'The Lives of Others' Admonishes Espionage as Psychological Torture
Opinion
If you've even felt stalked by a psychologically arrested official abusing their powers or by a hostile paranoid immigrant afraid they will be exposed, you'll know the above claim is true.
The hell of being surveilled is that you may feel it in your gut but won't have hard proof. So the naive people around you will see you as the nutcase, not the perverse creeps watching you. And because you don't know for sure, you occasionally ask yourself the same questions.
It's the admission of uncertainty that keeps you sane but also always a bit on edge. Meanwhile, spies consciously or unconsciously get their vicarious thrills by living out their impoverished lives through your real life.
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