This one probably isn't a revelation, ever since George Orwell penned his pioneering novel, 1984, the world has been paranoid about their governments and privacy. But go back and watch 1998's Enemy of the State, starring Will Smith and then remember the news from earlier this year involving Edward Snowden and his NSA spying revelations. It's like Tony Scott knew what was coming, 15 years ago. Enemy of the State is an enjoyable thriller, with Gene Hackman playing the inside Snowden type character and is ahead of its time. If it was made today it obviously wouldn't have the same impact that it did in 98 due to the Snowden-NSA-PRISM incident. What was considered paranoid BS back then, featuring the US government keeping tabs and spying on its citizens, hacking phones, emails, cameras and even personal data is consider almost part and parcel of the internet these days. Most people under 30 think nothing of having their every move tracked and images monitored, it's the Facebook generation after all. Recently, Youtuber, Jack Vale performed an experiment using Instagram. In it, he search numerous tags and used and collected information from certain users accounts, information they had willingly uploaded, such as locations and found them in his city. He approached them and talked to them as if he was their friend, revealing more information than he was comfortable with, such as their careers, birthdays and even pets name. This is absurd to most in 2013, but 1998 it was completely out of the question. We didn't have the tools and as far as we know, the government was using surveillance programs such as PRISM to monitor us. But it happens freely today and Enemy of the State talked about it 15 years in advance, and got it almost spot on, too. A film which looked a bit farfetched and silly in 1998 has somehow become also documentary like in 2013, and not in a good way. When the NSA scandal hit earlier in the year, I wasn't surprised. Enemy of the State got there 15 years ago. If you have any other examples of films which eerily predicted the future, then let us know. There's surely many more than seven out there.
Ian is a North Eastern lad who has written across a variety of mediums. An avid tea drinker with a custard cream addiction, Ian is the guardian of five foot tall inflatable penguin called Kevin.
