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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   “We Live in Public” A revealing but yucky documentary about Josh Harris, a boom-and-bust Internet pioneer whose sudden wealth led him to create social experiments that included the nonstop broadcast of his own life, in all its details. The slice of Internet history is interesting, and maybe cautionary, but Harris is such a skeevy individual it makes the film something of a chore. Rated: Not rated, probably R for nudity, language, subject matter Showing: Varsity   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, November 13, 2009 Most of ‘We Live in Public' better kept private By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic So often power and influence end up in the hands of people woefully unequipped to handle their positions. Such a person, in the early Internet age, was Josh Harris, a socially challenged freak whose rise and fall is chronicled in “We Live in Public,” a new documentary. Harris was one of those boom-and-bust Internet pioneers who had technical know-how and a flash of foresight about how all this World Wide Whatchamacallit business was going to work. He had made millions by the early 1990s and founded a Web channel called Pseudo Programs, an early example of Internet programming. “Pseudo” is a good word for Harris' relationship to the world. Mostly estranged from his family and lacking an intimate relationship until he was apparently in his mid-30s, Harris comes across as a mad scientist, examining people as though they were cells in a Petri dish. That might explain his late-1990s project “Quiet,” for which he created a living space for 100 people in a New York warehouse, where participants slept in cubicles and had their every action filmed and transmitted over closed-circuit video monitors. It soon became a “Lord of the Flies” environment and the police shut it down. Harris then installed cameras throughout his apartment (including, I am sorry to report, in the toilet) and beamed his life through the Internet, 24 hours a day. His first-ever girlfriend, interviewed extensively for this documentary, cheerfully recalls how this exposure — during which chat-room folk kept up constant interaction with the couple — drove them both batty. Harris considers these experiences artworks as well as strange social experiments; part of the way he frittered away his millions was in throwing lavish parties for the Manhattan art world, to which he invited all his nerdy tech friends. And incidentally, he also took to dressing up as a clown named Luvvy, an alter ego inspired by his devotion to “Gilligan's Island.” To which I can only say: Eccccch. Filmmaker Ondi Timoner got to know Harris when she worked on the “Quiet” project, and she certainly has access to this weirdo. Although that might not be saying much, given his willingness to put himself in the public eye. She has his trust, too, which allows this movie to be thorough. The problem is, Harris is such a skeevy individual, you might have a hard time actually enjoying any of this. The slice of Internet history is valuable, perhaps cautionary, but you'll need a shower afterward. “We Live in Public” A revealing but yucky documentary about Josh Harris, a boom-and-bust Internet pioneer whose sudden wealth led him to create social experiments that included the nonstop broadcast of his own life, in all its details. The slice of Internet history is interesting, and maybe cautionary, but Harris is such a skeevy individual it makes the film something of a chore. Rated: Not rated, probably R for nudity, language, subject matter Showing: Varsity READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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