Entertainment, TV & Film

The Best Bits of Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Snowden AMA on Reddit

Certified Francophile, caped crusader and all round hero Joseph Gordon Levitt has taken to Reddit to answer each and every one of your Snowden questions. The movie that almost wasnโ€™t made due to concerns by financiers that their US visas would be revoked, the film deals with the tangled relationship between democracy and technology. Did our favourite Robin fear the same fate? No chance. Here are the highlights.

JGL: 

Here’s the link to watch the short film — http://bit.ly/2bs126V

You may have of my production company, HITRECORD, where anybody can come contribute to our collaborative projects. Our community partnered w/ the ACLU to make this series of short films all about technology and democracy. This is the fifth and final one. Theyโ€™re all here for your viewing pleasure — http://bit.ly/2bovDOm

When making things like this, my hope is always that it’ll start a conversation. And I know you boys and girls like to talk. So..

Redditor: 

How did the information that Snowden leaked affect your life or attitude to the government?

JGL:

I tend to be really optimistic about technology. I was raised to like computers. I started a company that would be impossible without the Internet. I still feel positive about tech and the future, but I do think that Snowden’s revelations made me take a good hard look at the potential downsides of our generation’s new technology. Any technology can be used for good or used for bad, and usually it’s somewhere in between.

Redditor: 

Wow, did you give snowden a theme or did you just edit a longer interview ?

Did you expect his relatively positive opinion ? Was it in anyway scripted or guided (in multiple takes rewordings ?)

JGL:

Thanks for watching!! (I’m down to answer questions about breakfast burritos and all, but it’s cool when someone actually watches the thing we all worked so hard to make, hint hint, guilt guilt ๐Ÿ™‚

Snowden answered the same question as everyone who contributed to the project: “Is today’s technology good or bad for democracy?”

We did talk for a longer time, and then we edited it down to the three minute length.

I love that he was optimistic. I think a lot of people assume he’s a pessimist because he revealed the truth about some pretty bad stuff that was (actually still is) happening. But I share his belief that ultimately the good outweighs the bad, and tech isn’t something to shy away from, it’s something to embrace.

Redditor: 

Can you describe Christopher Nolan to me please?
I’m a big fan of his films and always wondered what makes him so special.

JGL:

He never sits down while shooting. At lunch, yes. Otherwise, no.

Redditor:

Who is the nicest person you’ve ever worked with?

JGL:

John Lithgow tied with Bryce Dallas Howard tied with Don Cheadle, hmm also Ben Schwartz, and Robert Zemeckis, oh wait, I’m supposed to be promoting Snowden, Shailene Woodley is super nice also

Redditor:

Hey Joe, what is your take on Edward Snowden? How do you see him? Do you see him as a traitor? Do you see him as someone who did us a favor?

JGL:

I think it’s not as simple as all that. One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve delved into the Snowden story is that a lot of people really try to over-simplify it. Words like “traitor” or “hero” are overly simplistic. But yes, I do think that what he did ultimately benefitted the country and the world.

Watch the newest trailer below to get one last little taste before the film comes out in September.

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Editor of 5Why. Avid reader, obsessed traveller, always overdressed, chronically indecisive and nostalgic 20-something.

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