I was 16 when Sneakers was released in 1992. I remember seeing it at the theatre and having to whisper explanations of various plot points to the friend who was with me--she didn't "get" it, but I sure did!
Some 25 years later, I give credit to Sneakers for steering me toward Computer Science during university; and again now for sparking an interest in data science. Mind you, my aspirations are more "benevolent analyst" than Ben Kingsley's "black-hat anarchist" character. :)
"I might even be able to crash the whole damn system."
"There's a war out there, old friend--a world war--and it's not about whose got the most bullets; it's about who controls the information."
Have others drawn career inspiration from movies/TV? A particular clip or character that gets you jazzed up about doing what you do (or perhaps could do) each day?
Christian Bale's portrayal of Michael Burry in The Big Short speaks to me and gets me excited about being sort of a weirdo who can solve problems type. It's not exactly the happiest story, but his mannerisms kind of get me fired up to do something difficult.
youtube.com/watch?v=YKTXfDSKoJM
I also like Bale as Batman with his computer set up. I try to get situated so I feel sort of Batman-esque in my tasks.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing also is something I re-watch a lot. When I was in college I watched The Social Network and that often got me kind of fired up.
I didn't have a lot of encouragement to get into tech per se growing up or at any point, but I think I fit the archetype portrayed in a lot of these movies pretty well and that definitely encouraged me. I hope Hollywood gets better at straying from this archetype/sterotype because more people deserve to be inspired in the ways I have been. I actually do think it is starting to happen in a big way, but it takes some time for that to take effect.