This is my second time to watch this film, and it still troubles me. I’m conflicted about Snowden, and I’m conflicted about what Snowden has brought to my attention – namely the extent of the surveillance being conducted by our government upon its own citizens. The Orwellian backdrop of this movie accentuates the thorny nature of revealing sensitive information in the age of big data. The movie further exposes the unsettling reality that we are making up the rules as we go along, as we accelerate toward the world of drones, omniscient surveillance and artificial intelligence. For many, the rules are quite clear and Snowden is seen as a traitor and any relief offered under the banner of whistleblower is emphatically waved off. Of the numerous readings and podcasts I scour on the intelligence community and the state department, people under their employment see Snowden’s treason as unambiguous.
In the film, Snowden states that the investigation will turn more toward his identity and actions, rather than the discussion being about the government’s over-reach of domestic surveillance that was supposed to be a temporary counter-measure enacted by the Patriot Act. He was right about that, and that’s pretty much where the discussion has remained since he went public.
This documentary film, done by Laura Poitras should be required viewing for anyone who is foaming at the mouth over these kinds of sensitive security / information breeches. The tone of the film is not hectic, but is slow, deliberate, and ominous, as it becomes clear that while Snowden sits in his Hong Kong hotel room, whole branches of the U.S. government are mobilizing to seize him, and anyone associated with him for intimidation / interrogation. Those of us jaded and hypnotized by the typical lethargic gridlock of the American political system, get a peek into how quickly this same dysfunctional entity can coordinate into immediate action. This seems to be the reality we find ourselves in as part of the post 9/11 world. An open ended war on terrorism has embroiled Americans in a hyper bureaucratic / patriotic paranoia. While the nation’s political apparatus wants to defend against threats of encroaching socialism, or religious fundamentalism as venues destined to implement authoritarianism, we seem to be adopting some of those tactics.
Regardless of where you land on Snowden’s innocence or guilt, his deviousness or his altruism; this is a film that gives us all a foreshadowing of what life is going to be like in the age of encroaching digital surveillance. The need for these kinds of secrets, and also their release, will be ratcheted up with each successive year, and with each successive flare up in the war against terrorism. The murky boundaries between what is public vs. private will be scrutinized and also abused. What is permitted in the name of security will enjoy an unequaled elasticity, and the citizens of the 21st century could find themselves in a world where privacy is all but eliminated. This could be our version of Orwell, and the irony is we might be ok with it. I’m not sure we realize what’s being lost here. Whatever you think freedom looks like, or whatever you think that means – it may very well be the version deemed criminal in the realities of information warfare.
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