicon Valley was also discussed in another text – about data centers in cinema. We compared how they look on screen and in real life.

Still from the series “Silicon Valley” / 3 Arts Entertainment, Ternion Productions / 2014–2019.

Do what they really likelike Nine in the movie “Ocean’s Eight” (2019)

Rihanna’s character in the film is similar to the singer herself: she does not pay attention to gossip and conflicting opinions about her in society, but allows herself to be herself and do what she likes. Her image is a mixture of a bandit and a Rastafarian: Nine does not convert anyone to her faith, she devotes herself completely to her work and knows that she is coping with it perfectly.