Tracking Edward Snowden
It has been three years since Edward Snowden went from total obscurity to becoming one of the world’s most wanted men, after releasing classified NSA ( National Security Agency) documents to the press.
Snowden was 29 when he achieved global notoriety, and his actions continue to fuel global debate. Was he a well- meaning activist sacrificing himself for the greater good? A die- hard right wing advocate playing out a personal vendetta? Or simply an idealist who acted on his own behalf ?
The answer may be yes to each, depending on perspective. One incontrovertible thing about Snowden: his conviction that he did the right thing, whatever the cost to his personal life.
These complexities are explored in Oliver Stone’s film, Snowden. Joseph Gordon-Levitt ( The Dark Knight Rises, Inception) stars as the semi- reclusive, notoriously camera- shy hero, offering an insightful portrayal of a young tech genius riddled with doubt over the impact of his own IT creations during his work with the NSA. Shailene Woodley ( Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars) plays his girlfriend Lindsay Mills. Events are based on The Snowden Files by Luke Harding; and Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena, in addition to Stone’s personal interviews with Snowden in Moscow.
The film opens with Snowden’s initial meeting with press members Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras at the Mira Hong Kong Hotel – the moment before literally all hell broke loose. Flashbacks take viewers to pivotal points in his life that led to his conversion from a high school dropout; to a trusted IT wunderkind developing advanced anti- t errorism surveillance programs; and then to a self- proclaimed champion for privacy rights.
So what brought a comparative youngster to such a monumental decision?
His upbringing offers little insight. His father, Lonnie Snowden, was an officer in the U. S. Coast Guard who held strong conservative patriot views. The family moved from North Carolina to Maryland when he was young. Snowden did not finish his high school education due to a severe bout of glandular fever; coupled with the trauma of his parents’ separation. He did enroll in a community college and studied computers.
He appeared on the technology scene at 18, when he began posting conversations on the Ars Technica forum under the name TheTrueHOOHA. Those posts show he was opinionated, had a deep interest in all things technology, believed strongly in gun ownership, and held an utter disdain for teachers.
Snowden felt it was his patriotic duty to join the mil- itary following the U. S.- led invasion of Iraq and tried out for the Special Forces in 2004. He failed because of his poor eyesight and lack of physical stamina, breaking both legs during infantry training.
He became a security specialist at the University of Maryland, working with the U. S. intelligence community; then landed an IT job at the CIA, traveling Europe to maintain security for their network.
Snowden was far from a liberal thinker. His idol was American Libertarian Ron Paul, a congressman who opposed socialism and U. S. intervention abroad. When Obama c a me to power, Snowden – a staunch second- amendment sup- porter — condemned him for his attempt to ban assault weapons. He also railed against social security.
There is one posting on Ars Technica that would prove ironic: He argued that government officials who leaked classified information to newspapers committed the worst crime conceivable, citing in one of his expletivelaced online conversations: “that shit is classified for a reason”.
He also disliked WikiLeaks – another irony given that the organization played a key role in spiriting him out of Hong Kong to Russia.
In 2009 he joined the NSA as a Dell contractor ( he was later with Booz Allen Hamilton) where he enjoyed topsecret clearance. While there Snowden began to see the true extent of the NSA’s datamining and surveillance activities in partnership with the U. K.’s GCHQ ( Government Communications Headquarters). When he left Japan for Hawaii in 2012, he had lost faith in leadership to do the right thing and made plans to take matters into his own hands.
Snowden claims that his only motive in stealing the documents was to expose the true behaviour of the NSA and its allies. He had no interest in money. Nor did he pass on documents to foreign intelligence services. Whatever his motives, Snowden’s actions and subsequent exile in Russia continue to divide politicians, journalists and the general public.
In portraying the conundrum that is Snowden, Stone takes great care in exposing the ambiguities that surrounded his actions, leaving the ultimate decision in the hands of the viewer.
Perhaps the best clue to Snowden’s logic is found in one telling moment in the film. Snowden is faced with the argument that most Americans don’t want freedom. They want security, so they have to pay the price of admission. Snowden’s response: “but they didn’t know they made that purchase.”
ONE INCONTROVERTIBLE THING ABOUT SNOWDEN: HIS CONVICTION THAT HE DID THE RIGHT THING, WHATEVER THE COST TO HIS PERSONAL LIFE
Snowden will be opening Friday, Sept. 16 in theatres across Canada.