"Mr. Robot" validates its timely relevance as a TV show with knowledge that government whistleblower and hacker Edward Snowden admitted that he is a big fan of the series.
The hit television thriller "Mr. Robot" has caused quite a stir among its viewers as to how timely its theme is to the issue of personal information protection. In the series, protagonist Elliot Alderson is a hacker who tries to use his extraordinary gift on everything he can get his hands on; computers, mobile phones, even people close to him. In a report by The Guardian, Alderson hacked into his therapist's email account by instantly guessing her password.
The show became an instant hit especially with issues of personal information being hacked and leaked online fast becoming an everyday occurrence. The central theme of "Mr. Robot" is to show just how vulnerable people are to hacking. And as if to validate the creation of the series, real life events involving data theft also happened in some key points in the show's production. The day it was approved for production, Sony was breached by a group called Guardians of Peace. Episode one was all about an adult website being compromised with its clients exposed. It was also the day that adultery site Ashley Madison was hacked. What is even scarier was the fact that the airing of the final episode of season one was delayed due to the Virginia shooting of journalists on live TV, which coincidentally was also prominently featured in that episode.
But perhaps one of the biggest signs that the show is touching a nerve with society was revealed by star Rami Malek who said, "I just found out Edward Snowden's a huge fan of the show. When you realize how much he knows about government spying tactics... it feels like we're doing a very accurate job."
