The Journal of Effective Teaching an online journal devoted to teaching excellence

Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2003

Teaching Computer-and-Society Issues Through Popular Films: 
The Case of Desk Set (1957)

Anton Karl Kozlovic
School of Humanities
The Flinders University of South Australia
Anton.Kozlovic@flinders.edu.au

 Abstract

Critically examining popular films to explore computer-and-society issues is an exciting act of applied cinema that can yield many fruitful insights. The vintage Hepburn-and-Tracy film Desk Set (1957, dir. Walter Lang) was used as a case study. This is a classic, non-SF exemplar of the fears of organizational change and computerization amongst American female office workers that is still relevant today. A detailed synopsis and forty focus questions were compiled for directed classroom discussion. The process of cinematic meditation is a useful pedagogic aide for more effectively exploring complex computerization issues that is also engaging, informative and entertaining.

 Introduction 

Computers in the popular cinema abound, particularly in the science fiction (SF) genre. Indeed, the classic 1960s film 2001: A Space Odyssey starring HAL 9000 (aka HAL) (voice of Douglas Rain) achieved “the status of a famous fictional character” (Pringle, 1987, p. 198). Kubrick’s film excited many a computer professional in its day, and it still regularly prompts important debates about the impact of computers upon society (Midbon, 1990; Stork, 1997; Vendy & Nofz 1999). Part of its enduring fame was rooted in it highlighting the unsavoury fears about computers. In fact, since HAL “we have been plagued by computer-on-the-loose monsters” (Twitchell, 1985, p. 322) as aptly demonstrated in Colossus: The Forbin Project, Westworld, Demon Seed, Electric Dreams, The Terminator, The Matrix, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and their many sequels and heirs. This hi-tech horror trend not only became a flood as crafty computers, rogue robots and angry androids invaded our screens with a variety of digital delusions (Glass 1984-85; Kozlovic 2001; Springer 1999), but it instituted its own filmic sub-genre as a direct consequence of the electronics revolution - Computer Films. 

From Outer Space to Office Space 

The SF genre is a natural home for computers, but there are many non-SF films depicting computers that are not in the grip of mad scientists, malicious aliens, or evil entities. Rather, they are depicted as a normal, albeit sometimes illegal, part of the traditional working world. For example, The Honeymoon Machine depicted an on-board ship computer being used by navy crewmen for unauthorized gambling purposes. Billion Dollar Brain showcased a Texan oil millionaire using his computer to plan a complex, illegal invasion for disturbing dictatorial reasons. The mainframe computer in Hot Millions was used for normal commercial transactions, and also illegal ones by a rogue employee. Turin’s traffic control computer in The Italian Job was fed doctored magnetic tapes. Its Trojan Horse program was designed to disrupt police pursuing thieves escaping in customized minis by strategically creating road chaos. In Jumpin’ Jack Flash, the financial transaction computers in a New York bank were remotely manipulated by a British intelligence agent stranded behind the Iron Curtain. In fact, computers on-screen are fast becoming as ubiquitous as their telephone, TV and car equivalents. An important business-related computer film that was not premised upon illegality or typical SF themes was the 1957 film Desk Set directed by Walter Lang. 

A Man, a Woman, and an Electronic Brain 

This easily obtainable 1950s film-cum-video was a delightful office satire of complexity and wit that offered a gendered, sympathetic, albeit, antagonistic perspective on women and the information technology revolution. Starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, it touched upon office computerization and organizational resistance-to-change issues still relevant today, and thus worthy of re-examination because of its subject matter, plus the clarity that historical distance now provides. It was considered a trifling and ordinary film in its day (Swindell, 1970, p. 280) that “just squeaked by with the critics and public” (Carey, 1983, p. 188). Some claimed it was made as an excuse to resurrect the successful Hepburn-and-Tracy team after a five year hiatus (Edwards, 1985, p. 304), or as a sly means for Katharine to monitor the aging Spencer, her depressed lover in real life (Davidson, 1987, p. 161). 

Nonetheless, it is a significant computer film because it dealt directly with social anxiety caused by office computerization that was threatening to replace the all-female staff of a research departmental. Its non-speaking, electronic brain protagonist EMARAC (aka “Miss Emmy”) was designed to improve the efficiency of the Federal Broadcasting Company, while its methods engineer designer, Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy), “the male agent of capitalist ‘rationalization’” (Britton, 1995, p. 200), was its aging, dull hero. Technologically speaking, Miss Emmy was a mainframe-sized “office” computer in an age where laptops, palmtops and the Internet were literally science fiction, and so it is also an important benchmark film for comparative technology purposes. Indeed, EMARAC (Electromagnetic Memory And Research Arithmetical Calculator) is a fictional version of the historic ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator), the world’s first electronic, general-purpose computer. Thus Desk Set appears to have the honour of being the world’s first computer biography film. 

Narration as Inscribed Social Data 

The film’s narrative revolved around Barbara “Bunny” Watson (Katharine Hepburn), “the walking catalogue of the network’s reference library” (Marill, 1973, p. 109), and her rivalry with Miss Emmy for the attentions of Richard Sumner, “the bumbling computer expert who fathers the electronic brain” (Colatrella, 2001, p. 6). Indeed, this romantic love triangle theme was prefigured in Desk Set’s alternative release title, His Other Woman. The emotional trauma generated by Miss Emmy amongst the office girls, and how humanity-and-machine were productively reconciled within the research department in the end provided an intriguing window into office politics, organizational change, and gender roles in an adult data processing environment. Pleasantly surprising was it sympathetic portrait of American female labor that did not involve grubby sexual exploitation, blackmail or calculated treachery, as was to be depicted in the amoral, manipulative computer worlds of Single White Female, Disclosure and The Net. 

Age Shall Not Weary Them Nor Feminism Offend 

It was also a unique film for depicting an old, mature computer professional as hero, unlike the more modern ubiquitous trend of idolizing adolescent computer nerd-geniuses, as depicted in WarGames, Explorers and Deadly Friend, or child-like adults such as August “Gus” Gorman (Richard Pryor) in Superman III. Indeed, since Desk Set: 

…adults have been seriously missing from any high-spirited accounts of the computer “revolution.” Adults now appear as either preoccupied or structurally unemployable clods when it comes to images of computer users. They are, at best, people who lost something in the process of becoming computer literate; some look bio-energetically destroyed by long hours at the computer (Horwitz, 1984, p. 28). 

No doubt, because some people are biologically damaged due to computer-related Repetitive Strain Injury, vigilance fatigue and micro-radiation exposure! Despite Desk Set’s 1950s vintage, it embodied one very modern, feminist social message: 

…the inventor of the computer is not perceived as the competition. Instead, the machine itself is the threat. In fact, Bunny must ultimately compete with “Miss Emmy” in order to win Richard Summer’s love. She orders Richard to prove his love by allowing “Miss Emmy” to go full tilt and break down. When the inevitable has occurred, Bunny provides the hairpin with which Richard is allowed to repair the machine. Ultimately Bunny and Richard establish a trade-off in which Bunny proves that a human brain is needed in the research department while Richard shows that Emmarac [sic] can liberate the research staff from repetitious routine. Thus, this motion picture has at least one fully realized modern idea of the computer age as well as presenting a career woman who does not have to give up her job for love (Ward, 1981, p. 617). 

Or as Carol Colatrella (2001) put it: 

...Desk Set represents the battle between machine and human worker as conflict between masculine devotion to business economy and the kinder, gentler world of feminine workers who share information and empathy for others as an interim step to marriage and family. Desk Set delineates the feminized machine, and not the male efficiency expert, as the enemy (p. 7). 

Technological Darwinism as Capitalist Ideological Rationalization 

Desk Set’s overarching sociological theme was the capital versus labor conflict which was “structured as Darwinian narratives of competition” (Colatrella, 2001, p. 7). In doing so, the film is guilty of one neo-Marxist ideological sin, namely, blaming the (inanimate and thus amoral) computer for the (animate and thus immoral, but economically rational) decisions of management that do not take any compassionate notice of human needs or social outcome in their planning calculations. That is, until the boss Mr. Azae (Nicholas Joy) himself got fired by the faulty payroll EMARAC. Just watch him howl then! This is a common organizational experience. Rather than blame people behind the computers for people-affecting decisions, it is far more politically convenient to blame the computers themselves to deflect blame and future recriminations from the human, business agents of change. This is a political act of management applied neo-Luddite-ism. As Tom Zaniello (1996, p. 70) noted: “The film has a few giggles, but the real story--automation and layoffs/firings--is not so funny. IBM no longer misses the fact that the joke may be on it.” 

However, according to 1950s prescriptions for positive closure at films end, the audience is left with a warm fuzzy glow about Watson and Sumner’s impending marriage. And more warm glows when it is eventually discovered than everyone will keep their jobs with more employees to be hired due to an impending business merger (but very significantly, not due to the office computerization itself). Desk Set also provided a few more giggles because of “its emphasis on the spiritual education of male conservatism” (Britton, 1995, p. 200), and because of its depiction of the different types of rationality displayed throughout. Namely, the quirky, intuitive (female) intelligence of Bunny Watson versus the calculating intelligence of the inanimate EMARAC and its human (male) equivalent, Richard Sumner, the computer-like rationalist. The old adage that owners look like their dogs resonates here as well. Indeed, the film is also a subtle feminist flagship because Bunny Watson is portrayed as being: “a more competent financial analyst than her boyfriend, as intelligent as the male PhD who has invented the electronic brain, and as attractive as any other woman represented” (Colatrella, 2001, p. 7). So, what else can one now learn from a forty-year-old, non-SF, vintage computer film in the age of the Internet? “A lot!” Much can be gleaned from a detailed, focused meditation upon it, as was previously mined within popular computer films such as WarGames, Superman III, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Electric Dreams (Kozlovic 1990, 1991, 1993a, 1993b). Before the film can be used as an effective teaching aide, it is important to understand its broader taxonomical features. 

A Classroom Synopsis of Desk Set 

Given that there are no easily obtainable, detailed plot synopses or scripts for the film, the following breakdown has been compiled as a pedagogic service-cum-convenience for study purposes. It provides a useful aid for alerting students to important features of the film pre-screening, and as an even more important post-viewing reference once substantive facts need to be established without the laborious need of re-running the video time-and-time again.

 The Main Characters 

Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy): Elderly, stubborn, stodgy, absent-minded methods engineer. Designer and patent holder of EMARAC. PhD graduate in science from MIT. Hired by the Federal Broadcasting Company to computerize their Payroll Department and Reference Department.

Barbara “Bunny” Watson (Katharine Hepburn): College educated, Columbia trained librarian. Knowledgeable, witty, stylish, feminine, efficient, prodigious and caring. Compassionate boss of the Reference Department.

EMARAC (aka “Miss Emmy,” “Miss Emily EMARAC,” “Miss E”): Electromagnetic Memory And Research Arithmetical Calculator. A mainframe computer created by Richard Sumner and installed in Bunny Watson’s Reference Department. Another EMARAC computer is operating in the Payroll Department.

Mike Cutler (Gig Young): Tall, handsome, career-orientated, on-the-move company executive with a disarming grin. Bunny’s boss, love interest, and romantic rival of Richard Sumner. He has strung out his relationship with Bunny, romantically and professionally, for several years and has used her to advance his own career.

The Girls: Peg Costello (Joan Blondell), Sylvia (Dina Merrill) and Ruthie (Sue Randall): Bunny’s friendly assistants in the Reference Department. They are anxious about EMARAC and their jobs. Peg and Bunny are after-hours friends.

Miss Warriner (Neva Patterson): Sumner’s employee responsible for running EMARAC. Young, prissy, technical, mildly condescending and easily flustered.

Mr. Azae (Nicholas Joy): Boss of Federal Broadcasting Company who hired Richard Sumner to install the EMARACs. He is very proud of his new computers, and even got fired by one of them by accident. 

The Storyline 

A large computer room is featured with the opening credits being typed on-screen in an IBM printer style format. An enormous skyscraper looms before the audience. On the thirty-third penthouse floor of the Federal Broadcasting Company, Sumner exited the elevator, approached the nearby secretary, and wished to see the boss of the company. He is redirected to Mr. Azae’s secretary only to be informed that he got his appointment day wrong. Sumner thought it was Monday, it was actually Tuesday, but his appointment was for Wednesday! Sumner wandered down to the Reference Department on the twenty-eight floor, but forgot to collect his written directions from the secretary before he left. The secretary immediately rang the Reference Department after Sumner left to warn them of his impending arrival. 

Three pleasant women studiously answered every telephonic request they received. Sumner entered, and without introducing himself, he immediately sized the room with his tape measure. One of the girls queried whether the Department is going to be redecorated. Bunny Watson arrived carrying a large parcel, and her staff urgently tried to alert her to Sumner’s presence. Bunny explained her movements including a visit to an IBM demonstration of a new electronic brain. When Bunny inevitably met Sumner she immediately displayed her professional abilities, and he privately acknowledged that he was a methods engineer. When Sumner left to see Mr. Azae, Bunny quickly rang Azae’s secretary for more information. Sumner unexpectedly returned to retrieve his misplaced tape measure and Bunny immediately faked her conversation. The Reference Department ran well, but the girls were upset at Sumner’s unannounced intrusion, and then speculated about getting new air-conditioning. 

Sumner discussed the installation of EMARAC with Mr. Azae who approved it, but he advised Sumner not to discuss the project with the staff. Meanwhile, Bunny showed off her newly bought dress to her girls, but she is soon warned of Mike Cutler’s imminent arrival via his secretary. Mike is kind but patronizing. He asked Bunny to help him ghostwrite an important report, which she quickly agreed to do. After calming Mike down about the “annual war dance,” she subtly dropped hints about an impending dance. Mike declined this social opportunity, but he offered to take Bunny away for the entire weekend, and so she was content with that. When Mike left the room, Peg was upset at Mike’s substandard treatment of Bunny. Sumner arrived and subsequently made a luncheon date with Bunny. 

He arrived late for the date. Sumner asked Bunny about her personal background. In the course of events, we find that she was college educated, a Columbia trained librarian who was going to do a PhD but ran out of money, and that both her parents were teachers. In addition, she told Sumner that he lived alone because he wore one black sock and one brown sock. They went to lunch together but ended up eating sandwiches on the cold rooftop. Sumner gave Bunny a variety of mental dexterity tests, which she passed brilliantly. Bunny then gave Sumner a breakdown of his own life. This included his birth date, birthplace, star sign, education, honors, and status as the leading expert on electronic brains in the country. All of which she immodestly claimed were obtained in half an hour using her own research methods. Bunny explained how she saw an electronic brain translate Russian into Chinese at an IBM demonstration, and then expressed uneasiness about the computer making people outmoded. 

Later, Bunny received worrying gossip that her personnel file was headed for the boss’s office; normally a bad sign. The staff thought they were being replaced, especially since the EMARAC at Payroll cut their staff numbers by half. However, Bunny confidently asserted that no machine can do their job because there were too many cross-references, and she gently boasted that she would be willing to match her memory against any machine, any day. While Sumner is in the Reference Department, notes and files are passed around which make the staff nervous. Mike visited Bunny to tell her that he cannot take her on their planned weekend trip away. He was selected to go interstate as a result of his (Bunny’s ghosted) report, which was received very favorably. Bunny, initially excited and coy was disappointed, but quickly became forgiving, supportive and helpful. At the end of the working day, Bunny closed the Department but accidentally locked Sumner inside. He was discovered and then both eventually departed together. It was raining heavily on the street, and so a coworker offered to drive both of them home. They arrived at Bunny’s apartment first, so she invited Sumner inside for a meal, and he graciously accepted. 

Since Sumner was soaking wet, Bunny gave him a new dressing gown (Mike’s impending Christmas present). He dutifully changed, put his shoes into the oven to dry out, and sat down to a satisfying meal with a similarly redressed Bunny. Sumner graciously compared her to EMARAC. Meanwhile, Mike turned up unexpectedly, his Chicago flight was cancelled due to bad weather, and he was not happy with what he found. Bunny was not happy with Mike’s suspicions and subsequent behavior and reacted accordingly. In the meantime, Peg turned up, Mike left, followed by Sumner soon after. 

It is Christmas time and the Reference Department is celebrating with the traditional mistletoe. Christmas trees, presents and cash gifts are given to each other and favored helpers, in between answering telephonic requests for the names of Santa’s reindeers. Sumner seemed unaffected by the merriment, and was very absorbed in his paperwork. The girls wondered if EMARAC would throw a party, and pondered what it would be like next year when thousands of people are replaced by the new electronic brains. The Reference staff were invited to the Legal Department’s party, which they promptly attended. 

Sumner arrived to find the Reference Department empty. The phone rang and he answered another telephonic request for the names of Santa’s reindeer, but mixed them up with some of Snow White’s characters. Bunny returned to find Sumner alone. She asked about his final report, and he told her that he had already forwarded it. Peg entered and the office gossip flowed. Bunny gave Sumner his present, a scarf with his college colors. Mike arrived with his presents, and is again unsettled by Sumner’s presence. Bunny got earrings while Mike got bongo drums as presents. Mike is about to propose marriage to Bunny when Sumner interrupted them. Suddenly, the party from the Legal Department burst in with a piano and associated revelries. Bunny and Sumner wandered off to a private spot amongst the bookshelves and discussed life, love and marriage. Bunny thought Sumner was in love with Miss Emily EMARAC, that “monster machine.” 

Later, Bunny heard that Mike had just been promoted, and he is on his way down to see her. Mike proudly told Bunny that he is Vice President of West Coast Operations, and then he asked Bunny to come with him when he leaves on Tuesday. Bunny is reluctant to leave her job and the girls. In the background, Sumner played Mike’s bongos. Mike is upset by Bunny’s reluctant response to his proposal, and during that awkwardness Sumner offered to buy everyone a drink. Just as they are about to leave, Miss Warriner from Sumner’s lab unexpectedly arrived to preview EMARAC’s installation the following Monday. It was a fact the Reference Department was unaware of, and which Sumner did not want them to know just yet, as previously instructed by Mr. Azae. Sumner introduced Miss Warriner as an electronics expert in charge of EMARAC, which will save the company 6,240 man-hours per year. The staff was visibly upset and Bunny cancelled Sumner’s drinking invitation. 

Next week EMARAC is installed along with various “no smoking,” “keep door closed,” “warning do not touch” signs. Flashing panel lights, whirling tape drives, and weird sound effects attested to its functioning. Miss Warriner was proud of her new charge and very protective of EMARAC’s operational requirements. She gently chastised the girls about leaving the door closed, not getting any dust in the room, and not smoking in its presence; much to their annoyance and mild gestures of defiance. Bunny arrived and humorously asked her staff where Miss Emmy’s mother was. She then playfully answered the telephone before giving Miss Warriner the complete history of the American Buffalo on punch cards. Throughout their exchanges, Bunny made sly remarks about EMARAC and the staff’s uncertain futures. Miss Warriner is very condescending to Bunny, especially about the red lever on EMARAC’s control panel. 

Mr. Azae brought some guests to the Reference Department to show off EMARAC, the “modern miracle.” Sumner explained that it was designed to free the worker with Mr. Azae chiming in that it never makes a mistake. Sumner quickly modified that claim by stating that it can make mistakes, but only if humans make a mistake first. Knowing that it took her staff three weeks to track down information on the Spruce Bud Worm, Bunny put EMARAC to the test. She gave the group her answer leaving off the cents in her dollar quotation. A minute or so later, EMARAC delivered the correct answer, including the exact cent figure, much to Bunny’s chagrin. She then lied to Mr. Azae by claiming that her Department took forty-five minutes to get the same answer. The visitors then proceeded to the Payroll Department to inspect its EMARAC. Next payday, all the girls in the Reference Department get pink slips (layoff notices) which they were nervously expecting, and so Bunny slowly started to pack her office possessions. The girls realized that they would get other jobs, but they regretted not being able to work together again. 

In the meantime, Miss Warriner received an information request about the King of the Watutsi and if he drove an automobile. She put the request into EMARAC when another information request for statistics about Corfu arrived. Sumner turned up and Bunny knew that EMARAC’s answer will be wrong, and so she set out to prove what humans can do. EMARAC mistakenly gave a review of the film King Solomon’s Mines, and then information about curfews instead of Corfu, due to Miss Warriner’s spelling error. Bunny and her staff gave the right answers quickly and courteously while EMARAC is busily printing out huge amounts of wrong information because it cannot be stopped in the middle of a print run. Miss Warriner panicked. EMARAC went haywire. Bunny pointed out the now smoldering machine to Miss Warriner who testily told her not to touch it. Miss Warriner then bitterly complained to Sumner how she had to work in an atmosphere of hatred and suspicion, before blaming them all and walking out the room feeling intensely frustrated. 

Sumner could not fix the computer problem until he knew exactly what Miss Warriner had done. However, Bunny gave Sumner a hairpin and he quickly deactivated EMARAC, and then exasperatingly referred to the entirely unpredictable “human element.” Later, Sumner got a pink slip although he is not on the company payroll, as does Mr. Azae himself! The Payroll Department’s EMARAC went berserk and gave everyone in the building a pink slip. Sumner cannot believe that the error was possible. He also explained that EMARAC was not designed to replace them, but rather, to help them by freeing up their time. The prior secrecy which Sumner enforced was a precautionary measure due to the grapevine potentially interfering with the company’s impending merger with Atlantic Network. In reality, the merger is going to result in more work for the girls and extra employees will be needed. All are very relieved. 

A telephonic request for the total weight of the world momentarily flustered Bunny who then decided to use EMARAC. When it asked whether the answer should include “with people?” or “without people?” Bunny was impressed and affectionately patted it saying “good girl.” Sumner took another of Bunny’s hairpins to fix the Payroll EMARAC. In the hallway, he passed Mike who is on his way to see Bunny. While Mike and Bunny are talking, Sumner interrupted them and asked to see Bunny alone. He took her over to their EMARAC control panel and typed in: “Should Bunny Watson marry Mike Cutler?” Bunny quickly pointed out that EMARAC cannot evaluate, and Sumner agreed that it could only repeat what is fed into it by the “human element.” He then typed in: “Should Bunny Watson marry Richard Sumner?” and EMARAC quickly answered “No!” Sumner is surprised and explained that computers can make mistakes while Bunny quickly chimed in saying: “but not Bunny Watson!” 

Bunny argued that their marriage would never work because Sumner is in love with EMARAC not her, and he would always go to EMARAC’s aid first. Sumner bravely retorted that he could not care less about EMARAC, it could blow up. So, Bunny grabbed the red control lever and EMARAC went wild again. Sumner resisted the chaos for a painful moment and then succumbed. He grabbed another hairpin from Bunny and proceeded to rescue EMARAC, but Bunny agreed to wait for him. In the meantime, Mike had been observing the tender scene, and then tactfully departed leaving behind his beautiful bunch of red roses he was planning to give to Bunny. He was going to his new job alone. EMARAC was safely shutdown. Sumner took the beautiful roses left behind by Mike and gave them to Bunny. The words “The End” appeared on EMARAC’s light display panel while they both romantically embraced. The end credits are typed on-screen in an IBM printer style format. Finish. 

Some Storyline Incredulities 

Although Desk Set is delightful and charming, it suffers from a few minor flaws that can detract from the viewer’s enjoyment. For example:

1.       The entire history of the American Buffalo and Shakespeare’s Hamlet are encoded by the girls onto a small pile of punch cards and given to EMARAC to process, along with other pieces of data from the archives. Desk Set would have one believe that all this information could be encoded quickly, easily and simply. However, it would take literally weeks to just read this information, let alone transcribe it in machine-readable code on many punch cards, by reluctant staff, untrained in such computer work, and who know it would replace them.

2.       Bunny Watson playfully answered the telephone by making out her Department was the city morgue, and the caller promptly hung up. Surprisingly, the caller did not ring back straight away, assuming he initially thought he had gotten a wrong number.

3.       If the red control lever had such detrimental consequences for EMARAC, one wonders why it is so poorly located and unsecured. Surely, the lever should have been locked, recessed, surrounded by a barrier etc. to prevent accidental triggering. It appeared to exist only to add dramatic tension, and as an excuse for future plot developments.

4.       When EMARAC repeatedly fouled up, it spat out punch cards everywhere, but when restarted, no effort is made to collect, re-insert or re-order these displaced cards. Yet, neither Sumner, as a precise methods engineer, nor Bunny, as an orderly research librarian were perturbed by this disorderly oversight. Logically speaking, the computer should make potentially serious errors because of this missing data.

5.       Younger viewers may find it incredulous that such a beautiful, intelligent younger woman like Bunny Watson would seriously consider romantically passing over the tall, handsome Mike Cutler for the old, stodgy Richard Sumner. Love may be blind, but Bunny was not that in love with Sumner! 

Focusing Questions as Insight Enhancers 

Students are required to watch the entire film uninterrupted and meditate upon its contents. After a suitable period of self-reflection (but not straight after the film viewing), students tackle the following focus questions. This can be done either alone and writing their observations and thoughts in their journal, or by discussing the questions in class, or a combination of both, so to enhance their appreciation of the issues contained therein. 

1.       What is the significance of the two titles of the film (Desk Set and His Other Woman)? What is their relationship to the physical, symbolic and anthropomorphic representations of EMARAC? Discuss.

2.       Desk Set opens with “We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the International Business Machines Corporation.” What is IBM’s various rolls within the film and its making? Why would IBM be involved with such a film? What specifically can they hope to gain from it? Discuss.

3.       Richard Sumner is portrayed as a loner, socially backward, and a stereotypic absent-minded professor type, but who does not trade on his “Dr.” title. Compare and contrast the portrayal of Sumner in Desk Set with: (a) Miles in Electric Dreams, and (b) Gus in Superman III. What are filmmakers doing to the reputation of computer professionals in this stereotypic way? Discuss.

4.       Illustrate the theme of human-machine rivalry using specific incidents from the film to illustrate your points. Is Desk Set an anti- or pro-technology film? Discuss.

5.       Bunny Watson is a professional 1950s woman. Compare and contrast this representation with depictions of career women in at least one other popular film (e.g., Working Girl).

6.       How does a woman’s touch manifest in the running of the Reference Department? Is this a desirable or practical model for the business world? Would the Bunny-as-boss role model be allowed to exist in today’s corporate culture? Discuss.

7.       What is the role, function and effect of gossiping on the company’s grapevine? Did it help or hinder the personal problems of the staff? Discuss.

8.       Throughout the film, EMARAC is various called “Miss Emmy,” “Miss Emily Emmy,” “Miss M,” “she” and “good girl.” What advantages and disadvantages does anthropomorphizing the computer (in this case with a female identity) have for the human coworkers? Should the practice be condoned or not? Discuss.

9.       EMARAC can be turned off very easily. Compare and contrast this plot feature with any of: (a) Electric Dreams, (b) Superman III, (c) Colossus: The Forbin Project, (d) 2001: A Space Odyssey, (e) The Terminator, (f) The Matrix, and (g) A.I. Artificial Intelligence Discuss this implication for computerphobia, cyberscepticism and human evolution today.

10.     Contrast the work place harmony in the Reference Department before and after EMARAC’s arrival. What does it say about how management should go about introducing computers into the workplace? Discuss.

11.     Why did management keep Sumner’s work a secret in the company? In retrospect, was this a prudent move, and was it handled well? Discuss.

12.     Who was better at getting specific information, EMARAC or the Reference Department staff? Discuss. Compare the capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of humans versus computers in general.

13.     EMARAC is referred to as an “electronic brain” throughout the film. Is this an accurate description of a computer? What do biological metaphors imply? Discuss.

14.     Why did Bunny lie to her boss Mr. Azae about the time it took to get an answer to the Spruce Bud Worm question? Should she have lied? Discuss.

15.     How are all the women, all the men, and the gendered computer portrayed in this film? Is it fair, reasonable and realistic? Discuss.

16.     Is Bunny correct in asserting that a computer cannot do her job? List her arguments and boasts in this regard, and compare it with how EMARAC performed in the film. Is this true in the real world? Discuss.

17.     Bunny was concerned that electronic brains made her feel that people were outmoded. Discuss this proposition. Is it true? Explore some of the ramifications of your answer, including the film’s resolution to the dilemma.

18.     Is Bunny Watson a feminist? Justify your answer and refer to: (a) Mike’s comment that everybody knows that Bunny has not got a brain in her head and that she only keeps her job because she knows Mike, (b) Mike taking the credit and promotional rewards for Bunny’s ghosted report work, and (c) Bunny’s participation, tolerance and acceptance of it all.

19.     Bunny Watson’s department is various called “the reference department,” “the research department,” and “research and records.” What do they actually do there? Discuss what these descriptions say about people’s understandings of the Department’s function and how can computerization help them?

20.     The physical nature of the work environment dictates the quality of the worker’s social and interpersonal relationships. Discuss this proposition using examples from the film.

21.     Sumner describe himself as a methods engineer instead of a computer scientist, information technologist, work-study or efficiency expert, and he does not trade on his PhD qualification? Discuss the potential implications for this.

22.     Bunny told Sumner that if she did not work there, she would pay to get in. List some of the reasons for Bunny’s enthusiastic response, and discuss its ramifications for employers today.

23.     Have the Reference Department staff lied, cheated, abused, or broken faith with their employer in any way, or vice versa? Discuss.

24.     What is the symbolic significance of a large corporate office? How does your understanding compare with Mr. Azae’s explanation? Discuss.

25.     Explore the absent-minded professor motif as exhibited by Richard Sumner. List examples of him doing it. Speculate about its function within the film and its impact upon the representation of scientists in: (a) other popular films (e.g., The Nutty Professor), and (b) in the real world (e.g., Albert Einstein). Are such portrayals counterproductive to the interests of the education, business and scientific communities? Discuss.

26.     Bunny felt that Sumner was more in love with EMARAC than with her. Is this true? Discuss. Explore the issue of computer-caused relationship problems.

27.     When Sumner asked EMARAC if Bunny Watson should marry him, it answered “No.” Speculate about why this happened, and what it may mean for computer matching and dating services.

28.     Sumner referred to the entirely unpredictable human element when EMARAC went haywire. Is that all that can go wrong with computers? Discuss.

29.     Mr. Azae called EMARAC a “modern miracle” that never made a mistake. Whereas Sumner claimed that it could make mistakes, but only if the human elements made a mistake first, and that it would also free the worker. Do you agree with these statements? Are they realistic? Justify your claim referring to the film and real world computing.

30.     Bunny called EMARAC a “monster machine.” Is it a fair or true description? Discuss by comparing the computer-monster link within: (a) HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey, (b) Proteus IV in Demon Seed, and (c) Hector in Saturn 3.

31.     Do computers take away people’s jobs or do people take away people’s jobs? Who did loose there jobs in the film and why? Discuss with reference to Ludditeism, termination justifications and economic rationalism.

32.     Is Desk Set a love triangle film? Discuss by comparing it with Electric Dreams.

33.     What overt and covert messages does Desk Set give to the audience about computers, work and redundancy issues? Is the film functional or dysfunctional to the long-range integration of computers into society? Discuss.

34.     What is the function of EMARAC’s various sound effects and flashing panel lights? Is it realistic? Is it counter-productive? Discuss.

35.     How realistically does Desk Set portray the compatibility of capitalist rationalisation and full employment, and without changing the mode of production? Discuss with reference to the girls’ comments about easily getting other jobs. What if other jobs were not so easy to get? Discuss.

36.     Are Bunny and Sumner a democratic couple representative of the reciprocity between efficient technology and gentle humanness? Discuss.

37.     Was IBM using humour, irony and computer anxiety to promote their computers throughout Desk Set. Discuss.

38.     Part of the strategy of capitalism is to advertise the virtues of progress while simultaneously satirising resistance to progress. Discuss referring to specific incidents within the film.

39.     Discuss how Desk Set is an example of the progress myth, and how the computer is depicted as a positive social engineering tool.

40.     Is the film a modern depiction of the principles of Taylorism? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the situation from a managerialist viewpoint. 

Another effective teaching option is for students to formulate new questions for the class to answer on other occasions, and thus add to the above-documented list in a proactive, progressive fashion.

 Conclusion 

Desk Set demonstrates that vintage popular films need not be relegated exclusively to the arena of diversionary entertainment. They can be just as profitably employed in the classroom for a whole raft of computer-and-society, gender, comparative technology, management and organizational issues. Far from being watered-down sociology, applied cinema studies is a cheap, convenient and entertaining form of the philosopher’s thought experiment. After all, in this postmodern, post-Millennial, ocular-centric age of the moving image, the profession can no longer afford to ignore the input that only the camera can make. 

References 

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Carey, G. (1983). Katharine Hepburn: A biography. London: Robson Books. R

Colatrella, C. (2001). From Desk Set to The Net: Women and computing technology in Hollywood films. Canadian Review of American Studies, 31(2), 1-14. R

Davidson, B. (1987). Spencer Tracy: Tragic idol. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. R

Edwards, A. (1985). A remarkable woman: A biography of Katharine Hepburn. New York: William Morrow. R

Glass, F. (1984-85). Sign of the times: The computer as character in Tron, War Games, and Superman III. Film Quarterly, 38, 16-27. R

Horwitz, J. (1984). 1984. Film Comment, 20(1), 25-28. R

Kozlovic, A. K. (1990). WarGames. Teaching Sociology, 18(3), 435-436. R

Kozlovic, A. K. (1991). Superman III. Teaching Sociology, 19(1), 123-127. R

Kozlovic, A. K. (1993a). 2001: A Space Odyssey. Teaching Sociology, 21(4), 422-424. R

Kozlovic, A. K. (1993b). Electric Dreams. Teaching Sociology, 21(4), 424-425. R

Kozlovic, A. K. (2001). Computers as technotopian shapers of humanity: A review of some pre-1990s cinematic signs.” Organdi Quarterly, 3, 1-17. [http://www.geocities.com/organdi_revue/October2001/Kozlovic01.html]. R

Marill, A. H. (1973). Katharine Hepburn. New York City: Galahad Books. R

Midbon, M. (1990). Creation machines: Stanley Kubrick’s view of computers in 2001. Computers and Society, 20(4), 7-12. R

Pringle, D. (1987). Imaginary people: A who’s who of modern fictional characters. London: Grafton Books. R

Springer, C. (1999). Psycho-cybernetics in the films of the 1990s. In A. Kuhn (Ed.), Alien zone II: The spaces of science fiction cinema (pp. 203-218). London: Verso. R

Stork, D. G. (Ed.). (1997). HAL’s legacy: 2001’s computer as dream and reality. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. R

Swindell, L. (1970). Spencer Tracy...a biography. London: W. H. Allen. R

Twitchell, J. B. (1985). Dreadful pleasures: An anatomy of modern horror. New York: Oxford University Press. R

Vendy, P., & Nofz, M. (1999). HAL’s long, long run: Computers and social performance in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001. Computers and Society, 29(4), 8-10. R

Ward, E. (1981). Desk Set. In F. N. Magill (Ed.), Magill’s survey of cinema. English language films. Second series. Volume 2 COB-HAL (pp. 616-618). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press. R

Zaniello, T. (1996). Working stiffs, union maids, reds, and riffraff: An organized guide to films about labor. Ithica: ILR Press.  R

Filmography 

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001, dir. Steven Spielberg)

Billion Dollar Brain (1967, dir. Ken Russell)

Colossus: The Forbin Project (aka The Forbin Project) (1970, dir. Joseph Sargent)

Deadly Friend (1986, dir. Wes Craven)

Demon Seed (1977, dir. Donald Cammell)

Desk Set (aka His Other Woman) (1957, dir. Walter Lang)

Disclosure (1994, dir. Barry Levinson)

Electric Dreams (1984, dir. Steve Barron)

Explorers (1985, dir. Joe Dante)

The Honeymoon Machine (1961, dir. Richard Thorpe)

Hot Millions (1968, dir. Eric Till)

The Italian Job (1969, dir. Peter Collinson)

Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986, dir. Penny Marshall)

King Solomon’s Mines (1937, dir. Robert Stevenson)

The Matrix (1999, dir. Andy & Larry Wachowski)

The Net (1995, dir. Irwin Winkler)

The Nutty Professor (1996, dir. Tom Shadyac)

Saturn 3 (1973, dir. Stanley Donen)

Single White Female (1992, dir. Barbet Schroeder)

Superman III (1983, dir. Richard Lester)

The Terminator (1984, dir. James Cameron)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir. Stanley Kubrick)

WarGames (1983, dir. John Badham)

Westworld (1973, dir. Michael Crichton)

Working Girl (1988, dir. Mike Nichols)

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