'Mr. Robot' is more directly about technology, and 'Homecoming'

Hear the words of Sam Esmail, teller of modern parables: “‘Mr. Robot’ is more directly about technology, and ‘Homecoming’ deals more with the pharmaceutical industry, but I think they’re all part and parcel of this growing sense that things are happening behind the scenes at our expense, and we’re not aware of it.” In this confession lies the unease of our age, the whisper that while men live, work, and dream, hidden forces move in the shadows, bending destiny for profit and power. Esmail speaks not merely of art, but of the great tension between the people and the unseen hands that shape their world.

For technology dazzles with its brilliance. It brings connection, speed, and wonders unimagined by our ancestors. Yet beneath its glow, companies and governments gather oceans of data, charting the habits and desires of millions. To the ordinary soul, these machinations remain invisible, yet they alter the course of daily life. Prices shift, elections sway, choices narrow—all by the designs of algorithms hidden from human eyes. This is what Esmail names: the unseen, operating behind the scenes, quietly but powerfully, often at the people’s expense.

The pharmaceutical industry, too, holds this duality. Medicine heals, extends life, relieves suffering—a blessing beyond measure. Yet history shows how profit and secrecy can turn blessing into burden. The tale of thalidomide in the mid-20th century reveals this truth. Marketed as safe, it brought unspeakable harm to thousands of children before its dangers were admitted. Here again, what was hidden, what was not revealed to the people, became their sorrow. Esmail reminds us through his art that vigilance must never sleep, for even healers may err when profit blinds them.

This pattern is not new. In ancient Rome, senators and patricians often made decisions in secret, hidden from the common eye. The people, distracted by bread and circus, were unaware that their freedoms and fortunes were being bargained away in smoke-filled chambers. And in every age, whether by empire or industry, this truth returns: what is hidden and left unchallenged grows powerful, while the people, unaware, become subjects to forces they do not see.

Yet Esmail does not speak in despair, but in warning. His works—Mr. Robot with its tale of hackers tearing away the veil of technology, and Homecoming with its unraveling of pharmaceutical deception—are acts of revelation. They show that art, story, and imagination can expose what is concealed, awakening the people to awareness. For the first defense against hidden power is knowledge, and the first weapon is awareness.

The lesson is thus: never walk blindly through the world. Ask who benefits. Ask what is unseen. Do not be lulled by comfort or spectacle, for behind every shining screen and every polished pill may lie motives that do not serve your good. To live wisely in this age is to question, to seek truth, and to resist the slumber of ignorance. Awareness is the shield, vigilance the sword.

Practical wisdom lies before you: Read deeply, beyond headlines. Seek voices that question, not only those that soothe. Guard your data, question your medicine, demand transparency from those who hold power. Support art, journalism, and inquiry that pull back the curtain, for these are the lanterns that illuminate the hidden halls of power. To remain unaware is to be ruled; to awaken is to reclaim your share in shaping the future.

So let Esmail’s words echo as a torch in the darkness: things are happening behind the scenes at our expense, and we’re not aware of it. Let this truth rouse you from sleep. Refuse to be a passive spectator in your own life. Open your eyes, ask the hard questions, and walk with vigilance. For though shadows may stretch across the earth, a people awakened cannot be deceived forever.