Saturday, April 26, 2008

Google Me (The Movie)


"Egosurfing (also called vanity searching, egosearching, egogoogling, autogoogling, self-googling, or simply Googling yourself) is the practice of searching for one's own given name, surname, full name, pseudonym, or screen name on a popular search engine, to see what results appear." (Wikipedia)

"It all started when I Googled my name," says Jim Killeen, described by Washington Post as a "failed Los Angeles actor". "At 38 he was unmarried, no children. The movie stardom for which he'd left Detroit had never materialized; he'd eventually launched a business providing chair massages in poker halls for a dollar a minute. It was surprisingly lucrative but (perhaps not surprisingly) unfulfilling."

In search of his own identity, Jim decided to meet other people who share his name and to find their stories. Google was the most accessible way to find other Jim Killeens from all over the world: a cop from New York, a priest from Ireland, an engineer, a swinger. Google Me (The Movie) is a 96 minutes documentary that describes his cathartic journey. The full video is available for a limited timed at YouTube.

Google Me is an invitation to rediscover yourself by listening to other people's stories. If you can't watch the whole movie, the first 10 minutes are very special.


{ Thank you, Steve Hemmerstoffer. }
  13 comments ( Post a comment )
A British comedian called Dave Gorman found 54 people that shared his name in 2000 - so this has been done before.

It was on TV a weekly series of 1/2 hour programs. Having charts of "miles per Dave Gorman" was particularly funny.

His latest documentary involved going from the West to East coast of the US avoiding restaurants, motels or petrol stations that were part of a chain.

http://www.davegorman.com/projects_america_unchained.html
It's been done by Dave Gorman long, long ago.

http://www.davegorman.com/projects_are_you_dave_gorman.html
great stuff....
Really nice, interesting post on Jim Killeen and Google Me The Movie. According to Jim Killeen interview on www.googlemetalkradio.com there is much more "stuff" on the DVD. He also has a reality TV show in the works. Ask John Raines - Google Me
Googling oneself is not uncommon, but Jim Killeen makes quite a nice film out of the premise of finding out who the other Jim Killeens are. More open than manufactured, he takes you for a pleasant ride and colors the journey with a touch of soul.
I'm surprised Google isn't after him for using Google as a verb after they've made such a big deal about it in the past:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/do-you-google.html

http://www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html
"Use the trademark only as an adjective, never as a noun or verb, and never in the plural or possessive form."
@Niraj:
Actually, the movie uses the word "(to) google" correctly: to search the web using Google.
Worth pointing out that Dave Gorman also did a long adventure meeting people he found on Google -- although he used Googlewhacks rather than his own name (having done that already).

To be honest I really doubt Killeen stole the idea so much as came up with it on his own, but I don't know if I can be bothered watching a second tale about pretty well the same thing.
I would only be interested in this kind of film if it were about me and my namesakes.
I have to say that my first response was also "But Dave Gorman did this quite spectacularly, 8 years ago".
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i have watched all Google Documentary .i missed this i have to get DVD ,but great stuff guys..
interesting news about Jim Killeen and Google Me The Movie.its Really nice.