When Terrence Gene Bollea (better known as TV wrestler Hulk Hogan) decided to sue Gawker after it released a sex tape of him in 2016, he probably didn’t think he’d end up in a documentary about the threat to freedom of speech from President Trump and his disdain for the media. In fact, the message of this wide-ranging documentary is that he wasn’t really sure what he wanted. Bollea is not even sure if Hulk Hogan is really him or just a character he plays. But those around him definitely knew what they wanted – a legal test case for muzzling a critical media. They won, and this documentary explores, with mixed results, what happens now to anyone who cares about investigative journalism.
Brian Knappenberger made The Internet’s Own Boy, about online semi-anarchist Aaron Schwartz, and he’s attracted to a conspiracy theory involving online startups and mysterious billionaires who like to pull strings. Though the film starts off being all about the Hogan v Gawker case, it soon drifts into a general call to arms to resist Trump and his friends’ likely attempts to suppress first amendment rights.
An account of the crippling of a local newspaper in Las Vegas after Sheldon Adelson’s family took it over is a warning of how easily a news organisation can be killed in the US. All very timely although arguably we worked it out for ourselves when the verdict of the Hogan case emerged last year along with internet billionaire and Trump donor Peter Thiel’s likely involvement. The flaw in this generally entertaining doc is there is not much new material other than a melodramatic tone and a swiftly assembled Trump montage. We don’t hear directly from Thiel or Hogan, so the accounts of the case are one-sided and lacking in revelations. Meanwhile, lawyers of various shades weigh in, former Gawker managers wryly lament their current lives and we get a lot of archive clips of journalists being abused by Trump and his friends. However, there’s a frustrating sense of the converted being preached to. For those who haven’t noticed their freedom of speech ebbing away, this film is certainly an important warning, but they should probably watch some more news videos and read some more papers.
That’s not to say the film is unenjoyable. Denton is in good provocative form, Hogan’s court testimonies are satisfyingly bizarre, and it’s pleasant to see Thiel’s actions skewered – albeit within carefully measured legal limits. It moves fast, it’s accessible, it’s up to date, and it’s good to see constitutional details given some energy for younger audiences. But one wonders whether, rather than repeating the sensational details, we shouldn’t be looking out for other, less reported freedom of speech stories. The fact that Knappenberger devoted a large amount of time to the Las Vegas newspaper case suggests he might think that too.
