greetings programs

in anticipation of the new tron film, i re-visited the first tron last night. it's really hard to wrap your head around it now, because in so many ways we are all living more and more "inside the machine" these days, but there was a time not that long ago when the barriers between the two worlds were a lot more distinct. i would think for most people now looking back at this film it would seem ancient, crude visually and quite simple. but as i worked my way through the exhaustive supplemental features disc, i was completely awed by the monumental process by which it came about. and in fact in that regard i think it ranks as a one of a kind film which will never be duplicated at that scale. marrying the techniques up to that time of computer technology and traditional film-making, each frame has been laboriously produced.
but aside from the technology and design of this film, i think it's the metaphysical aspect of it that interests me the most these days. director steven lisberger made a comment in one of the interviews, talking about how much of who we are is in computers. that in a sense all of this information is our essence in this digital world. and that really became the basis for the story in this film. and even as i type this i am aware that i am adding to my own meager representation of myself in this world. that i am a "user" and these words in this font on this screen of pre-selected turnkey design are some vague attempt at representing me on this matrix. and then i think of all the masses who now have capabilities to do this very same thing. we no longer have to be "programmers" like high priests in this world. we all have access to the same technology.
and this i think really begins to poke at the larger question. the question of quality that robert pirsig wrestled with in his epic tome. as one of the producers pointed out in an interview, although we all have access now to word processors all of us are not shakespeares. looking back at the 1982 world in tron from both the outside and inside was a nice nostalgic feeling. and as journey sang about "solutions" through the end credits i couldn't help feeling that all of the 80's optimism was lost on me. that although we have created technologies that have brought us closer together, in reality i've never felt more isolated.
maybe it's my inability to adapt as well as the kevin flynn character did in the film. when zapped by the mcp and scanned into the world of the computer, although he has an adjustment period, he quickly learns his way inside this new world. guess i still haven't got it figured out yet.