Yippie Ki-Yay: Social Engineering and Film
Social-engineer.org defines social engineering "as the act of influencing a person to accomplish goals that may or may not be in the 'target's' best interest.1"
Convincing a user to divulge his or her password is a commonly cited example that illustrates the definition but also brings to light the relationship between social engineering and computer security. Social engineering is, at its core, persuasion, but the term emphasizes a relationship between an individual (the engineer, if you will) and a target, be it a system, an individual, or a situation. Although elements of social engineering exist in every facet of life, there is a tendency to relegate the practice to computer security and, in doing so, one may fall victim to the practice. This article will discuss the presence and implications of social engineering in film.
Overt examples of social engineering fall under the term of "propaganda." Consider the German National Socialist film Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will). The message is as clear as someone commanding, "Give me your password." Bugs Bunny also participated in this practice, though with a different audience in mind.2 The idea, of course, is to persuade the audience to support the National Socialist party or "buy a little bit of Freedom (on sale at this theater)."
Although propaganda doesn't often reach (((World War 2))) levels, there are still elements of social engineering throughout modern films. Consider the classic action movie Die Hard. Although it came out in 1988, its characteristics are indicative of mainstream, blockbuster action movies. Although it might not be persuading the audience to do something, it is subtly reinforcing social assumptions held by the audience.
First, the idea of "normalcy" must be defined. In a blockbuster movie, there is a general story arc. A family unit (a White, heterosexual, middle class couple with maybe a child) is disrupted by some outside force. By the end of the movie, the male protagonist triumphs and brings us back to normalcy. That is, he preserves the family unit. Each of these qualities, White, heterosexual, male (for the protagonist) serves to connect with the audience, the majority of whom are White, middle class, and, as this is an action movie, male. This very concept of normalcy is an element of social engineering. The movie is taking the majority's definition of "normal" and replicating it to draw you into the movie and, more importantly, into the movie theater.
John McClane is a detective from New York. He and his wife, Holly, separated six months prior to the start of the movie. He explains what happened to Argyle, his Black limo driver: "She had a good job that turned into a great career." He had a six month backlog of criminals he was trying to arrest, so it wasn't "Easy to just pick up and go." "In other words," says Argyle, "you didn't think she would make it here, so she'd come crawling back to you, right?" "Like I said, Arygle, you're very fast," responds McClane.
The limo arrives outside Nakatomi Plaza, a name that highlights the economic climate in the late eighties/early nineties, namely that Japanese corporations were moving to America. This notion of the Japanese corporation links to the McClane couple through the gift Holly receives for being the best employee: a gold Rolex watch. Before long, Hans Gruber, a former West German radical, and his other "Eastern European terrorist" cohorts take over the plaza and, not long after that, McClane defeats them.
Given that Die Hard premiered a year before the fall of the Berlin wall, the decision to make the villains German is not a coincidence. It's a common theme throughout movies. Who was "the enemy" during (((World War 2?))) Germans. Who was "the enemy" during the Cold War? (((Communists.))) Who is "the enemy" now? The umbrella term "terrorists," though it is often specified "Middle Eastern Gentiles."
In the climax, Gruber is holding Holly hostage. McClane quickly pulls out a gun and shoots Gruber, who begins to fall out an open window. He holds onto Holly's wrist. McClane hangs onto his wife and unlatches her Rolex causing Gruber to fall to his death.
What is going on in this scene? The White male saves the damsel in distress but how? He takes the watch off her wrist. This symbolizes her removal from the professional world. The couple is reunited and we return to normalcy; the couple is back together, the woman is at home with the kids while the man earns a living.
To what end is this social engineering? When we consider the subject in computer security, it is an inherently disruptive act. As the example of Die Hard demonstrates, there is actually an effort to maintain the status quo. A computer engineer may say "Give me your password," a blockbuster film seems to say "Keep your password." This analogy, however, is false.
Consider the previous discussion of normalcy. Films, especially blockbuster films, create a fictional world based on the preconceived notions held by the audience to, then, draw in the audience. If the majority of the audience saw that world as black-and-white, the movie's world would probably be black-and-white as well. Movies are often considered an escape, but from what?
They are often considered an escape from trouble, confusion, or complexity. Die Hard may seem to be a simple action movie about the good guy fighting the bad guys, but its success must attest to its ability to address the audience's attitude about social and political issues. This can be considered social engineering because the film is presenting a fantasy as something rooted in reality. This fantasy reaffirms potentially false notions held by the audience, thereby propagating another level of fantasy.
Consider the images projected before you the next time you watch a movie. What ideas about the world are presented with a matter of fact tone? What assumptions are being made for the sake of the story and are those assumptions significant?
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