CSI, Law & Order, and the multitudinous shows that have spun off from them are criticized for much, but nothing draws wrath from the internet like a good, unrealistic scene of a computer being hacked. So, you’d think that an actual hacker, Edward Snowden, would make sure that the visual representation for his new musical career would not fall trap to such easy mistakes. And yet, here we are, with the video for “Exit,” his new song that was produced alongside Jean-Michel Jarre.
As we wrote about the track two weeks ago, the song is actually from Jarre’s upcoming album, Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise, which features collaborators like John Carpenter and Massive Attack’s “3D” Del Naja. Snowden really doesn’t provide much in the song, other than a bit of spoken word, and yet I still can’t get over how awful this music video is!
It’s got cheesy “hacker” overlays throughout, as well as clips from a Judd Apatow movie, a film that someone must have been watching as the director for this haxxing video sapped his NSA database for footage. (You’ll notice in the pic above that the footage is actually a picture of someone else’s TV.) It’s hyper-kinetic and jarring to watch, just like an episode of CSI: Cyber, which is a show that somehow still exists. Also, look out for Snowden’s spoken-word segment, and then compare the way he talks to the way Joseph Gordon-Levitt talks in the trailer for Snowden.
Watch the clip below, and remember: Mr. Robot begins its second season this summer.