电影里的科技老板：从英雄到反派

Last week you said this autumn's films have changed how they see technology bosses.

I went home and thought about it,

And you still don't believe it.

Half believe it, half don't.

Mm, then let me first say why I believe it.

In 2014 there was The Imitation Game, about Turing,

The man who helped crack the Germans' codes.

Right, in the Second World War.

The film made him a hero, it sold a lot of tickets, and it won the most famous award in film.

But Turing was a scientist, not a boss.

Right, that's why I'm talking about people who work in technology.

Back then, in films, they were changing the world.

Mm.

In 2010 there was also The Social Network, about how Zuckerberg started Facebook,

Oh, I've seen that one twice.

This October it got a sequel, which picks up where the first one left off.

It's still the man who wrote the story back then, and this time he's making it himself.

Oh.

This time, the main character is a woman who used to work at Facebook,

Mm.

She made the company's internal files public.

The Zuckerberg in the film is cold.

Cold doesn't mean bad.

Not necessarily.

But it's already far, far from a hero.

Mm.

Then here's the half I don't believe.

Do you know how much this sequel has sold in tickets worldwide so far?

Not much.

About $17 million.

The first one was 225 million,

Mm.

More than ten times less.

You say people's views have changed, but people, people didn't go and see it.

Right, not many people saw it.

But that's only one film.

This autumn there's also a documentary about Musk, about four hours long, which opened in American cinemas on 16 October.

The same day there was another documentary, about a woman who started a blood-testing company,

Mm, the one who later went to prison for fraud.

Right.

The film-makers followed her and filmed the few weeks before she went to prison.

This one got very good reviews.

Mm.

So many in one autumn, all going the same way.

OK, I admit that.

It's not about one film, the direction has changed.

Mm.

But, but who goes to see these films?

People who already don't like these companies.

Whatever they thought before going into the cinema, they still think after coming out.

Then what about the Altman one?

Right, that one shows what I mean even better.

How so?

A film about Altman, about the time at the end of 2023 when he was suddenly pushed out of OpenAI.

Amazon's film company was going to make it, and this June it didn't want it any more,

Mm.

Not long after Amazon agreed to invest $50 billion in OpenAI.

The big film companies are either owned by technology companies or depend on technology companies' money.

Amazon's own explanation was that it would be better for the film to be released by another company.

And it wasn't pulled, a smaller company took it and says it will still come out this year.

With a smaller company, even fewer people will see it.

It comes out, coming out is enough.

One more thing,

Mm.

How many times have you used your phone today?

I don't count.

I don't count either.

People watch these films while still using their things.

Mm, I can't say that's not so.

People still use the same things.

So there you go.

But think about Turing.

My picture of him came from that film.

Mm.

In ten years, when people think of Zuckerberg,

Oh.

What comes to mind may be that cold face in the sequel.

In ten years, his company will still be there.

So will the face.