Film Review: Snowden Will Have You Hiding In A Dark Room
Snowden is the new film by Oliver Stone that will leave you TERRIFIED! No, it is not The Conjuring 3 or a remake of Friday The 13th. It is even scarier….. It is a true, very real story that captures a major cyber dilemma……privacy.
We all know Edward Snowden as the the divisive figure that is currently ingrained in American history as either a hero or traitor. Yet, Stone does something that has not been done with Snowden before: present him as human. Joseph Gordon Levitt is perfect in capturing the sweet, confused, and meek demeanor of Snowden as a loyal army officer to his nation, until he is asked to be loyal to his humanity? Not too often, if at all, has the question of country versus humanity been associated with Snowden or with most citizens. For however much anyone complains about America, we all love her. She is like your mom; she can embarrass you and say inappropriate things in front of your friends, but she breastfed you, which is more than what you can say for anyone else’s favors. Still, it is because Stone based the heart of this film in this almost, insurmountable moral dilemma, universal code vs national one, that viewers will be left a little sympathetic to Snowden, or at least, wondering what they would have done in his position.
Excuse me as I enter the pretentious portion of my review. Emmanuel Kant is one of my favorite philosophers because he believed that there is a universal code within humanity, that though cannot be placed into words, is known amongst all of us as the moral compass of right and wrong. It is sort of a guttural, intuitive sense that is indefinable, but sentimentally felt. I mention Kant because as I watch Snowden’s paranoia, anxiety, and all out breakdown over what he felt he needed to do, I thought of this philosopher. For Snowden, NOBODY should be watched so heavily, especially average everyday citizens. To him, the government having so much power was dangerous and faithless to humanity, not simply Americans. It is clear that Stone really respects and sides with Snowden in this tale of man vs country, not just because he makes Snowden likable and vulnerable, but he makes the NSA look crazy!
Here are some of the giphy reactions you will have to Cyber Spying after this film:
via GIPHY Is this really happening, Obama?
via GIPHY I AM LOSING MY MIND RIGHT NOW!
We all are raised to not judge, but, by the time, we hit our first day of grade-school that lesson goes out the door. Thus, Stone’s Snowden is refreshing because it chips away at a lot of the judgement Snowden has absorbed since he blew the whistle on the NSA’s overly watchful and intricate gathering of everything we do on the internet, phones, and possibly our homes. Just writing this last statement makes me want to book a flight to Brazil and join an Amazonian tribe. Thus, Snowden succeeds as a film in giving you an alternate thrill and scare that might be too close to home. Snowden comes out in theaters September 16……. or so we have been told?
