Connecting the seemingly infinite threads of online trolling, Russian subterfuge and the astonishing evolution of American politics has become a favorite past-time of impassioned intellectuals ragi…
docuseries “Agents of Chaos,” that’s not a specious argument; there is ample evidence that the combination of Russian motivation to campaign against Hillary Clinton combined with Trump’s personal interest in forging Russian relations merged at the right time to catastrophic ends.
“Agents of Chaos,” which unfolds in two episodes running two hours long each, takes a birds-eye view at all the ways in which Russia did, and could still, interfere in American politics. The first episode, directed by Gibney, focuses on the mobilization and efficacy of online trolls before transitioning to how sowing online discord led to the game-changing moment of Russian hackers infiltrating the Democratic National Committee.
The second episode will no doubt be the one to grab the most attention, with its focus on the revolving door of Trump associates, some interviewed in the series, who kept finding themselves in Moscow. But it’s the first — with its patient, in-depth examination of why online trolls can be so effective — that ends up being the far more illuminating chapter.
It’s disappointing, then, to see how Gibney’s script takes such fascinating dissections and boils them down in simpler, but messier ways. When discussing the fake Black Lives Matter groups, for instance, he immediately points to a few aimed at battleground states in which Clinton eventually lost the vote by relatively slim margins, and lists how many thousands of followers they had.
Putting forth some level of educated conjecture is understandable when tackling a slippery, unquantifiable subject like how much the internet does or doesn’t influence mindsets. And with dozens of key players, it’s all too easy to get a bit lost in the weeds.
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