Jake Gyllenhaal says almost everybody in society ought to relate to his new movie ‘Nightcrawlers’.
The eagerly-awaited film concerns those people who monitor police scanners and then race to crime scenes to film eye-catching incidents before selling the footage to TV news channels.
Gyllenhaal argues that society is complicit in this activity, explaining to the Guardian newspaper: "I equate it with fast food. We all know [it’s] bad for us. But people demand it … This narrative of fear and this spinning of news has a great detrimental effect."
The 33-year-old actor said it’s important people remain aware of this issue, warning of the potential impact of "these images … coming at us so fast and so graphically. It can have a negative effect on us."
Meanwhile, the movie’s writer-director Dan Gilroy – whose previous work includes ‘The Bourne Legacy’ – explained that he’s witnessed so-called nightcrawlers at first hand.
He said: "We get there and three young girls had been ejected from a [speeding] car. Our technical adviser [a nightcrawler himself] … got out of our car and filmed it. Within five minutes, he’d sold the footage for several thousand dollars to the local station. Next night, we saw [several] fatalities. This is just night-time in LA."
He added that while the upcoming film may exaggerate some aspects of nightcrawling, it’s not far removed from the reality.
Jake Gyllenhaal says society is complicit in ‘nightcrawling’
