MovieChat Forums > WarGames (1983) Discussion > 10 reasons why David is a prick

10 reasons why David is a prick



I just watched this movie for the first time in a while and I understand it's just a movie, but I can't get over how much of an arrogant prick he is. He just does whatever the hell he wants, whenever the hell he wants, with no respect whatsoever for authority, rules, or boundaries. With complete disregard for the consequences of his doing. I understand he's just a teenager, but he's completely aware of his actions. He just doesn't care.

10. He waltzes in to Biology class late because playing Galaga during school is more important. And after his teacher was nice enough not to write his punk ass up, he then has the audacity to interrupt his lesson and then slander him in front of the entire class. His teacher didn't deserve that at all. Yea, he was kind of a dick, but at least he never got personal.

9. Even though eventually she changed her mind, after Jennifer specifically tells him not to, he goes behind her back and changes her Biology grade. Not only is that disrespectful to her, but he also puts her in a situation where she could possibly get expelled if they were to get caught.

8. He tries to break into Protovision illegally to play their program without paying for it when he HAS the resources to acquire the game legally if he weren't so impatient. He's lucky to even have a computer in the '80's and at his age. I mean, his parents could and would be more than willing to just buy it for him for Christmas or his birthday if he'd just ask, even though he doesn't deserve it.

7. He's azzhole enough to put a lock and a sign on his bedroom door that says "Authorized Entrance Only", like he doesn't trust his own parents. They own that room and deserve the right to know what's going on in there if they want. They work two jobs to provide a nice home for him and all he does is sit in his room all day, engaging in illegal activities instead of just masturbating like every other teenager. I could understand if he had brothers or sisters, but he doesn't so that's just a slap in the face to his parents.

6. He's also rude to his parents who are cool enough to let him skip school for days at a time to research game designers. He does everything in his power to avoid socializing with them. He reads a magazine at the dinner table. I mean, would it KILL him to just put it away for 20 minutes and have a conversation with his parents. He just gets up from the table without asking because hacking into Protovision is top priority and can't wait until after dinner. Later in the movie, he comes home and just says,"Hi, dad!", like he just went for a bike ride or something, and doesn't even have the decency to say hi to his mom and kiss her hello. I know his parents are lame(and may possibly be aliens), but they spoil him and he treats them like strangers.

5. When Jennifer states that he could go to jail for bypassing long distance telephone fees for dialing every number in Sunnyvale, he says,"Only if you're over 18". What ignorance. Of course HE'S not going to go to jail, his name isn't on the phone bill. He doesn't stop to think that if the phone company finds out, his parents are going to be the ones held responsible because they ARE over 18. And the phone company's not going to give a damn if it was some punk kid making the calls, they're either going to press charges or send his parents a fat ass bill in the mail.

4. He's inconsiderate. After however many times his father's told him, he still doesn't have the courtesy to double check the trash can lid to make sure it's on tight. His mom even reminded him during dinner. It doesn't look to me like they ask that much out of him. They ask him to do one simple thing, he can at least do it right. He doesn't seem to care when he his father shows him the mess, either. Then after his mother politely asks him if he wants to invite his little friend to their barbecue, he ignores her and closes the shutters in her face and doesn't even ask Jennifer if she wants to stay. What an ass.

3. I don't think I should say anything else until I talk to a lawyer? Who does this prick thinks he is? McKittrick was more than gracious and patient with him. With the fate of the nation hanging in the balance, all David had to do was cooperate and explain in detail what he did and take responsibility for his actions. I mean, he'd already admitted that he broke into their system. Asking for a lawyer makes it look like he's hiding something and it also makes him look like a total dick. Then after that, he has the stones to log in to McKittrick's personal computer with glass walls around him like they wouldn't see it.

2. He programs his computer to dial every number in Sunnyvale, California, to try to get into Protovision's system, calling and hanging up on thousands of people in the process, some of whom are trying to work. Not to mention the thousands of people he woke up while it was dialing numbers overnight.

1. During the entire movie he just goes around making others look bad and insulting people, including the ones he loves, to benefit himself and accomplish his ulterior motives. First, he makes his teacher look bad, then Jennifer, then Bo the dog. He makes his parents look really bad when he gets caught for hacking into the WOPR, making the WOPR look bad. The WOPR could have been a good idea, but since that little bastard had to go hacking into it, it made a lot of people look bad, from Richter the WOPR tech to General Beringer to the President of the United States. Then when he's detained at NORAD, he makes McKittrick look bad by violating his trust. Then makes Airman Fields look bad by breaking out of the infirmary, also making the alarm system engineer and repairman look bad. He makes the U.S. look bad to the Russians and vice versa. Last but not least, he makes Falken look bad by exploiting his "backdoor" password and then drags him to NORAD so he can face, firsthand, the repercussions of creating Joshua. He even makes McKittrick look bad, again, by ruffling up his hair at the end. When McKittrick said "Let me talk to this little prick", boy was he right.

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You nailed that prick.



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11. Four years later, he would slam a rented BMW into a woman and her mother in Northern Ireland killing them both. He would claim amnesia over the whole event and instead of facing prison time like most normal people, he would wind up with only a small $175 fine and the story would be quashed in the media. Oh, wait. That wasn't David. That was Matthew Broderick and it actually happened.

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That's referred to as "The Hyannis Port Kennedy Defense", named after the Naval Hero of Chappaquiddick..

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Superb.

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You make some good points, although in David's defense, he was surrounded by pricks, so it's no surprise how he turned out:

10. Being late isn't a huge offense, and David's dickishness was more calculated anyway, so he could be sent to the principal's office to get the password for the school computer system. The Biology teacher was pretty much a dick anyway, so they kind of cancelled each other out.

9. I think David was just trying to impress Jennifer. She didn't seem to mind after he told her about it.

8. I agree with this point, especially since trying to break into Protovision was what got him into the whole mess to begin with.

7. His parents obviously indulged him from an early age, so it's probably just as much their fault as his. As long as he's not doing drugs or masturbating, I guess they're happy to let him play with his computer. The mother did have a passing concern about possibly getting electrocuted, but overall, they seemed to trust him. Heck, when Jennifer went trotting up to his room, David's father didn't even look up from his crossword puzzle. My parents never would have allowed my girlfriend to do that when I was that age.

6. His parents may not have even known he was skipping school. They were just wrapped up in their own little worlds, and didn't seem to know nor care much about what David was doing. Sure, they spoiled him, and being an only child, they probably doted on him a bit more than they would if he had siblings. On the other hand, he never showed any defiance or anything blatantly disrespectful. He was just more absent-minded and wrapped up in his own little world, just like his parents. The mother was also gabbing on the phone relentlessly about her real estate deal, so she didn't seem too interested in a conversation with David anyway.

5. "The phone company screwed up!" Considering that David's computer was seized and all of the records were in the FBI's hands, they might very well have informed the phone company about David's phone dialing program. I'm not sure if he had some kind of device hooked up to the phone line or what, but if they searched his room, they would have found it and confiscated it. I've remember seeing a couple of those devices in homes of people trying to save money on long distance phone calls back in the 70s and 80s. I don't know if that's what David used, but they're definitely illegal. His parents could have pleaded ignorance to save them from any legal trouble, although that may not have saved them from getting a phone bill for all those calls.

4. Yeah, David should have been more attentive about closing the trash can lid tightly, although that probably was more of a normal teenager thing to do. I don't know if I could hold that against him, though, since I know that I didn't always do my chores perfectly either. (My dad never really got angry or chewed me out; instead I would get a long lecture which was sometimes even worse.)

3. I strongly disagree on this point. David was a U.S. citizen who has every right to ask for a lawyer after being arrested and detained. Absolutely nothing prickish about that; it's everyone's legal right. This is especially true since he was telling the truth and McKittrick was still being a major egotistical prick, since he thought his system was so flawless that there was no possible way David could have broken in without working with someone else.

2. Agreed, although it's better than being awakened by multiple calls at 2am from the same drunk guy who's trying to call his wife to pick him up at the bar and wondering why I'm at his house. (I finally had to take the phone off the hook that night.)

1. All those people made themselves look bad without David's help. The only one I would sympathize with is Bo. Poor dog. While David is on his computer, the mother is making real estate deals, and the father is doing crossword puzzles, who's taking care of poor Bo? They just let him run free and eat out of garbage cans.

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3. I strongly disagree on this point. David was a U.S. citizen who has every right to ask for a lawyer after being arrested and detained. Absolutely nothing prickish about that; it's everyone's legal right. This is especially true since he was telling the truth and McKittrick was still being a major egotistical prick, since he thought his system was so flawless that there was no possible way David could have broken in without working with someone else.

Well said. He was being truthful but McKittrick clearly didn't believe him. Also in David's defense, he didn't ask for a lawyer until McKittrick brought up the plane reservations, which implicated Jennifer.

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Well said. He was being truthful but McKittrick clearly didn't believe him. Also in David's defense, he didn't ask for a lawyer until McKittrick brought up the plane reservations, which implicated Jennifer.


Agreed, he didn't want Jennifer to get in trouble.

He wasn't a prick, he was a highly intelligent geek teenager.


Agreed, I didn't think he was a prick either to be honest, there are a lot of characters like that, look at Josh Hartnett's character Zeke in The Faculty.


"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.

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When Jennifer walked upstairs to his room, he shoulda just banged her right then and there! LOL

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He wasn't a prick, he was a highly intelligent geek teenager.



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[deleted]

He was butt-stupid for a 17 years old geek, even in 1983.
But then each and every character in this film was.
Most of all the "logic" behind WOPR and his his supposed "hacking".



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@philtess1982 homeschooled?

"Liberal Media" is the last resort of people who don't have facts on their side.

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...or a fair resort to anyone who isn't completely blind to reality.

But with that snarky remark about homeschooling "fair" isn't in your vocabulary unless it's about taking money from one group of people and giving it to those who didn't actually work for it.

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There is no "Liberal" media. It is all right wing, just some to a lesser degree. Those who aren't far enough right are labeled Liberal to scare ignorant rednecks who know nothing about what these terms actually mean. Sort of like Commie, which scares your average redneck even more than Liberal. As someone who thinks these terms are so overused as to lack any meaningful relevance anymore, I laugh at the ignorance.

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Wow. Your list would classify a huge amount of people as 'pricks', eventhough I would not classify those people that way. At least not for those reasons.

You must hate Calvin of Calvin&Hobbes.. or if you don't know who he is, do yourself and your blood pressure a favor and NEVER read any Calvin&Hobbes books. If you think David is a prick, I can't even imagine what you are going to think about Calvin.

David isn't doing anything too prick'ish. I don't think it's a "prick" thing to do to wardial just to satisfy his curiosity about games. He's a teenager, he has to try his limits, and his motivation is only wanting to play some games. Surely that's not too prick'ish!

I mean, a prick would think "I want to hurt, steal, make them feel bad" etc. Someone is prick because of their motivations, not because of their actions. Attitude makes a prick, not the actions.

David's attitude was - he knew an easier and better way than what was coerced and forced for him against his will, and he wanted to be free. So he used that way - why wouldn't he have? He wanted life to be free and fun, not boring and imprisoned.

Why would ANYONE respect "authority, rules and boundaries" anyway? Those are not something you respect, those are something that try to limit or limit your natural freedom and your birthrights, not something to be respected. If I build a wall around you (a boundary), will you respect it? Or will you hate it and try to break free?

No one is an 'authority' over another, unless a LAW has been broken (legal system is not the same thing) anyway. Teenagers are of course not adults yet, so they can't be held fully responsible for their actions, and they are by necessity always 'governed' at least in some small way even against their will.

But that doesn't mean that it would be somehow natural or non-prick'ish to respect 'authority' (should all who claim to be 'authority' automatically be respected, or if not, then who should, and why? Isn't respect something that has to be EARNED, never automatically given?). In fact, I would say it's way more natural for a teenager to despise, hate and undermine any 'authority', because that's what teens are supposed to do, they are trying their (and others) limits, to see what they can and cannot get away with and so on.

And who the heck respects something lifeless, like 'boundaries'? Why should he respect 'rules' anyway, especially if he knows they only limit him, and if he knows ways around them? Why would he have to be a PRICK to want to have a more free, more fun life?

Are you sure you are not projecting your own prickdom into innocent David, who only wanted to play some games and be free of unnecessary restrictions?

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I'd blame David's perceived prickiness on the actor who played him. But truth be told, this is one of the few roles I've seen Broderick in that weren't overbearingly offbeat. I find him a very poor actor, a sort of a less-cool-more prone-to-looking-stupefyingly-confused-Keanu of his time. Whereas the boyish appearance of Keanu during his younger years, the way he carried himself and spoke, could be transcribed as perpetual amazement and bewildered wonder and an almost primal zest devoid of deeper structure one could find some amusement in - Broderick was just a dull-faced, dead-eyed bundle of confusion in his performances. I can tolerate him in Ferris Bueller and in War Games, but nowhere else, especially LadyHawke.
So, his innate dullness and lackluster bearing actually fit the role of David well, who is supposed to be a misfit recluse/computer specialist on the fringes of society.
If it weren't for Sheedy's vivacious character, in whose earthen energy he could bask, I'd have trouble telling him apart from Joshua.

Hm, I may have put too much thought into this, maybe I should find some hobby.

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[deleted]

Don't forget number 11. He pursuaded Jennifer to buy him a plane ticket from colorado to oregon and she managed to drive there herself(3 hrs). I don't think he offered to pay her back he just said just do me this favor. and with all that pricky crap about to start wwIII he wasn't fined in anyway or punished.

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Actually, he did offer to pay her back. It was the first thing he said after asking her for the money for a plane ticket.

As far as not being fined, the movie doesn't show anything about what happened after, so for all you know, he may very well have had severe consequences.

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That is why they shoulda made a sequel!!

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You should definitely take up writing as a hobby because that was enjoyable to read as well as accurate.

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It's important to note that David intentionally wanted/needed to go to the principal's office so he could get the new password so he could change his grade. Notice how he had to be buzzed in, in order to get behind the counter and get to the location of the password. If he didn't insult the teacher he wouldn't have been sent to the office and he wouldn't have been able to change their grades.

Amazing and shocking that a high school kid put his needs first and treated authority figures poorly. You just don't see that.... LOL!!!

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