Educational Media Reviews Online

Barbershop Punk presents a window into the discussions and political questions concerning net neutrality, a term which describes an open debate about the good or ill of how much regulation corporate Internet providers are currently being allowed over information which passes through their cables and servers and onto the Web. The first section of the film gives quite a good historical overview which is accessible and straightforward, but the rest of film descends into a plodding rant.

The documentary ostensibly revolves around Robb Topolski, a quiet man with grown children who works as a software quality tester and whose hobby is barbershop music and singing in a barbershop quartet. In 2007, Topolski was uploading turn-of-the-century songs (don’t worry, fellow librarians, all of it in the public domain!) and saw they seemed to upload more slowly than other content. Curious, he ran tests and dug around in servers and protocols, and discovered his provider, Comcast, was actively slowing his data. Not a revolutionary or conspiracy theorist, he posted his findings online in discussion forums to share the information and be able to talk with others about how and why this was happening. Then it became a news story, got picked up by the Associated Press, and after Topolski instructed journalists and others in how to set up their own tests to see if they could reproduce his results, which they did, the story went national. In early 2008, the FCC decided to officially investigate the claims of interference and discrimination the data pointed to. This section of the documentary is thoughtful and articulate.

As it proceeds, however, into an exploration of the structure of communications companies and the issue of regulation more broadly, it becomes more speculative, with its interviewees more and more animated and offering Orwellian images and tales. Sadly the documentary falls into a conspiracy-theory trap at this point, and presents an almost-entirely alarmist view of where the communications industry in the U.S. is heading. Though, it’s not without its strong points and there’s a realism about how corporations operate towards the bottom line and towards monopolies without consideration of equality and access for consumers. At the same time, the level of incendiary rhetoric is disappointing. The film drags heavily here, comprised entirely of talking heads without a story like Topolski’s to do some showing instead of telling. Towards the end of the film, there’s a shift towards exploring how the telecom companies lobby and fund politicians, noting that during the making of the film, the Supreme Court struck down restrictions on corporations giving donations to politicians. The talking heads speak about “disruptions of the democratic process” and “we’re all drops in a bucket,” ending on a vague, weak, general statement of pessimism and frustration. There is some effective filmmaking (Topolski’s story does get wrapped up, sort of), but most of it is very heavy-handed.

It’s too bad that a documentary which starts so well gets angry enough to lose its focus and rely on rhetoric instead of story. There’s also a bookending motif about the definition of “punk” which, frankly, is an awkward fit to the film at best. The issue of net neutrality is an important one, but this film is useful only for historically explaining the debate, not for exploring a real dialogue about its current state, offering any sense of next steps, or giving concrete ways citizens can engage.

Awards

• Grand Jury Award/Best Picture, Sacramento International Film Festival
• Best Feature Documentary, Big Apple Film Festival
• Best Documentary, ION Film Festival
• Silver Chris Award, Columbus International Film and Video Festival