Review: The Social Network (2010)

Background

Director: David Fincher
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Running Time: 2 hours, 1 minute
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garcia, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara, Brenda Song, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Rashida Jones

Review (Minimal spoilers ahead)

The Social Network is the latest and greatest film in a long series of films, books, etc. that deal with the difficulty of being a social outcast. There’s a standard formula for this plotline in Hollywood:

Take a nerd, make him girlfriend-less, put him in situations where he’s uncomfortable then let him stir for a bit. Soon enough, he’ll work his way up the social ladder, and you’ll be rooting for him the whole time until his dreams are fulfilled e.g., he gets the girl, becomes accepted in society. This is not what happens in The Social Network.

The brilliant story, crafted by Aaron Sorkin is based on the novel, The Accidental Billionaires (2009), by Ben Mezrich. What you have to take into account when watching this film is that the Mark Zuckerberg you see on screen is not the real Mark Zuckerberg. This isn’t who he is or ever was as the founder of Facebook. He is a character. From what I’ve gathered through readings about and videos on Mark Zuckerberg, he’s a genuinely nice guy who just wanted to do something interesting. But this review isn’t about the real story — it’s about the film.

The on-screen Zuck (Jesse Eisenberg) is one of the most complex and mysterious characters in cinematic history. Throughout the film, you can’t seem to find out why he’s really devoting his life to this project. On numerous occasions, we see celebrations involving many of Facebook’s milestones, i.e., the launch, the millionth member — and yet we never really see Mark celebrate. He typically goes into a vegetative state of zoning out, much the same as when he attends parties or during the court hearings the film is based on.

The pacing of the film is extremely unique; especially in a Hollywood environment. The rhythm and atmosphere is drawn from the fast-speaking and fiery dialogue between the main characters and assisted by the dark techno-bass soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. To some, the film will seem slow, but if you follow the dialogue, it’s a precise rhythm that draws you in from the opening shot to the final one in what seems like no time.

The most fascinating part of the film is noticing the different motivations of each of the main characters. Mark’s is quite complex and I’ll get to it below but his former best friend and Facebook ex-CFO, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), is clearly living in his father’s shadow. Every step along the way, we see him echo his concern about what his father might think or how proud he may be. It’s clear from the start that Eduardo isn’t focused on the idea of creating a useful and “cool” service, but instead focused on impressing his father with his success. This ultimately leads to his downfall within the company and eventually his suing of Facebook.

“Facebook is like fashion. Fashion is never finished.”  (Mark Zuckerberg, portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg)

The final member in the exceptional trio found in the film belongs to the paranoid founder of Napster and investor within Facebook, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake). It’s clear to the audience from his first scene what his motivation is; live like a rock-star. Money, girls, drugs, you name it. Even in the trailer, it’s apparent. When Mark and Sean are talking, he says, “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what is? A billion dollars.” That single line defines Sean Parker in the film.

As for Mark, the film hints that his motivation stems from his desire to join the elite Final Clubs at Harvard University as well as show off to his ex-girlfriend, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). Also, when he pitches the initial idea to Eduardo, he emphasizes the exclusivity that Facebook would offer — the differentiating factor from MySpace or Friendster. This is even foreshadowed by his Harvard-exclusive Hot-or-Not webpage and the exclusivity that comes from judgment.

The puzzling piece to his character is that once the site takes off, we never once see him exploit his new-found celebrity on campus or even worldwide for that matter. He plays it cool, focuses on the site and constantly works towards the goal of making Facebook like a “party”. The only time he breaks this character is when he asks to speak with his Ex in order to impress her with what he’s built and becomes increasingly jealous of Eduardo being accepted into a Final Club. When Eduardo suggests that they begin to monetize Facebook, Mark vehemently disagrees and becomes petrified that Facebook will become unpopular. This is also witnessed when Mark states that if Facebook goes down, even for a day, they will lose all credibility and that the site hinges on it’s stability and being always there for its users. In other words, he’s terrified of letting his users down. Perhaps this is a projection of Mark’s real life onto the website.

The film is a rare glimpse into modern social interaction, the cutthroat nature of business and the simple fact that everyone is right and everyone is wrong. The film doesn’t take exception to any character — everyone acts like a sore loser; there are no heroes, only villains. The irony of it all is that this generation’s social revolution was lead by a man with few social skills of his own — a man who built a community that fit him and his idea of social interaction; one where he belonged.

“You’re not an asshole, you’re just trying to be.” (Marylin Delpy, portrayed by Rashida Jones)

The last comment I’d like to make is regarding the first and the last scenes in the film. In the first scene, we see Mark break up with Erica who pointedly states that he’ll “go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a tech geek. I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole.” The final scene in the film is beautifully blended with this line. Marylin Delpy (Rashida Jones), who has been attending Mark’s court case against Eduardo and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) — the twins who came up with the concept for Facebook — delivers this reassuring prose: “You’re not an asshole, you’re just trying to be.” After reaching the end of the film, you begin to dwell on this statement and realize the truth behind it. Mark was never motivated by money, fame, power or anything similar to those. Why, then, would he steal the concept for Facebook and push his best friend, Eduardo, out of the company? One can only assume that if he could find no other reason as to why he wasn’t accepted in society, he must craft his life in a way that explains it — thus, Mark Zuckerberg, the asshole, was born.

“The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God…So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” (The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald)