Study Questions for Hackers
Paul Guyer

I have not seen the film before.

1.  I did not like the film.

2.  I feel that the makers of the film concentrated too much on making the
web look flashy.  There was more concern with exciting images rather than
realistic images.  The images that were appearing on the screens while the
characters were hacking were not realistic at all, especially when you
consider that the teenagers were going bonkers over a laptop computer that
had a 28.8 baud modem.  A 28.8 modem is not capable of transmitting the
amount of data required to produce the flashy images that were seen.

3.  The idea of recording the electronic signal that a pay telephone emits
when money is deposited was very interesting.  Whether this really works or
not, I do not know.  However, this concept was presented in a very believable
way, in sharp contrast to the other "technical" ideas that were conveyed.

4.  Class:  Most of the characters in the movie could be labeled as "middle
class," but I don't think that there was much conflict between classes in an
economic sense.  The movie was about the conflict between different social
classes.  There was the main conflicts between the "hacker class" and the
"corporate-profit minded-screw the people class," as well as the hacker vs.
the oppressive uninformed government.  There was also the minor issue of
class with respect to "earning" your status as a hacker, which was shown with
Joey's pursuit of a recognition within the group.

Gender:  There was a gender conflict, shown in the competition between Dade
and Libby over who was the better hacker.  Though both were portrayed as
almost equal, Dade managed to come back from his early  loss (being bumped
from the television studio) to "beat" Libby in the competition to pester
agent Gill.

Ethnicity:  There were ethnic conflicts between the characters, and many
races were represented.

Age:  The age of the characters is important because it helps to better
establish the conflict between the hackers and the corporate criminals/FBI.
The hackers are young, and according to social beliefs, inexperienced and
only concerned with creating havoc.  The older corporate figures are the
symbols of success in America.  The FBI is the symbol of protection,
particularly for the citizens; the FBI is the watchdog that looks after the
best interests of all.  With the younger hackers succeeding, they are
challenging these notions of who can be successful, as well as who is acting
in the best interest of the people.

5.  The film should appeal to a middle class audience, especially those who
are not intimately familiar with computers and the internet.  Since the film
has a representation from a variety of races, as well as a strong showing
from both sexes, it should appeal to a wide range of backgrounds in this
class.  The major determining factor is the age.  This movie is aimed at the
"Generation X" audience, specifically those who are eager to prove themselves
to the older "establishment."

6.  The main idea of this film is that there are bad hackers and there are
good hackers, and that you can not identify a hacker as being "bad" just
because he is a hacker.  The distinction between a good hacker and a bad
hacker is thus blurred, as someone who may be labeled bad because of his
mischievous activities, may also be someone who is willing to use his talents
to correct a problem.  Dade is an example of this.  He was once a bad hacker,
and even now is probably still out to serve his own needs (his hacks are not
evil in nature, just mischievous), yet he does recognize right from wrong and
takes steps to defeat those that are bad.  Eugene Belfore represents a hacker
who has negative intentions, and he commits evil acts in an attempt to
protect himself once his money skimming scheme is discovered.

   Another theme is the conflict between the hackers as a whole and the
uninformed and un-knowledgeable government agency which is seeking to
eliminate hackers.  Agent Gill is shown as someone who knows nothing about
computers and how they work, yet has made it his personal mission to stop the
hackers which he knows nothing about.  Through his statements to the media,
Gill is creating a fear of the unknown by placing strong negative notions
about hackers into the public's mind.