"The Social Network Movie"
The Social Network is the story of
Facebook — a website created in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 that has redefined
how we connect and communicate in the 21st century. Inside of this film is much
more than just the story of one website. It is both a micro and macro look at
success, failure and the trappings of ego and greed. This is directed by David
Fincher.
The film is based on real
people and real events. That said, many of the proceedings and characters were
invented for the screen. In the coming weeks, there will be a flurry of
discussion regarding just how accurate or inaccurate the film is with regard to
Facebook's first year. Ultimately, these differences and inaccuracies are
irrelevant.
For better or for worse,
the cinematic version of "the Facebook story" will be what becomes the lore
surrounding the company. From a cinematic perspective, The Social Network is
no more or less effective based on its factual accuracy. This is a fictional
narrative, not a documentary.
One of the most
significant additions that Sorkin made to the script is that introduces
the audience to Mark, a man who is clearly brilliant, but who is also deeply
insecure, awkward and more than a bit antisocial.
The second and third act
of the film primarily involve the massive ascent of Facebook and the parallel
breakdown between best friends Mark and Eduardo. As Eduardo Saverin, Andrew
Garfield is particularly good at gaining our sympathies. He's the most stunning
character in the film, but that isn't to say he's the hero. On the other hand,
while the film makes it easy to empathize with his position which is Eduardo in
the film being cut out of one of the biggest companies founded this decade
which is equally makes it clear that if Eduardo Saverin had run the business
end of Facebook, Facebook wouldn't be anything close to what it is today.
Mark
Zuckerberg has spoken out on The
Social Network a couple of times before, once on Oprah—”I’m going to promise you,
this is my life, so I know it’s not so dramatic”—and then again in an interview
with Mashable—”We build products that
500 million people see… If 5 million people see a movie, it doesn’t really
matter that much”. In neither of those instances did he elaborate too heavily
on what issues, if any, he had with the film and its portrayal of him. Now,
finally, Zuckerberg has taken to task the veracity of the picture, pinpointing
what he believes to be its biggest disconnect from reality.
In the Oscar-tipped film
The Social Network he is depicted as a ruthless young man who founded Facebook
to increase his chances with girls and allow him entry into elite Ivy League
institutions. Now Mark Zuckerberg has broken his public silence over David
Fincher's movie,
claiming that the main thing it got right was his clothes.
Speaking to an audience
at Stanford University in California, Zuckerberg poured scorn on the suggestion
that he was motivated mainly by opportunities for social climbing. In real
life, he had been with current girlfriend Priscilla Chan since before the
advent of Facebook, while in the film he is rejected by an invented
character called Erica Albright, he said.
"The whole framing
of the movie is I'm with this girl (who doesn't exist in real life) ... who dumps
me ... which has happened in real life, a lot," he said to laughter from
the audience. "And basically the framing is that the whole reason for
making Facebook is because I wanted to get girls, or wanted to get into clubs.
"They [the film's
creators] just can't wrap their head around the idea that someone might build
something because they like building things," he added, though admitting
that Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin managed to nail his wardrobe.
"It's interesting the stuff that they focused on getting right – like
every single shirt and fleece they had in that movie is actually a shirt or
fleece that I own," he said.
Zuckerberg's comments
are surprising because Facebook has previously been careful not to attack The
Social Network, a strategy which had appeared to pay dividends. The film has
certainly done nothing to harm the company's position as the world's
pre-eminent website of its type
As a summary to this film,
as I watching the film, I was often struck by two things: First, how quickly it
all moved. It's almost shocking to think that the majority of the major events
in the film took place over the course of 18 months. Second, I was once again
reminded of just how young everyone involved in the early days of Facebook
really was. Like teenagers today you know.
I kept reflecting on these
two points because I think they underscore the narrative. Moreover, this is a
story about greed and ego and how money and fame change people. And that's all
true. On the larger level, however, I think this is also a film about what
happens when success literally happens overnight to individuals who haven't
even completed the college experience. How does that not affect who you are? How does that not affect relationships and loyalties?and how does not affect your pride?
There is a cost for great
success and a cost for changing the world. However, those costs are paid in
relationships. That's true for widget salesmen, and it's true for founders of
social networks.
The film ends almost
abruptly, which is jarring, yet fitting for its subject matter. This is the
story of the first year of Facebook. The momentum was building, but at the
stage that the film ends, the site was still college-only, it didn't have apps
and it hadn't toppled MySpace. In fact, this film ends where many others would
start.Just think about it.
This emphasizing how
adroit the tagline for the film really is: "You don't get to 500 million
friends without making a few enemies." https://bailumatao.socialnetwork.blogspot.com
- Bai Seguera Lumatao BSMT 1B
