{"id":14321,"date":"2012-02-09T22:40:01","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T22:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=14321"},"modified":"2012-02-10T19:03:09","modified_gmt":"2012-02-10T19:03:09","slug":"lip-reading-john-terry-and-stanley-kubrick-hal-9000-2001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2012\/02\/09\/lip-reading-john-terry-and-stanley-kubrick-hal-9000-2001\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Internet becoming HAL 9000?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/HAL-watches-the-astronauts-through-the-glass-in-2001-A-Space-Odyssey.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14326\" title=\"HAL watches the astronauts through the glass in 2001 A Space Odyssey\" src=\"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/HAL-watches-the-astronauts-through-the-glass-in-2001-A-Space-Odyssey.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>What does the resignation of an England football manager have to do with a science fiction film made in 1968?<\/p>\n<p>The connection lies in lip reading, John Terry and Stanley Kubrick.<\/p>\n<p>Let me clarify those three things before we see how they intersect.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lip reading<\/strong> is a technique of understanding <a title=\"Speech communication\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Speech_communication\">speech<\/a> through the visual movements of the <a title=\"Lip\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lip\">lips<\/a>, <a title=\"Face\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Face\">face<\/a> and <a title=\"Tongue\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tongue\">tongue<\/a> with information.<\/li>\n<li><strong>John Terry<\/strong> is the Chelsea footballer who was caught up in a racism row, which ultimately triggered the resignation of England manager Fabio Capello.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stanley Kubrick<\/strong> is the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), in which two astronauts are caught lip reading by the ship&#8217;s computer HAL 9000.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But how precisely do the worlds of football and cinema collide?<\/p>\n<p>Well, let&#8217;s take the John Terry case first.<\/p>\n<p>The England national team manager Fabio Capello resigned yesterday, which was front page news in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last few months a storm had been brewing over an alleged racist incident involving Terry.<\/p>\n<p>It finally exploded when the Italian manager resigned after he felt that his bosses at the FA had mismanaged the whole affair.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_Terry#Controversies\">controversies section on his Wikipedia entry<\/a> are a reflection of how Terry&#8217;s personal life has affected his professional activities.<\/p>\n<p>This was the case on October 23rd, when during a game with West London rivals <a title=\"Queens Park Rangers F.C.\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Queens_Park_Rangers_F.C.\">Queens Park Rangers<\/a> he was involved in an altercation with an opposing player <a title=\"Anton Ferdinand\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anton_Ferdinand\">Anton Ferdinand<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The incident was serious enough for him to be questioned by police and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-london-16284813\">later charged<\/a> by the <a title=\"Crown Prosecution Service\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Crown_Prosecution_Service\">Crown Prosecution Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One of the factors that may yet influence the case was footage that quickly spread online as people posted links to YouTube videos via Facebook, Twitter and forums.<\/p>\n<p>Here is just one example, captured by <a href=\"http:\/\/jonnygould.blogspot.com\/2012\/02\/fa-and-fabio-fault-lines-were-there.html\">Jonny Gould<\/a> on his iPhone whilst watching the game on television.<\/p>\n<p>He later posted it to YouTube where &#8211; as I write this &#8211; it currently has 117,119 views:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z0z_Y2dk-aQ\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"410\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It shows how a site built for sharing videos has also become something of a social hangout as well as the largest media library ever built.<\/p>\n<p>People can like or dislike and exchange comments on videos that can be seen instantly around the globe.<\/p>\n<p>This is how one gamer and football fan responded, inviting viewer comments to his YouTube channel:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dxE0ox1mp5s\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In previous years, when something like this happened organisations or rich individuals could place an injunction, effectively silencing newspapers until everything was public knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>We now live in a digital world where controversial claims can be dissected at dizzying speed before they are even investigated, let alone brought before a court.<\/p>\n<p>Footballers like Ryan Giggs <a href=\"http:\/\/deadspin.com\/5804120\/totally-anonymous-soccer-player-sues-twitter-for-saying-ryan-giggs-had-an-affair\">can&#8217;t stop all the speculation being posted about them on Twitter<\/a>, whilst <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/joey7barton\">Joey Barton<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/joey7barton\">@joey7barton<\/a>) and <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/waynerooney\">Wayne Rooney<\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/waynerooney\">@waynerooney<\/a>) can stamp it out by using their own accounts as their own 140 character press office.<\/p>\n<p>What is a pest for some is useful for another.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of John Terry, how is all the online speculation going to affect his court case?<\/p>\n<p>His defence lawyers might argue that the current videos on the web unfairly prejudice his case, but the prosecution could equally argue they be used as Exhibit A in evidence.<\/p>\n<p>It is a matter for the judge to decide whether or not video from a site currently outside of UK law is admissible in this particular case.<\/p>\n<p>But how does <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stanley_Kubrick\">Stanley Kubrick<\/a> fit it to all this?<\/p>\n<p>His film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) managed to have a profound influence on both cinema (e.g. Star Wars, Alien and The Terminator series), technology (e.g. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/blogs\/thetwo-way\/2011\/08\/24\/139925696\/samsung-objects-to-ipad-patent-saying-stanley-kubrick-came-up-with-it-first\">the iPad<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ixwebhosting.mobi\/apples-kubrick-siris-hidden-heritage\/\">Siri<\/a>) and even <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.hbr.org\/cs\/2011\/02\/has_the_hal_9000_finally_arriv.html\">US game shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>His thoroughness in releasing his films also <a href=\"http:\/\/news.moviefone.com\/mike-kaplan\/stanley-kubrick-box-office_b_1195323.html?ref=moviefone\">helped shape the modern box office report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Just four months after Kubrick&#8217;s death in March 1999, <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/AbXAcN \">Steven Spielberg spoke<\/a> of how his friend told him about the profound importance the Internet would have:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Stanley predicted that the Internet was going to be the next generation of filmmaking and filmmakers &#8230;and when I woke up on Sunday morning, I do what I do every morning. I clicked on AOL to get my headlines &#8230;and it said &#8216;Kubrick dead at 70&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>It was only days later that the irony, that that&#8217;s how I would discover that Stanley had moved on, was going to come from the technology that Stanley had sort of &#8211; both with giddiness, excitement and also with profound caution &#8211; told me was going to be the next generation that might change the form of cinema&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Kubrick was correct about the profound effects of the Internet, not just on cinema (e.g. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-16195344\">piracy<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2011\/09\/22\/discs-streams-and-dilemmas-netflix-streaming-dvd-blu-ray\/\">distribution<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/id\/43360325\/Paramount_s_Twitter_Campaign\">marketing<\/a>) but about how it has become this vast abyss into which we push and pull information, some highly personal, on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<p>When I saw Jonny&#8217;s video of John Terry (which passed from Sky Sports to his iPhone and then on to YouTube) my first thought was of this scene from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0062622\/\">2001: A Space Odyssey<\/a> where the spaceship&#8217;s computer HAL 9000 lip reads the astronauts who are discussing him in (what they think) is a private space:<\/p>\n<div class=\"movieclips-player\" style=\"background: #000; margin: 0; padding: 7px 0; width: 560px; -moz-border-radius: 7px; -webkit-border-radius: 7px; border-radius: 7px;\"><object style=\"display: block; overflow: hidden;\" width=\"560\" height=\"304\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/static.movieclips.com\/embedplayer.swf?shortid=BMndQ\" \/><embed style=\"display: block; overflow: hidden;\" width=\"560\" height=\"304\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http:\/\/static.movieclips.com\/embedplayer.swf?shortid=BMndQ\" wmode=\"transparent\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" \/><\/object><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; margin: 7px 0 0; padding: 0; width: 560px; height: 27px; text-align: center; font: normal 11px\/11px Helvetica, Arial, Sans-serif; color: #666;\"><a style=\"display: inline; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.23em; color: #00aeff; text-decoration: none; background: #000;\" href=\"http:\/\/movieclips.com\/BMndQ-2001-a-space-odyssey-movie-hal-reads-lips\/\"><br \/>\nHal Reads Lips<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--0.0753140449524--><br \/>\nThe parallels with the Terry case are striking: he could yet be convicted by a lip reading video in the same way that Kubrick&#8217;s two astronauts were rumbled by a supercomputer.<\/p>\n<p>The Internet has, in a sense, become <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HAL_9000\">HAL 9000<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you haven&#8217;t seen the film I won&#8217;t spoil the ending, but the solution to a problematic super computer is remarkably similar to what governments and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/faster-forward\/post\/tottenham-mp-calls-for-suspension-of-blackberry-messenger\/2011\/08\/09\/gIQAOBkS4I_blog.html\">politicians<\/a> from around the world have proposed in the light of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak\">leaked US cables<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2009%E2%80%932010_Iranian_election_protests\">uprisings<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arab_Spring\">revolutions<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2011_England_riots\">riots<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act\">copyright infringement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In a broader sense the automated distribution of vast amounts of personal data via sites like <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Facebook\">Facebook<\/a> (which currently has 845 million users), may yet have profound effects on our lives and the world we live in, whether we use them or not.<\/p>\n<p>As different forms of social media spread and continue to reshape our lives maybe Kubrick&#8217;s sci-fi film will become even more relevant?<\/p>\n<p>&gt; More on <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_Terry\">John Terry<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_internet\">The Internet<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stanley_Kubrick\">Stanley Kubrick<\/a> at Wikipedia<br \/>\n&gt; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-london-16825874\">BBC News report on the Terry case<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/0\/football\/16941457\">the Capello resignation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does the resignation of an England football manager have to do with a science fiction film made in 1968?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2426,334],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}