Reaction paper in Social Network Movie

"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