Frequently, movies do something I call a generic non-realism. These are things like calling a 555 number or ordering Beer brand beer. Generic non-realisms are meant to avoid litigation, but they are a reminder that you are watching a movie and have the unfortunate effect of ruining the suspension of disbelief. As such a filmmaker should try to avoid generic non-realisms at all costs. Now, if you give out phone number, say 867-5309, people will call it a say stupid things like, "Jenny, I got your number. I'm going to make you mine," and it's courteous to avoid that. However, using the name of a real product is a situation where product placement can actually make a movie better, assuming it's just a name drop and not a sales pitch. Hand the phone number over on a slip of paper, make up a product name, or say "I'll have whatever's on tap," a clever writer should never have to use a generic non-realism.
Generally, generic non-realisms are just annoying. Tron has a generic non-realism so bad that it compromises the entire premise of the movie.
Early on we are told and shown that our heroes, Flynn and Alan, are talented programmers and hackers who must hack into the Master Control Program of a multi-billion dollar company. Unfortunately, we are also shown our villain, Dillinger, entering the master password to the Master Control Program. So, what is the master password to the Master Control Program? (Hint: It was used 5 times in this paragraph.)
Answer: Master
Yep, that's right. The master password to the Master Control Program at this multi-billion dollar super-high tech electronic company is master. They had to change it from password when they accidentally bought a giant neon sign that said, "ENCOM: Our password is password." It's hard to take our heroes hacking skills seriously when they are up against President Skroob level security.
And yet, our heroes are stymied. Before the movie began, Flynn had been trying to get in for weeks and Alan had built his sophisticated program, Tron. And yet, it took the Master Control Program scanning Flynn in before they were able to circumvent all this security. Apparently, they never learned advanced hacking techniques like asking, "Hey, Dillinger, what's your password?" or looking at the sheet of paper on his desk labeled password.
It might not have been so bad if the movie didn't also show Alan entering his password/my new band name, Reindeer Flotilla, a perfectly fine choice for the time. The intention might have been to indicate how much smarter/talented/sophisticated the heroes are than Dillinger, but it just further demonstrates why hacking in shouldn't have been much of a problem for them.
The moral of the story is if at any point while reading this you said, "I have the same password on my _____," it's time to change it.
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