Holes In ‘The Net’ Internet Users Find Plenty Of Glitches In Sandra Bullock Movie About Cyberspace

Watch carefully as Sandra Bullock works computer magic in “The Net.” She looks as if she’s typing diligently, but thanks to special effects she doesn’t have to lift a finger to zip around the Internet. Everything flashing by on the computer screen is an automated effect, a movie playing over and over.

It’s just one of the little tricks “The Net” plays while painting a futuristic and paranoid view of cyberspace. Real-life Internet surfers are taking note, and they’re calling the filmmakers’ bluff.

“It reminds me of those early sci-fi movies where effects of some technological advance spell doom for mankind,” said one of the messages in the rec.arts.movies.current-films Usenet newsgroup.

That’s the biggest gripe: The movie, which opened two weeks ago to mixed reviews and just-OK box-office numbers, leads viewers to believe that the Internet is an all-powerful, easily manipulated, sinister digital world where people can be ruined with the rattle of a modem and the click of a mouse.

Bullock’s character, Angela Bennett, lays out that theory in a tirade while in jail, charged with a crime she didn’t commit, under an identity hackers created for her. She rails that everything about us - our fingerprints, driver’s license, bank records and even medical histories - is on the Internet.

“It’s like a little shadow of ourselves, just out there waiting to be messed with,” the character warns. It happened to her, she says, so it could happen to anyone.

The reality is that it’s nowhere near that easy; even if someone could do it, the time and effort involved would make the movie’s scenario impossible. Most of the vital information tapped with such ease in the movie isn’t even accessible from the Internet in real life.

Not every computer is tied to the Internet. Some, such as those containing criminal histories or driver’s licenses, are accessible only through special work stations with incredible security.

By comparison, Internet users were all too willing to believe the villain of the movie, a billionaire wonder-boy whose magic security software, known as a “firewall,” has a monopoly on the computer security market.

“Not just any software company, but an evil firewall marketer led by a megalomaniacal CEO apparently modeled on our favorite Bill (hint - the product was called ‘Gatekeeper’),” noted a typical message in alt.internet.media-coverage, referring to Microsoft chief Bill Gates. “I doubt that 5 percent of the audience caught that.”

Apple Macintosh users give the film high marks for its liberal use of Macs instead of PCs, a small victory in the nearly religious computer-preference war that’s been raging for years. Bullock’s home is replete with everything from an ancient Mac Plus to a powerful new PowerMac and a laptop PowerBook. The only time she uses a PC is to order a pizza.

More than a few messages criticized the film for its opening sequence, in which Bullock is playing a “hot new game.” In fact, she’s playing Wolfenstein 3D, which has been around for more than three years. And what about her cushy job - “beta testing” software and fixing the problems?

“I’ve been a beta tester for years, and never once have the developers trusted me with their code,” said one message about the movie. “They’d rather give me their firstborn.”

Then there were the images of the Internet, full of vibrant graphics, snapshots of every user all blasting across the screen.

“Half the time, I can’t even get on, and when I do, the Internet looks nothing like that,” said another message in alt.internet.media-coverage.

“And what about that virus she finds? I’ve never seen something actually melt the computer data,” said another message. “But it was a nice effect.”

Other users, however, gave the movie high marks for the proper use of Net jargon, such as IP addresses, Subnet, Whois searches and telnet. And there was plenty of praise for Bullock herself, even if she isn’t really a computer expert.

“Who cares? Sandra Bullock is in it!” said one such message. “If she was in a movie where she stood in front of a purple screen reciting a grocery list, I’d be there!”