I was interested in Anonymous because they thrust themselves upon everyone's radar back in the early '10s. What they did was impressive like a huge bank robbery is impressive: you know it's wrong, but you're still impressed that someone could pull off such an ambitious and difficult crime.
"We Are Legion" is a backstory to the hacktivist group Anonymous. There are interviews with former members and people dialed into the culture about Anonymous's formation, their beliefs, and their tactics. I was intrigued and I'd even say I was even enjoying the documentary until one point of the film. It was then that I noticed a shift in the tone which turned me off.
One interviewee who'd been arrested for DDoSing (Distributed Denial of Service) the Scientology website got a one year prison sentence for using a LOIC (Low Orbit Ionic Cannon) tool on Scientology. He said he received one of "the most lopsided punishments I'd ever read or heard of." It was then that I had two thoughts:
1.) You need to read more.
2.) You guys have lost all credibility.
It was then that I noticed that the documentary was morphing into this self-righteous gripe about unjust persecution and these far-fetched comparisons to the lunch counter sit-ins of the '60's and other Civil Rights activities. They lost me with that. I would've had far more respect for them if they simply said they were anarchists.
"We Are Legion" was good for informational purposes even if it was terrible at helping Anonymous gain sympathy (which is what it seemed to be doing). It's worth watching and then you can decide for yourself if Anonymous is a net good.
