Coding in Hollywood; The Good, The Bad, and the Just Plain Wrong

Hollywood is always trying to make things look better than they really are, from unrealistic explosions and injuries to time-frames, and coding is no exception. In reality, watching someone code isn’t the most exciting way to portray action in movies and TV shows and more often than not this means that accuracy is replaced by frantic and comical typing. We have a few recent TV shows that include coding and hacking as a main part of their plot, like Mr. Robot and the recently cancelled CSI: Cyber.

So what makes a good hacking scene? First, let’s take a look at a few scenes that don’t make the cut:

The Bad

NCIS

Instead of starting with the least offensive, let’s start this list with the worst and probably funniest clip on the list. While four hands on one keyboard is probably the most insane and counterproductive thing to do in that situation, some would argue that the the most offensive part of this scene is the continuity era when Tony bites the sandwich.

Castle

If only we could type commands like please stop this attack, or, solve problem, or start counterstrike  in real life to stop bad things from happening to our computers. Also the dreaded Cyber Nuke is always a good way to get a hacker off your back along with a bombardment of kitten pictures.

Independence Day

According to Independence Day, we can all relax if there is ever an alien invasion. The Apple OS of 1996 is completely compatible with the advanced alien technology. As a bonus it makes it even faster and allows you to upload a virus that can take down the entire mother-ship in under 5 minutes.

Jurassic Park

With the terrifying reality of velociraptors bearing down on them, a 12 year old manages to hack into the park system and save the day, just my recognizing what the system was. Whatever middle school she went must be something else.

The Good

While not all of these scenes are completely accurate, they make a great effort of being realistic while still getting most of the facts right:

Mr. Robot

Mr. Robot does a particularly good job at explaining what Elliot is doing without showboating him banging on a keyboard. With the scene below, Elliot explains how it was so easy for him to hack into his medical records and it had a lot to do with research before the hacking even began.

The Matrix Reloaded

Trinity accesses the power company’s main grid and runs a program that changes the password so she can get in undetected, she is able to shut down the power grid for a short time so Neo and the KeyMaker can open up a trapped door and escape safely.

The Social Network

Like Mr. Robot this give us an accurate rundown of what’s going on while being pretty loyal to the thought process. The movie even created accurate code for this scene.

Silicon Valley 

Pied Piper is in crisis mode as an unexpected surge of visitors threatens to overload their servers. The team works to remedy this by coding and taking care of the physical equipment that has begun to catch on fire.

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