THE INTERNET’S OWN BOY: THE STORY OF AARON SWARTZ (8 out of 10) Written, Directed, by Brian Knappenberger; Starring Aaron Swartz, Noah Swartz, Lawrence Lessig, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman; Unrated, but likely PG-13 (language, subject matter); running time: 104 minutes
Who is Aaron Swartz? At the age of 26, he’d already led a successful crusade against SOPA, co-founded Reddit, helped build RSS, and been an integral part in so many important things we take for granted on the internet. But his life was tragically cut short, and “The Internet’s Own Boy” is his story.
Directed, written, edited, and produced by Brian Knappenberger, the film shows an obvious familiarity of both the life, character, and issues that surrounded Aaron. Knappenberger is no stranger to this kind of subject matter, or to SXSW, as he also made one of my favorite documentaries of the 2012 festival “We Are Legion” about the rise of Anonymous and the Occupy movements.
I have a hard time separating the person from the film, but I’ll do my best to evaluate the film objectively.
On a non-objective note, I won’t tell you for how many minutes after the credits rolled I was wiping tears from my eyes, but I will tell you it was in double digits. Low in the double digits, but still. I counted Aaron as a colleague. We weren’t close by any means, but we had various mutual friends. I don’t think we’d ever communicated directly, but we were on several of the same listservs about issues like campaign finance, climate change, internet freedom, transparency and net neutrality. I read blogs he wrote and was astounded as his genius, his clarity of thought, and his stubbornness that he could make the world a better place.
I laughed when he was part of a video of “$#!t Online Organizers Say” as it was exactly what every conversation I have All. Day. Long. sounds like. Especially him casually asking, “They’re on Reddit? Who the @#$% is on Reddit?” *wink*
The humor, the genius, the caring– this comes though incredibly well in the film. You get a sense of his character and personality, certainly better than I ever had, as told by his family and those closest to him.
Among those we get to see a lot of in this film are not only Aaron’s family, but also his friends and colleagues, many of whom were far older than he was. Guys like Lawrence Lessig and Tim Berners-Lee— themselves titans in their own fields– tell their stories of working with Aaron and pay tribute to what he was doing.
And the tragedy of the film just lands with a giant thud. Those closest to Aaron break down. For them, as well as for me watching the film, the pain is still too raw. The tragedy of unlimited potential cut short.
There’s an anger that comes from this, and it’s a righteous indignation the filmmakers most likely wanted to channel, talking about Aaron’s legacy and the work being done in his name and by those with whom he worked on those things left undone.
So, as a film, it works incredibly well telling a gripping, important narrative and bringing out hidden facets. If it has any flaws, though, it is that it gets a little slow in a couple parts. It’s also 100% slanted. I’m certain there are people out there who think Aaron Swartz is a criminal. That he’s dangerous. That he’s anti-American. Aaron was a good guy—one of us—but he wasn’t a saint. It would be nice to see that other side of him, in sort of a warts-and-all perspective.
But that also isn’t central to the main story here. So I can understand not wanting to necessarily include that in here. So while the documentary might occasionally dip into the territory of hagiography, it’s at least somewhat warranted.
There were also parts where the film drags a little bit. Knowing what was coming later ruined it a little because I kept wanting them to fast forward through the college years and the Reddit years and get into the heart of the matter.
But this film feels dangerous. The same way Aaron himself was dangerous. Coming out of it, no matter your political ideology, you ought to question our government and its heavy-handed methods, especially in service of corporate interests. If, in death, others can be inspired by his crusades and be awoken from a lot of the complacency that grips us over wonky, nerdy (and yet incredibly vital) issues like net neutrality and carbon emissions and how our elections get financed and freedom of information, maybe, just maybe we can make it. Just channel that righteous indignation in the right places, the way Aaron would.
When I wrote Aaron’s In Memoriam column for BigShinyRobot just over a year ago, I concluded with this, and I think it’s still the most appropriate thing I can say about him or about this film:
One of Lawrence Lessig’s favorite quotes comes from Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Chapter 1: “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
Aaron, you were a rootstriker. We already miss you.
Official rating: 8 out of 10
Go see this.
Screening info and more about the film:
SCREENINGS:
Friday, March 7
6:30PM – 8:14PM
Vimeo Theater at ACC – 201 Trinity St
Saturday, March 8
1:45PM – 3:29PM
SXSatellite: Alamo Village – 2700 W Anderson Ln
Tuesday, March 11
4:15PM – 5:59PM
Vimeo Theater at ACC – 201 Trinity St
Saturday, March 15
4:30PM – 6:14PM
Vimeo Theater at ACC – 201 Trinity St
FILM DETAILS:
THE INTERNET’S OWN BOY: THE STORY OF AARON SWARTZ
Documentary Feature
Director: Brian Knappenberger
Screenwriter: Brian Knappenberger
Executive Producer: Brian Knappenberger
Composer: John Dragonetti
Associate Producers: Denise Gaberman, Jeffrey Kanjanapangka, Suzanne Danziger, Kate Coe
Editors: Bryan Storkel, Michelle Witten, Jason Decker, Andy Robertson, Brian Knappenberger
English
USA
2014
DCP
104 MIN
http://aaronswartzthedocumentary.com/
@knappb
SYNOPSIS:
Aaron Swartz was hero for this generation. On January 11, 2013 Aaron took his own life. He was gift, gone too soon. He was a computer programming pioneer, and a leader in world of internet activism, and a champion of our right to access public information and knowledge.
THE INTERNET’S OWN BOY: THE STORY OF AARON SWARTZ directed by Brian Knappenberger (WE ARE LEGION), gives us insight to this young prodigy, and his prolific impact on the internet community. The film will screen at SXSW, as part of FESTIVAL FAVORITES. The film, The film has its world premiere at in January 2014, at the Sundance Film Festival – just over a year since his passing. View this edited collection of clips, that were released to celebrate his life.
view clips: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2014/01/aaron-swartz-documentary-clip/