Credited cast: | |||
Richard Branson | ... | Self | |
Vint Cerf | ... | Self | |
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Ed Chi | ... | Self |
Noam Chomsky | ... | Self | |
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Dan Cohen | ... | Self |
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Ward Cunningham | ... | Self - Inventor of the Wiki |
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Len Downie | ... | Self - Executive Editor of The Washington Post |
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Susan Jacoby | ... | Self |
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Scott A. Jones | ... | Self - Chairman of Cha Cha; Chairman of GraceNotes |
Brewster Kahle | ... | Self | |
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Andrew Keen | ... | Self |
Raymond Kurzweil | ... | Self | |
Jaron Lanier | ... | Self | |
Lawrence Lessig | ... | Self | |
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Andrew Lih | ... | Self |
After viewing this provocative documentary, you will never look at Wikipedia the same way. Filmmakers Scott Glosserman and Nic Hill engagingly explore the history and cultural implications of one of the most traveled and referenced sites on the Internet. A whole range of opinion is expressed about the impact of Wikipedia on the archiving of learning, from interviews with founder Jimmy Wales to commentators suspicious of the site's supposed neutrality. The documentary delves into the EssJay controversy in which a Wikipedian made false claims about his academic credentials and the battle over journalist John Seigenthaler's inaccurate entry. Evenhandedly weaving multiple perspectives about the impact of Wikipedia, the film provokes a deeper conversation on how knowledge is formed and what future generations will learn about history and the world. Written by The Paley Center For Media
Full disclosure: I have an odd obsession with Wikipedia. Despite its many issues, I find it to be an apex human concept and the execution of it from a design standpoint is second to none; it's probably my favorite website. I understand the gripes (celebrities are mad they have their weight or where they went to college wrong sometimes? Just kidding) but I feel like it's a net win as far as these things go.
Now, this movie puts a generally a positive spin on all matters Wikipedia and its founder Jimmy Wales, who has an interesting backstory I suppose, insomuch as his stumbling into the "founding" of Wikipedia is one of those wholly American stories, good or bad-your call. It tries hard to remain neutral itself, as that is a main theme behind the questions this doc poses (Is Wikipedia good for culture or is it killing culture?). And as a pure information grab, this documentary also succeeds in presenting the history and all of the intricacies involved in its growth to the database it is today. If you don't have a pre-existing fascination with any of this, then Truth in Numbers will largely be a bore. But if you do, it's a solid entry in the crowded documentary field.