Review of The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) by Sandy K — 11 Aug 2015

A extremely personal, emotional and wonderful documentary is hard to come by, real life stories, especially in documentaries are often crammed down your throat, whether it be with an abundance of information or forced emotion.

The Internet's Own Boy, may actually be one of the most natural and wonderful pieces of documentation I have seen in quite some time, and although harrowing, it leaves you with a sense of optimism and joy, much like the source, Aaron Swartz, did to millions of internet users.

This is a subject matter that I knew very little about, I was aware of copyright laws, creative commons, the global internet revolution of hackers and of course a corrupt and outdated American justice system, much like I was vaguely aware of sites like Reddit and so forth, however what this film does, is not force you into a corner where you feel so detached and out of the loop, it roots its story on Aaron, a young revolutionary, who outshines so many people three times his age, with his whit, knowledge and aspirations.

The Internets Own Boy, is the story of Aaron, who at the age of 3 was not only able to read but was teacher his brothers technology and algebra. Soon after picking up computers, Aaron became on of the largest brains among the internet, taking part in various website productions and creating the extremely popular Reddit, which sat on the line of chaos.

However great these achievements were, it was his ability to fight American law and congress, in a bid to to make archival studies and knowledge public so that people could gain access to free and already paid for information, that for some reason was being extorted and also his huge movement against the extremely controversial PIPA and SOPA bills that almost came into power, which would have crippled anyone who used freedom of speech online.

The documentary is as distressing as it is inspiring, giving you a sense of who this young man was, through accounts of archival footage of himself, family members, colleagues, the creator of the internet and so forth and also hammering home the brutal and almost unfair prosecution process the FBI and American government put this boy through, before he sadly took his own life, due to the pressure.

The story is wonderfully crafted and brilliantly paced, although possibly 10 minutes too long, it tells a story of a human being with morals and a goal to use those morals to make the world a better place.

The piece feels bold and uplifting, while also adding a solid layer of intellect and controvesy, which I havent seen done this strongly in a long, long time. It's a heartfelt and brilliant piece and although at some moments it feels utterly one sided, as the documentarian points out, a huge amount of people against Aaron, refused to speak on camera, about the content of the film, which further proves the point it is trying to make.

I urge people to give this a watch, its raw and powerful, uplifting and motivational and importantly educational. A must watch.