I've followed the saga of the about-to-open film about WikiLeaks,
The Fifth Estate, since shooting started, and noted some time ago that Julian Assange had declined to meet with the actor playing him, Benedict Cumberbatch, who had requested it. Today
Variety published the letter Assange wrote to the actor back in January. He's continued to hit the film ever since. Excerpt from the quite lengthy letter:
You will be used, as a hired gun, to assume the appearance of the
truth in order to assassinate it. To present me as someone morally
compromised and to place me in a falsified history. To create a work,
not of fiction, but of debased truth.
Not because you want to, of course you don’t, but because, in
the end, you are a jobbing actor who gets paid to follow the script, no
matter how debauched.
Your skills play into the hands of people who are out to remove me and WikiLeaks from the world.
1 comment:
Have you seen the film yet? I saw a sneak preview in Boulder. Assange is right to be displeased with how he is portrayed, but contrary to the criticism, I found the movie to be supportive of the mission of WikiLeaks, attentive to the revelations themselves, and quite thought-provoking for young audiences who could be turned onto investigative journalism. Hopefully a few million people will see this and joint the fight against censorship, lying governments and corporate "news" that spins stories to favor government perspectives. Not a bad film at all. (Internet freedom and net neutrality were not touched upon at all, but it was better than expected from Disney/Touchstone/DreamWorks.)
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