First Hit: Extremely thought provoking and with new disclosures by Snowden in the news, very timely.
I was driven to and enjoyed learning more about PFC Bradley Manning who decided that the information he had access to, needed to be public.
We, the public of the United States, pay for all of what the government does. We are the employers of our government, we’ve entrusted them with them to make the right decisions about what we do, how we do it, and in the name of protecting us the people who pay them.
Granted I wouldn’t agree with all the decisions our government employees make, but given the type of information of what our government is doing in our (my) name; I think there needs to be more transparency and accountability.
The film is mostly based round the organization called WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. Assange is a nomadic internet expert and coder. He developed WikiLeaks as a place for people to confidentially post information which would normally be hidden from public view. Assange also lives a nomadic life in crash houses and hotels.
The sharing of information to WikiLeaks by Bradley Manning brought them both into the headlights of public press only after Adrian Lamo let everyone know it was Manning who posted the confidential information. One of the sadder parts of the film was Adrian Lamo, who leaked that it was Manning.
This guy is troubled about his own history of hacking troubles, the law and his struggles to relate to people. Added to the overall story are the legal troubles Assange is embroiled in because of charges two women have brought against him.
Alex Gibney wrote and directed this interesting film which begins to bring to the forefront the story about government secrecy and transparency.
Overall: I’ve been thinking about this film for a week now – that’s a good sign that it told a story.