Dillon, Roberto (2026) From outcast to hero and back: The shifting portrayals of the hacker archetype. New Media and Society. (In Press)

Preview

PDF (Publisher Accepted Version) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (795kB) | Preview

Abstract

The “hacker” figure has ascended rapidly within the collective imagination, embodying technical wizardry and societal anxieties about the digital world. This article analyzes the shifting portrayals of the hacker archetype across seminal films, TV shows, and computer games from the 1980s to the present. Rather than a simple, straightforward evolution, we argue that media representations built a complex narrative arc by drawing from, and selectively amplify, a consistent repertoire of hacker tropes. By analyzing cinematic narratives alongside the interactive affordances of contemporaneous games, this transmedia analysis illustrates how specific historical moments, like Cold War paranoia and contemporary surveillance capitalism, caused certain tropes to be foregrounded while others recede in the background. The analysis ultimately leads to a complex and nuanced return to the origins, where the layered reactivation of the “outcast” trope, now fused with deep explorations of mental health and a systemic societal critique, reflects the deep anxieties of our hyper-connected age.

Item ID:	91090
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1461-7315
Keywords:	Cyberpunk, digital culture, film and games, hacker tropes, ludology, media analysis
Related URLs:	Publisher
Copyright Information:	CC BY
Date Deposited:	21 Apr 2026 01:32
FoR Codes:	47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4702 Cultural studies > 470208 Culture, representation and identity @ 100%
SEO Codes:	13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1302 Communication > 130204 The media @ 100%
	More Statistics