Tron
[disambiguation:
Metatron]
Speculative fiction film starring
Jeff Bridges
(Kevin
Flynn) and
advised by famed computer scientist/jazz guitarist Alan Kay released in 1982
to widespread critical apathy. The film centers on the Master Control Program
(MCP) of the computer conglomerate ENCOM
1
- a cyber-entity found to
have become sentient by
Dillinger,
the company's senior vice president. Knowing that Dillinger has continually
plagiarized Flynn's work, the MCP engages in blackmail
2. While
attempting to hack the ENCOM system to find evidence of said plagiarism, Flynn
is digitized by the MCP and downloaded via experimental laser where he finds a
non-spatial cyber-reality characterized by game systems in which the loser is
"derezzed".
Tron
is often cited as the film industry's first attempt
at representing the digitally infinite
3
, paralleling the development of William
Tyler Bell's
infinity principle
.
1 Acknowledged by director [[terminator|James Cameron] as a precursor to SkyNet.
2 The MCP's motivation for engaging in blackmail is never explicitly stated. Speculation has centered on the MCP's frequent and anachronistic employment of outdated and seemingly misguided sexual innuendo.
3 Preceding by a few years Steven Bochco's cyber-based short-lived television series wintermute .