'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real • Hacker News Board

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#91

Post by rantanplan » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 4:58 PM UTC

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #62

agentgt wrote: post #3

I'm going to play fan boy here. After almost finishing the second season I have to say Mr. Robot is the best TV show I think I have ever watched. Even better than Homeland. The funny thing is if it didn't even involve hacking I would still consider my favorite show. The psychodrama existentialism of the show is so good. The plot is so damn good. The acting is so damn good. Th music, the timing of title screen and the…

Its a decent and sometimes good show but certainly not one of the greats, and has more than a few major flaws. I'll try to minimize spoilers. 1. The plotline is pretty much Fight Club with computers and telegraphs this early on. This is clearly not on purpose as we see hints dropped all the time and the reveal is given with such a flourish. Lets stop defending Esmail here. The reveal is really hamfisted and the show…

Everything you said is just spot on. Every single word is like exactly how I feel about the show.

I have no clue why you're getting downvoted.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#92

Post by Redoubts » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 4:59 PM UTC

runevault wrote: post #74

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a decent and sometimes good show but certainly not one of the greats, and has more than a few major flaws. I'll try to minimize spoilers. 1. The plotline is pretty much Fight Club with computers and telegraphs this early on. This is clearly not on purpose as we see hints dropped all the time and the reveal is given with such a flourish. Lets stop defending Esmail here. The reveal is really hamfisted and the show…

1) That was on purpose 2) The vast vast majority of twists have been predicted far in advance if they are of any significance. And frankly the ones that people missed the missed clues are dug up after the fact to show what people missed. Having problems with Mr Robot is fine, but claiming LAZY writing is lazy analysis. 3) in the short term the pacing felt weird, but as things have been revealed everything has started…

> 2) The vast vast majority of twists have been predicted far in advance if they are of any significance...

Honestly, a lot of these predictions feel like leaks disguised as pointed predictions, like we saw in GOT. At least the ones I've seen on reddit.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#93

Post by slg » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 5:01 PM UTC

TurboHaskal wrote: post #37

agentgt wrote: post #3

I'm going to play fan boy here. After almost finishing the second season I have to say Mr. Robot is the best TV show I think I have ever watched. Even better than Homeland. The funny thing is if it didn't even involve hacking I would still consider my favorite show. The psychodrama existentialism of the show is so good. The plot is so damn good. The acting is so damn good. Th music, the timing of title screen and the…

I have a few problems with this show: - The actors are often out of character (or their development isn't clear) and mumble unintelligible sentences targeted at milennials with existential crisis (there are a few rants from the main character that would make 14-year-old-me cringe). - The plot reads a bit like Fight Club fan fiction with some American Psycho and geopolitics bits thrown in. - The pacing could be improv…

I think a big thing people ignore when they make the Fight Club reference is that the story of Fight Club is really act 1 of the story of Mr. Robot. It isn't really trying to be different there. They even acknowledge that by their obvious references to Fight Club. However, Mr. Robot is a spiritual sequel. It asks the questions what is next after you wipe out everyone's debt. How does the world react to that, how do the banks react to that, how does Tyler Durden react to that, etc?

The show is also fully aware that the underling motives behind the hack are immature. That is why in the 2nd season they show that the world is worse off than before. Freeing people from debt didn't solve everyone's problems. It shows that F Society is really a bunch of childish vandals who got in over their heads. I mean they literally have them cutting off the balls of the bull statue on Wall Street. They aren't meant to be flawless heroes that we are supposed to 100% agree with.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#94

Post by runevault » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 5:02 PM UTC

Redoubts wrote: post #92

runevault wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) That was on purpose 2) The vast vast majority of twists have been predicted far in advance if they are of any significance. And frankly the ones that people missed the missed clues are dug up after the fact to show what people missed. Having problems with Mr Robot is fine, but claiming LAZY writing is lazy analysis. 3) in the short term the pacing felt weird, but as things have been revealed everything has started…

> 2) The vast vast majority of twists have been predicted far in advance if they are of any significance... Honestly, a lot of these predictions feel like leaks disguised as pointed predictions, like we saw in GOT. At least the ones I've seen on reddit.

Eh, the big reveal for this season I suspected something similar before seeing the reddit thread (I was slightly off) and last season's I figured out by episode 2 w/o seeing Reddit.

Mind you aside from coding my main passion is writing so I can smell a lot of the tricks of the trade a mile away.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#95

Post by Osiris » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 5:05 PM UTC

scrollaway wrote: post #48

If you like Mr. Robot, you should watch Person of Interest. POI is a pre-snowden series about a world "in which the NSA has a system which spies on every american citizen in order to fight terrorism" (sounds familiar?). The show begins with the weak premise of "help us fight crimes we predict will happen", but don't be fooled by its appearance of a run-of-the-mill CBS show. Without spoiling it too much, I do want to…

I watched the first few episodes and really didn't like it. I wasn't aware that the plot of the show moved past the episodic crap of the first season. Maybe I should pick it up at season 2?

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#96

Post by fl0wenol » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 5:11 PM UTC

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #62

agentgt wrote: post #3

I'm going to play fan boy here. After almost finishing the second season I have to say Mr. Robot is the best TV show I think I have ever watched. Even better than Homeland. The funny thing is if it didn't even involve hacking I would still consider my favorite show. The psychodrama existentialism of the show is so good. The plot is so damn good. The acting is so damn good. Th music, the timing of title screen and the…

Its a decent and sometimes good show but certainly not one of the greats, and has more than a few major flaws. I'll try to minimize spoilers. 1. The plotline is pretty much Fight Club with computers and telegraphs this early on. This is clearly not on purpose as we see hints dropped all the time and the reveal is given with such a flourish. Lets stop defending Esmail here. The reveal is really hamfisted and the show…

I agree with most of what you say, save a few things:

Re: The politics and hacktivism [...] like some middle class hipster kids decided to overthrow society on a whim.

... _yes_, I think that's the point. The mere fact that it's possible and the consequences of this is the drama.

Re: Price ... frankly I like the way he's characterized in this show. Some people have very simple motivations and this makes them very dangerous and the perfect antagonists. He's surrounded by people more nuanced or conflicted than him, which makes that interplay interesting.

How can someone so unrelenting be undermined? That's what I want to find out.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#97

Post by jknoepfler » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 5:11 PM UTC

dllthomas wrote: post #47

Demoneeri wrote: post #44

I've watched S01 but I'm not sure I'll watch S02. The cliché about dysfunctional people in IT is too much for me. I'm a normal person and I don't have difficulties in dealing with other human beings. Also the part about vilifying companies and loving big government is not my cup of tea. At least in Person of Interest both were bad. Last part, vilifying money as a medium of exchange is just absurd. Are they expecting…

You should watch S02. The dorm-room philosophy of the protagonists is not handled uncritically.

This is probably the reason I'm willing to watch the show. The writing is pleasantly, surprisingly intelligent at times.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#98

Post by drzaiusapelord » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 5:12 PM UTC

rantanplan wrote: post #91

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a decent and sometimes good show but certainly not one of the greats, and has more than a few major flaws. I'll try to minimize spoilers. 1. The plotline is pretty much Fight Club with computers and telegraphs this early on. This is clearly not on purpose as we see hints dropped all the time and the reveal is given with such a flourish. Lets stop defending Esmail here. The reveal is really hamfisted and the show…

Everything you said is just spot on. Every single word is like exactly how I feel about the show. I have no clue why you're getting downvoted.

I suspect that at a certain age shows like Fight Club or Mr Robot are deep and edgy, but when you've been around the block a bit the world is less black and white and a lot more grey. I hate to play the ageist card here, I really do, but teen or 20 something me would be over the moon for Mr Robot. Modern me, not so much. The whole "we must crush The Man(TM) and only then will we have utopia" is just too much to swallow, even if the show flirts occasionally with criticizing that message, but that is the take-away if you remotely relate to any of the protagonists. If anything, a rational look at this show makes Elliot look like the dangerous psychopath that he is and the "bad guys" are the ones trying to make sure everyone keeps their jobs and homes.

I also think the whole Chinese domination against a weak and emotional West is a tired cliche, the same way the 80s had Japanese domination over a weak and emotional west in fiction. Mr Robot could be our Rising Sun (1993), where it will seem ridiculous, baiting, and pandering to future viewers.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#99

Post by gonehome » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 5:12 PM UTC

Osiris wrote: post #95

scrollaway wrote: post #48

If you like Mr. Robot, you should watch Person of Interest. POI is a pre-snowden series about a world "in which the NSA has a system which spies on every american citizen in order to fight terrorism" (sounds familiar?). The show begins with the weak premise of "help us fight crimes we predict will happen", but don't be fooled by its appearance of a run-of-the-mill CBS show. Without spoiling it too much, I do want to…

I watched the first few episodes and really didn't like it. I wasn't aware that the plot of the show moved past the episodic crap of the first season. Maybe I should pick it up at season 2?

I've been confused by the positive comments it has gotten from people in tech - I found it unwatchably bad and that it actually got worse (not better) as time went on.

Everything from the 'machine' itself, to the cringe acting and writing, dumb tech concepts (woman who 'speaks' for the machine) and all their vigilante killings that only happen in New York. I couldn't take it.

Watch Halt and Catch Fire - it's a thousand times better.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#100

Post by wnevets » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 5:13 PM UTC

Unklejoe wrote: post #80

jonknee wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The cliché about dysfunctional people in IT is too much for me. I'm a normal person and I don't have difficulties in dealing with other human beings. TV shows centered around normal people are really boring.

Except Seinfeld, of course.

who was the normal one in Seinfeld?