# Movies about tech paranoia for TechTV appearance **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737 "2002-04-09T22:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/21 "2002-04-10T14:05:47Z")
I second Jurassic Park. Let’s take an interesting premise, that we can clone dinosaurs and concentrate on the most uninteresting outcome – dinosaurs get loose and eat people (but only bad and/or boring people, not cute kids or hot babes). Oh, and let’s throw in some random babble about Chaos theory, just so the audience gets it – science is Bad. ---
**Author:** ![doc\_miller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@doc\_miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doc_miller)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/22 "2002-04-10T14:33:51Z")
Are you looking specifically for movies where the characters are afraid of technology or a specific technological device (like _Terminator_) , or is it sufficient that the writer / producer / director is attempting to instill technophobia into the audience? For the second, I think _The Andromeda Strain_ would be a pretty good choice, and possibly _Coma_ as well, though I don’t remember it as well as I would like. _Bladerunner_ might be a good choice, and _Robocop_ too. You might also be able to get some mileage out of _Rollerball_ (the original, of course), though it deals more with corporate paranoia then technological. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/23 "2002-04-10T19:52:20Z")
Cronenberg’s Videodrome? ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/24 "2002-04-10T20:08:41Z")
_The Lawnmower Man_ – pretty crappy, but good theme for technophobia, I think. Snip from [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com) > [@](#): > > A scientist performs experiments involving intelligence enhancing drugs and virtual reality on a simple-minded gardener. He puts the gardener on an extensive schedule of learning, and quickly he becomes brilliant. But at this point the gardener has a few ideas of his own on how the research should continue, and the scientist begins losing control of his experiments. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/25 "2002-04-10T20:26:50Z")
Even Poor Leo’s Computer Almanac has a bit of technophobia. Leo dressed up as a farmer/hayseed (not that the two are interchangeable, I just can’t decide which I mean to use), trying to separate himself from someone more technologically advanced. BTW, say Hi to Pat and Leo for me 🙂 (man, why don’t women like Leo’s Angels work in MY tech support center?) ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/26 "2002-04-10T22:05:39Z")
_eXistenZ_ is about a virtual reality game designer who may have anti-tech terrorists stalking her. That’s the plot. The theme is the nature of identity and perception in a world where people are connected primarily by technology. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/27 "2002-04-11T02:03:39Z")
Not to be overly critical (he’s a very good author) but Michael Crichton has made a billion or two with the following: [ul] [li]Man perfects new technology (space germ/androids/dinosaurs)[/li][li]Man exploits new technology (germ weapon/amusement park/amusement park)[/li][li]New technology overpowers and kills man (Andromedia Strain/Westworld/Jurassic Park)[/li][/ul] Timeline, Terminal Man and Coma sort of fit in there somewhere too. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/28 "2002-04-11T02:41:20Z")
What about _1984_? Its a political movie, but let’s not forget that it deals with technology that intrudes into every aspect of our lives. Not to mention its quite possible that Orwell’s idea for the telescreens came from the misguided belief many had when TV was first described to the masses that it was a two way device! ---
**Author:** ![shell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@shell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shell)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/29 "2002-04-11T03:06:49Z")
How about HAL the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/30 "2002-04-11T04:19:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Carnage \* > \*\* > BTW, say Hi to Pat and Leo for me 🙂 (man, why don’t women like Leo’s Angels work in MY tech support center?) \*\* I doubt I’ll see them; they are usually gone by the time Call For Help goes on the air. I did bump into Megan Evilroni the last time I was there. She was very nice, and was wearing one of those funny t-shirts. 😉 I am still gathering ideas. I like a lot of these suggestions, but I am still trying to find the right ones. I want movies that have paranoia in them, and are about paranoid subjects. Certainly The Matrix fits, as Anderson is very paranoid about these guys who can see everything he does, and the movie itself feeds a paranoia of machines and the dehumanization of mankind. Colossus does the same, but it’s not out on DVD, so I don’t know if we can use it. I have not seen GATTACA, but I bet it has the right idea. I’ll try to watch it in the next week or two. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/31 "2002-04-11T04:39:20Z")
I second Enemy of the State. It’s perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/32 "2002-04-11T14:17:18Z")
Oh, how about the made-for-TV mini-series _Wild Palms_? Pretty paranoid and creepy as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/33 "2002-04-11T16:07:40Z")
I will third the suggestion about “The Net”…one company that with a secret backdoor can change your entire life?..Uh-huh, suuuurrre. Also along those lines, what about a more recent one…“Hackers” I think? I boy goes to work for a huge corp. and discovers that they are secretly spying on independant programers all over the world, stealing their code, and killing them. Oh, and let’s not forget they store and upload it all inside the childrens day-care center. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/34 "2002-04-11T20:38:29Z")
Since _Enemy of the State_ has been mentioned a few times, I’d like to mention its superior and far more paranoid inspiration, _The Conversation_. It’s a character study/mystery thriller about a surveillance expert investigating a case. He’s introverted and, yes paraonoid, due to the nature of the job and the spy technology that he uses as a filter between himself and other people. Did he choose this job due to his nature or did his job make him that way? The final scenes where the watcher becomes the watched are absolutely chilling. Paranoia wins. Even if you don’t use it on the show you should definitely watch this classic and, yes, it’s on DVD. Cool trivia: In _Enemy of the State_, when the evil gov’t agents look up Gene Hackman’s personnel file, the photo used is a still from _The Conversation_ ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/35 "2002-04-11T20:58:48Z")
How could we have forgotten _Forbidden Planet_? That one’s _all about_ tech paranoia in its most primitive sense. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/36 "2002-04-11T21:50:01Z")
What about _A.I._. I don’t remember the exact line, but there was something said by Gigilo Joe, 'They made us too msart, too many. They hate us." and there is the Flesh Fair and the leaving David in the forrest because he seems to be dangerous and gives off a creepy, “i see dead people” vibe. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/37 "2002-04-11T22:30:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hodge \* > I’d like to mention its superior and far more paranoid inspiration, _The Conversation_. And I’d like to second it. You will be hard pressed to find a more tech-paranoid movie than this. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/38 "2002-04-11T22:57:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > \*\* > Timeline, Terminal Man and Coma sort of fit in there somewhere too. \*\* Except I’m pretty sure Coma was by Robin Cook. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/39 "2002-04-11T23:21:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bren\_Cameron \* > \*\* > > Except I’m pretty sure Coma was by Robin Cook. \*\* The book was written by Robin Cook but Michael Crichton directed the movie. The subject matter is certainly right up his alley, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737/40 "2002-04-12T00:13:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hodge \* > \*\*The book was written by Robin Cook but Michael Crichton directed the movie. The subject matter is certainly right up his alley, isn’t it? \*\* Well, your first two points fit. But I don’t think the third one does. With Robin Cook, the technology itself is always neutral, and it’s entirely the actions of the people who use it that determine whether it saves or destroys. In your Chrichton model, the third step happens because the technology itself has been given the power to destroy. In Cook, it happens because a corrupt person uses the technology to destroy. A subtle difference, but it leads to very different ideas about technology. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-tech-paranoia-for-techtv-appearance/102737.md?page=3)