When the Internet was Innocent
When Cathy finds Tom sitting in the park, sipping on a Slurpee, she seems happy to see her friend. But what she doesn't realize is that Tom has recently experienced lousy times on the Internet. "I was surfing the net last night, and I saw some things," Tom tells Cathy. And his expression tells the…
When Cathy finds Tom sitting in the park, sipping on a Slurpee, she seems happy to see her friend. But what she doesn’t realize is that Tom has recently experienced lousy times on the Internet (at the 1:08 mark, look for The Eyes).
“I was surfing the net last night, and I saw some things,” Tom tells Cathy. And his expression tells the story of things not easily unseen, of vague danger and a mustachioed, hairy-armed man who drinks watered-down Scotch and lurks in chat rooms that look a lot like Microsoft Word documents (Dial-up pedophiles!). It’s a cautionary tale for children who will grow to adults that later realize the only friends they have are on the Internet. Sure, Internet & Street Smarts (1998) is a PSA, but watching it 13 years after it was filmed gives it the quality of a Greek tragedy (with poor production values).
On a closing note, the video’s narrator does tap into an important idea when he imparts this wisdom to young Interneters: “Remember, just because someone types something in a computer, that doesn’t mean it’s the truth.” 
