Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Behind Close Doors by Jenna Hoffmann


Behind Closed Doors
            Would you dare to challenge the government? Edward Snowden, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, does just that - not only in this movie, but in real life. The controversy of government leaks leads to Edward Snowden fleeing the United States in fear of facing the judicial backlash from the National Security Agency. This movie sparks a fire in minds all over the world into what the government is really doing behind closed doors. Being that this is a real life event that is still ongoing, the movie brings to light what the government sees as being ethical and how far they will go to protect their secrets.
The film begins in an Army training camp, where Edward Snowden is noticeably falling in ranks among the rest of his comrades. Falling down one morning, he breaks both legs and his Army doctor stresses that he will not be returning to training camp. By telling Snowden that there are other ways to serve his country, he takes that to heart and applies to the CIA. After a long interview and interrogation process, he is hired and becomes a NSA contractor. During his time in the NSA, he meets Lindsey Mills, played by Shailene Woodley, whom he has been online chatting with. She immediately knows that he works for the CIA and understands his line of work, which makes them perfectly compatible. Edward starts work low in the agency, but quickly impresses the higher ups and gains privileges. His work takes him to Geneva, Japan, Washington D.C., and eventually Oahu. In these countries, Edward is building software and technology that is not even imaginable to most and sees some disturbing things along the way. Years of seeing so much corruption leads him to question his morals and mental stability after seeing what the rest of the world is not, and so he decides it is time for a change. He decides to tell the world the truth about the CIA and his specialty: the NSA. His work forever changes how the world will view and trust the government.
The film is based on real life events with added dramatization to keep viewers intrigued throughout, which places it in the political thriller and biographical genres perfectly. It can be described as “[a] genuine thriller is a film that [relentlessly] pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax” (Dirks). In the movie, the “single-minded goal” for Edward Snowden is to release the secrets of the NSA, but this does not happen quickly. The gathering and releasing of information takes years to complete, which is also a key component of the movie that makes it fit into the biographical genre. This can be defined as so, “[t]hese films depict and dramatize the life of an important historical personage (or group) from the past or present era” (Dirks). Edward Snowden is an important figure in politics and forever will be because of his work inside the NSA. Therefore, the plot sheds light on his thought processes throughout that time. The movie is also biographical because it follows Edward’s personal love life with Lindsey Mills. It expands on the highs and lows of their relationship over the years as she travels with him to multiple countries and states. Focusing on the personal aspects of his life keeps viewers intrigued and adds uniqueness to the movie.
Snowden is unique because the House Intelligence Committee and NSA still want Edward to face trial in the United States in 2016 or whenever he returns and the leaks were released back in 2013 (Savage). It is not surprising that government agencies are still outraged at Edward Snowden three years after the leaks because he did something that no one would ever think possible and got away with it. In doing so, the government cannot touch him as long as he remains outside of the states. The world, and especially the United States, erupted with anger and mistrust after Edward shared government secrets. As recently as September 2016, President Obama is being contacted by letter from the House Intelligence Committee asking that he not pardon Snowden as his work is a serious offense to the government (Savage). The United States government as a whole protects its secrets with great care; by letting something, such as leaks, slip right under their noses is a huge breach in security. In Savage’s article, in The New York Times, he states, “[t]he committee also said it had completed a 36-page report… looking into the leaks and their effects” (Savage). The report is probably an effort to find out where and how the CIA let this happen. Of course, that is only one biased opinion over the whole matter and there are said to be plenty more.
In another film review, Edward Snowden is praised for his work to open up the eyes of the world to the government’s acts and also the film itself.  Tallerico, the film critic, expressed in his review, “There are numerous accomplished scenes… It’s in his body language, which captures a man truly conflicted about what to do with the information he’s discovered. And that’s an interesting approach to the Snowden story in and of itself” (Tallerico). The directors and producers did a marvelous job with actors, filming, getting multiple points through to the viewers and posing questions, such as who you can trust and the government’s real intentions. They continued, “[t]his story is truly complex, especially in the way Stone and Fitzgerald have chosen to tackle it. They offer a little bit of “the early days of Edward,” but it’s not long before Snowden is, shall we say, seeing how the sausage gets made” (Tallerico). Getting to the point in the movie then expanding upon it is really what made Snowden a solid film.
The movie has multiple strong points as Edward Snowden’s story and the leaks occurred only three short years ago. This fact alone can keep viewers intrigued because for those who did not know that this political event occurred, the younger generation for example, it can be an educational message towards them. It also works in a movie format because it reaches those younger viewers, who may go to the movies more often than reading political articles or watching the news. Another strength is that Edward Snowden’s life is relatable to viewers in some ways. Everyone has experienced a time when they saw or heard something that they knew was not right. Everyone has done something that has made them question their morals at least once. It may have even affected them mentally like it did with Edward and his medical diagnosis of epilepsy. Being under a lot of stress and close watch is something that anyone could understand. With that being said, the movie has quite a few weaknesses along with various relatable points and multiple strengths.
A big weakness in Snowden is that it did not give much detail in the beginning of the movie as to what Edward Snowden’s job description or responsibilities are. It was difficult to understand his assignments and role within the agency until about an hour into the movie. Viewers are left to figure it out on their own or wait until the movie goes more in depth with his job and why he is doing what he is. Another weakness is that the movie is extremely controversial and biased toward Edward Snowden’s favor. Snowden’s writers and directors obviously favors what he is doing within the NSA and how going about it. The movie stands up for him and protects him in the way of how the directors and producers choose to portray him as the hero who will educate the world. Standing up for a man who leaked government secrets is controversial. It can be perceived as going against the government in the way of shedding more light on their unethical actions and bringing the story back into the spotlight. It is known worldwide that the government has secrets and they always will unless more people have the knowledge and courage to do what Edward did. Not many people can or would challenge the government like him.
The theme of the movie is that it challenges the government, their intentions, and the people’s trust in them. Every time we learn something new about the government or what they are doing we find ourselves questioning them more and more. That is what makes this movie so great. It constantly has its viewers thinking about what they really believe and allows them to make up their minds about Edward Snowden and the leaks, even though it is extremely biased. It strikes an emotion in Americans, whether it is anger towards the government or pride that someone spoke up. Snowden is a movie that everyone wants to tell their friends about right after they watch it.



Works Cited
Dirks, Tim. “Biopics” and “Thrillers – Suspense”. Ed. Tim Dirks. Film Site. AMC, 2011. Web. 26 September 2016.  
Savage, Charlie. “House Intelligence Committee Urges No Pardon for Edward Snowden.” The New York Times, 15 September 2016. Web. 19 September 2016.
Tallerico, Brian. “Snowden.” Rev. of Snowden, dir. Oliver Stone. Roger Ebert.com. Ebert Digital, 16 September 2016. Web. 25 September 2016.

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