While perusing the Internets (that’s what the kids call it right?), I’ve recently come across a show coming to USA. Titled Mr. Robot, this fast paced hacker drama follows a cyber-security tech who becomes an Internet vigilante after sunset.
Elliot suffers from social anxiety, among other things. He also suffers from perspective, from insight. He is not naive to the evils of the world and does not choose to ignore them. While his friends post drunken selfies on Facebook, he contemplates why the world worships public figures such as Steve Jobs or how consumerism has imprisoned us all, or rather how we have allowed money to imprison us. Working for Allsafe Security, a company which provides security for large corporations, he must protect the very people he hates. One such client is E corporation, whom he likes to refer to as Evil Corp. Elliott’s mundane job becomes quite exciting when a particularly skilled hacker attacks Evil corp, crippling their servers. This attack leads to a chain of events that may change his life forever.
But when Elliott is not battling hackers or working for the “man,” he is attempting to navigate through a world that seems out to get him. Held back by his almost debilitating social anxiety, Elliott has a hard time dealing with his peers and social situations. Although he has very impassioned views on the world around him, he seldom shares them with others, and even turns viewers into an imaginary friend in order to express them.
Many timely and poignant questions are addressed by Mr. Robot. People seem to have forgotten how fragile technology is. The very technology we actively rely on for our everyday lives is exceedingly simple to manipulate. The Starbucks Wi-Fi you may be using to read this is not safe; your microphone on your mobile and laptop CAN be remotely accessed. All one needs to find out your financial information is a number spoofing app, call you up as Joe Shmoe from bank of wherever, and ask for you to verify your account. It’s satisfying to see a hero who uses these very systems to protect those around him and ultimately fight for us all.
At times, the show’s premise can be a bit on the nose (I mean c’mon Evil Corp?), but nevertheless it is pleasing to watch. Over the course of the last few years many very disturbing truths have come to light about the technology around us and the corporations we’ve trusted in the past. Mr. Robot also portrays very real issues in our own personal lives very well. Elliott’s anxiety is neither overblown or downplayed, it feels genuine and real, especially coming from a sufferer of anxiety. Deep societal ills such as a lack of communication, over-dependence on technology and the arrogance and overreaching power of the 1%, are all addressed and challenged.
I am absolutely in love with just about everything about Mr. Robot. Directed by Niels Arden Oplev, it has an intense, gritty, and cinematic feel. As a native New Yorker, I have spent many nights walking along the neon soaked streets or through the advertisement laden subway stations questioning the entire concrete jungle erected around me. Its portrayal of coding, hacking, and cyber security are spot on without over-loading the viewer. An authentic feel and a powerful message are coupled with an interesting protagonist who viewers can really root for.