A new documentary that has just been released about the life of Steve Jobs has been described as "a blistering takedown" and "an all-out character assassination" of the late Apple CEO,
Business Insider reported.
In "Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine," which premiered Saturday, Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney analyzes the personal and private life of Jobs, and covers a range of topics from his repeated denial of being the father of his daughter, Lisa, to the controversial way he treated employees.
"Behind the scenes, Jobs could be ruthless, deceitful, and cruel," Gibney says in a voiceover early in the film, according to Business Insider.
Five reviewers described the harsh coverage of Jobs in the film.
"The entire final hour of Gibney's 127-minute film is an all-out character assassination,"
wrote the Daily Beast's Marlow Stern.
"It questions the inherent value of Apple products — and by extension, Jobs' legacy."
Stern added that it smears Jobs for not disclosing earlier his illness to his company.
"The focus is on the shadows created by the light and the dark of Jobs' personality, as told by the people who knew him,"
said Mashable's Chris Taylor.
He noted that a Macintosh engineer discussed how Jobs drove the staff so hard that the engineer lost his wife and kids.
The film spends a significant amount of time on an episode when Jobs denied the paternity of his daughter, Lisa, whom he had with his high-school girlfriend, Chrisann Brennan. He falsely claimed under oath that he was sterile and therefore could not be the father, but later admitted it after a paternity test confirmed it.
The film mentions that he paid just $500 per month in child support despite being worth $200 million, Business Insider reported.
Gibney defended his portrayal of Jobs in the film, however.
"There are critical elements that people haven't seen about Jobs or understood,"
he told Variety.
"I would say I'm no longer madly in love with my iPhone," the director added. "It's no longer blind faith."
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