Post by FRANK the giant bunny on Mar 21, 2011 15:10:59 GMT -5
The Real World
Kevin Flynn, a software engineer and hacker is trying to break into the computer system at ENCOM, a company which among other things contracts for the government, he is looking for proof that he is the real creator of several computer games. It seems that some years before Flynn was on his way to starting his own little software empire. That is until an older fellow software designer named Dillinger stole his files and presented them to the heads of the company, claiming authorship, and thus beginning his rise to becoming senior executive of ENCOM. Flynn activates his own little centurion program that he has secretly installed within the system, a kind of back-door which he uses to gain access and continue his search for the proof that he needs. Time and time again his program is discovered and shut down, but Flynn is totally unaware that such actions within the virtual world are met with harsh punishments at the hands of the MCP (Master Control Program).
One of the things that Dillinger brings to the company is the MCP program that he has designed, although there are some suggestions that Flynn also had something to do with its development, Master control immediately begins to appropriate other systems, eventually setting its sights on taken over the pentagon. Dillinger it seems has lost all control over the MCP, who now claims dominion over the virtual world, giving no credit to its true creator (Dillinger). Flynn, along with another programer named Allen hatch a plan to break into ENCOM and download the needed information directly. What Flynn does not realize is that the MCP has become so powerful that it has achieved consciousness, nor that it has the ability to digitize humans and transfer them into the cyber-world. Allen has created his own program which he has called Tron, a watchdog program which he has created to shut down any illegal or hostile actions within the system. Having appropriated countless systems the MCP cannot allow this to happen and so it shuts out all programmers who possess level 7 access.
The Virtual World
The Master Control Program rules the virtual world, setting himself up as supreme leader he begins to suppress the other programs within the system. The outside systems that he has appropriated are held captive and forced to fight in cyber-gladiatorial games, and when Flynn arrives in the computer world he finds himself at the mercy of the MCP. Each of the programmers who designed the system have counterparts within the cyber realm, Allen for instance is aligned with Tron, his girlfriend (Flynn's former girlfriend) is aligned with another cyber personality by the name of Yori. Flynn on the other hand is not aligned with any program, he is what the programs within the systems call a User, once again each of them having their own User within the real world. The majority of the inhabitance of the virtual world are unaware of this, only a small fraction have knowledge of this, for which they have been labeled fanatics by the MCP and by his second in command "Sark". Dillinger however has aligned himself with the MCP and not with Sark (who looks similar to him), this becomes an important factor in connection with the Gnostic interpretation of the films main plot points.
THE GNOSIS OF TRON:
The MCP is represented in Gnostic scripture by the Demiurge, (literally the half maker) a lesser power which is responsible for creating the material universe, the earth and ultimately the human race. This false God (of sorts) has convinced humanity that it is the true God and ultimately the sole creator of everything. This lesser power came into being through the efforts of Sophia, the feminine aspect of the divine, Sophia goes outside the realm of the father (or bridegroom) and tries to create something on her own, since she is an aspect of the divine (together representing total perfection), anything that she creates outside this state of perfection is bound to be an imperfect creation. Thus the Demiurge (otherwise called Yaldaboath and patterned after the God of the Old Testament) comes into being, seeing that it is an imperfect Sophia casts it away from her and sets up a boundary between herself and this imperfect creation. Seeing nothing from which he may have originated the Demiurge mistakenly comes to believe that he is self created, something which he will later reiterate to humanity time and time again, "I am God and before me there is no other"
This is all reflected within the plot line of Tron in connection to the characters of Flynn, Dillinger, and the MCP. In this sense Flynn is representative of the true God, the true creator from which the Demiurge ultimately gets its power and its very existence, and just as it is explained in Gnostic myth the MCP/Demiurge is unaware of this, at least its not made clear whether or not the Master Control Program is aware of Flynn's contribution. Dillinger on the other hand is a representation of Sophia, for the knowledge which ultimately leads to the creation of the virtual world/universe (through the actions of the MCP/Demiurge) comes from another source (the true God), one which he (i.e. Sophia) has separated himself from, in this case represented by the Flynn character.
Dillinger created the MCP but soon after it developed independent thought and within the virtual reality of the computer has set itself up as leader, while Sark/Dillinger (at lest what would have been his alter self) is relegated to being second in command. As I stated above this is important for it is an exact parallel of the relation between Sophia and the Demiurge within the classic Gnostic system, the only point of difference perhaps being that the Demiurege, at least in most Gnostic creation myths, is unaware of her existence, a result of its imperfection (ignorance).