Re: A. Lee Martinez was insulted by TRON: Legacy

> http://www.aleemartinez.com/wanted-tron/blog/03012011/

>> *Tron *was also one of the first mainstream films to even posit the 
>> importance of computers and how they would shape and influence our 
>> lives.  *War Games* came out a year earlier, which is also an 
>> interesting film for so many reasons, but we’ll avoid digression.

Correction:  WarGames came out one year *later*, in 1983.

>> Thus Tron begins his pilgrimage to the node where he can communicate 
>> with his own user.  This is often overlooked, but what the film has 
>> basically done is taken the simple task of receiving instructions and 
>> turned it into a holy journey, a sacred thing.

*I've* never overlooked it.  :)

    http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/bc.cgi?bc/bccn/0402/et

    Flynn may be a sort a Christ-figure, but so is Tron (Bruce Boxleitner), 
the program who teams up with him to defeat the Master Control Program. In 
addition to his miracles, Flynn sacrifices himself in a way that evokes 
both the descent of Christ into hell as well as his ascension, while in 
another scene, Tron communicates with his user in a way that resembles the 
opening of the heavens at the baptism of Christ. And all of this takes 
place in an environment in which programs who believe in their users are 
persecuted for being 'religious fanatics,' and are sent to their deaths in 
video-game battles that resemble ancient Roman gladiatorial fights.

>> Among *Tron Legacy*‘s biggest flaws is that it lacks this foundation. 
>> Without it, the digital landscape seems to be an excuse to have cool 
>> people in cool costumes stand around looking cool.  But what is it all 
>> about? There’s some nonsense about “bringing order”, but what does this 
>> even mean?

Exactly.  And what are the odds that a surfer-dude California computer 
programmer from the '70s and '80s would have wanted to "bring order" in 
the first place, at least in the sense suggested by this film?

>> We hear how Flynn is some sort of prophet who wants to revolutionize 
>> everythinga about the world, both digital and physical, but we’re never 
>> given any proof other than people talking about it.

Yeah, and since when do computer programmers have fascist cult-like 
followings who cheer when they shout meaningless Obama-isms like "the 
future is our destiny"?  In the real world, I mean.

>> Yet in *Legacy* we’re given lightcycles, tanks, and those flying space 
>> invader type things because, apparently, the virtual world is at a dead 
>> stop.  Video games haven’t evolved.  The problem is that the makers of 
>> *Legacy* weren’t inspired by video games, but by *Tron*.

Ha!  Well put.

>> Even in little ways, the film misses the point.  The identity disc is a 
>> stand-in for a program’s soul.  It’s a programs primary weapon and also 
>> the source of everything important about it.  When *Tron* communicates 
>> with his user, his disc ascends, is modified, and then returned to him. 
>> The metaphor of a transformative soul isn’t exactly subtle.  But 
>> apparently, the makers of *Legacy* missed the point.

They sure did.

>> Which leads me to my point.  Thanks for sticking around and making it 
>> to the end, if you’re still reading this.  I am changing my status on 
>> *Legacy * from *indifferent* to *insulted*.  I’m insulted that they 
>> completely failed to understand the original.  I’m insulted that they 
>> failed, not because they dared to emulate a great film, but because 
>> they thought it’d be cool to try and cash in.  Which is normal, I 
>> suppose, but if you’re going to try to make a sequel to an obscure 
>> film, you might as well take a chance.

Well, what can you say, some of the key people behind this film simply 
don't *like* the original Tron -- starting with Disney-Pixar chief John 
Lasseter, who was reportedly responsible for getting Disney to ditch the 
sequel that original Tron director Steve Lisberger had been developing, in 
favour of this father-son sequel that we ended up with instead.

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