“Do you believe the United States is the greatest country in the world?”
-Snowden

The geek in me was a little bit more than excited to go see Snowden this weekend as it found its way into movie theaters all across the USA on Friday. Debuting only days after the 15^th anniversary of 9/11, Snowden retells the story of Edward Snowden, one of the most iconic whistleblowers in American history. While I went in with a pretty good understanding of what went down in 2013, I only had what I saw in glimpses at the TV whenever the news was on. Little did I know I would be leaving that movie theater more awake than I have ever felt in my life.

The movie starts out at The Mira hotel in Hong Kong where Edward Snowden has made contact with a small group of media reporters and is opening up about what he had seen and been a part of while working for the CIA, NSA, and multiple other agencies. Throughout the movie, we keep bouncing back and forth from this scene to the story as Edward Snowden is telling it.

“Secrecy is security, and security is victory.”
-Snowden

I won’t go into specifics here because the awe of what is revealed is something I cannot begin to convey in an article posted in the Odyssey. All I can say is this movie scared me. It made me feel vulnerable. It made my chest tighten at the thought that we, as a country, could really believe ourselves so superior to the rest of the entire world that we felt in necessary to put a kill switch anywhere it could possibly benefit us.

“Terrorism is just an excuse... and the only thing that you are really protecting is the supremacy of your government.”
-Snowden

The things that are depicted in this movie, the facts that we only know on a surface level, are sickening. There is no other way to describe it. We got so greedy in our search for power that we thought we could reach our hands anywhere we wanted to at any time. And I get it, freedom isn’t free. We can’t be free without sacrifices.

“You don’t have to support your politicians to be a patriot.”
-Snowden

After 9/11, we became afraid to call out our government. There was this idea that if you didn’t support the U.S. government, you were unpatriotic. And it is really too bad that we think supporting a handful of rich, white men is the same thing as supporting our country. I can’t find it in me to support anything and everything our government does just because I am told that is what I am supposed to do.

“Every day of your life, you are sitting in a database just waiting to be looked at.”
-Snowden

Edward Snowden is an American hero. He had the guts to do what NO ONE else would do. Calling out the government doesn’t make him unpatriotic. It doesn’t make him a traitor. It makes him a hero.

I walked out of the movie theater after seeing Snowden more awake than I have ever felt. Edward Snowden is the American civilian’s hero, and no amount of press or arrest warrants towards Snowden will ever change my mind. I firmly believe that every person in this country over the age of 14 needs to see this movie. Adults. Teenagers. Because after seeing Snowden, now more than ever, I am awake.

If you would like to sign the petition to get Edward Snowden pardoned, please go to https://pardonsnowden.org/ today.