Review of The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) by Ben S — 28 Aug 2014

From creating a basic version of Wikipedia in his basement when he was 12, there is little doubt that Aaron Schwartz was a digital genius who, from the youngest age, understood that knowledge should be shared and freely available to those who desire it. And it was this spirit and the belief (shared with the net's creator Tim Berners-Lee) that the internet should be a free, open place of exchange above archaic corporate and government sanctions that shaped him. Tragically this is also the fight that led him to take his own life in 2013 at the age of just 26.

Pieced together from touching home videos and a wealth of interview footage of the precocious young 'Alpha Nerd' - so called by his brother - The Internet's Own Boy charts Schwartz's rise and mounting achievements, from playing a key role in creating the RSS system and establishing Creative Commons licensing to most notably co-founding the vastly popular link and content sharing site, Reddit. Even with the piles of cash and work opportunities his talent provided, Aaron was always more politically minded: "I want to make the world a better place," he wrote on his personal blog. His strongly held belief about the freedom of data and knowledge landed him in trouble with the FBI at the worst possible time in 2011. Hackers were the order of the day with LulzSec and Wikileaks making headlines, and in order to make an example of these sweepingly generalised online threats Schwartz was indicted on 13 federal charges for downloading academic journals. The media storm that surrounded him intensified when he took a key role in defeating SOPA, the controversial anti-piracy bill - action that only hardened the FBI's stance against him as 'a troublemaker'.

Brian Knappenberger's documentary is a touching tribute to a true pioneer of the digital age, but it is also a little workmanlike in its construction. Retelling the story with no flair or invention, each scene is awash with overbearing music that leaves us in no doubt about what we should be feeling. Censorship and the US government are easy evils to paint, but this defiantly one-sided approach gives the film's credibility a slight knock. Obviously all opposing parties declined to be interviewed, but stating this fact isn't enough. For balance, colour and just a little more intrigue Knappenberger needed to at least present counter cases to Schwartz and his friends.

By far the film's biggest misstep, though, is its approach to his death. While it happily plays up to the juicy stories of corruption and mystery, it almost completely ignores the subject of mental health. Schwartz's brief depressive episodes are discussed in passing, but Knappenberger never begins to investigate how a bright, loved young man can be left with no options but to take his own life. In many ways this is the real story here. Was he failed by the mental health system? Had he always suffered from depression? What could be done in the future?

The Internet's Own Boy plays as an accessible introduction to the current climate of governments failing to grasp the now commonplace technology that dominates our world. While unspectacular in production, and lacking the bite of the Anonymous or Assange stories, this is still an absorbing portrait of an unquestionably good man who lived in and understood this world - and above all else wanted to make it an equal, fair and accessible place for all.