15 Minutes of Shame

I stayed away from this film, thinking (wrongly) that its focus would be on its producer.

Not so. The film attempts to encompass all of the issues that impact the use and misuse of online media, and how lives are affected by online behavior. My sense is that it would have been a better product had each facet of the online world been presented separately, in a series, with a wrap up at the end.

Nonetheless, this was very well done and I will take away the names of resources featured.

Notwithstanding that this documentary was in many respects a pleasant surprise, the none-too-subtle imagery attempting to link undesirable groups to a former president detracted from the film's overall theme.

Internet has many usage, looking for information, meeting new people across the world and it's great.....at first. Over time the internet has become an ugly place. People saying mean things, trolling and threats. This documentary explore how "the tool" that was started great corrupt us and how those in power exploited the powerless in their greed.

It started out strong with examples of internet shaming that are both recognizable and more nuanced than Twitter outrage allows us to explore. Remember the guy who bought all the hand sanitizer in early 2020? There are even some cultural psychologists who weigh in on human tendencies and behaviors and offered insightful commentary.

Then, they brought in the gender studies experts. It all went downhill from there when they started explaining how women who get internet-shamed are victims of the patriarchy. Roxanne Gay weighed in to tell us it's not "cancel culture," but is actually "consequence culture." Unless, of course you're a woman of color, then it's just racism.

It's really too bad that it took the turn it did because it had such great potential to be objective and reflective.

Having been a journalist in a past life, I can tell you this documentary about shaming and trolling and the potential negative affects of our online behaviors upon others left me chilled. I've read the reviews on IMDB and they raise the same issues pointed to in this important documentary. That is we will take any steps further our opinions and proffer our points of view, and if we disagree with something we "cancel" it. I would applaud this being used as a tool within schools as to the real reason social media exists and how we are helping to build the wealth of mega-tech companies. Also, to teach the sometime consequences of our behaviors. This documentary made me think and question. Great viewing.

The people posting negative reviews with personal attacks on the creators are only validating the message of the documentary. I seriously doubt they watched this documentary or at the very least watched it and didn't want to hear it. This is, objectively, a well-done documentary with food for thought no matter your political stance.