Defining A Generation

Mark Zuckerberg sits opposite his girlfriend Erica Albright, both very intelligent people. Mark seems to be rambling pointlessly about getting into a finals club and about intelligence. He fires on and on, speaking in what becomes almost a code like language, and deep within this language he directs an insult in the direction of Erica prompting her to break up with him. Mark heads home that night, angry a bit confused maybe even a little drunk and decides to blog about it. Mark then comes up with what he believes is a brilliant plan, a website where you rate two girls based on their hotness without knowing anything about them. The mass influx of visits to the site causes Harvard’s servers to malfunction. Flash ahead a few years, Zuckerberg now a part of two lawsuits. One from his best friend Saverin and the other from twin brothers who claim Mark has stolen their idea for a social networking site. Through flashbacks we see Eduardo putting money into what is now known as Facebook, we see Mark putting in many long hours to develop this site and we see the Winklevoss twins debating whether or not suing Mark is a good idea.

Erica Albright: You're going to be successful, and rich. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a geek. And 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.

Perhaps the best opening scene in a film in a very long time. The back forth between Mark and Erica was brilliant, it captured Mark and set the tone for the entire film. He has this face paced way of talking, and at times you become lost in the overall idea of what he is even speaking about. Erica even points this out that it is impossible to know exactly what he is asking because he changes the subject numerous times and then poses a question. What impressed me the most about this shot was how simply it was filmed. Three shots, one a wide of the table and the two of them sitting there, one a close up of Erica and the other a close up of Mark. It was a simple shot, one that probably took a while to shoot, simply because of the complex lines being spoken by Jesse Eisenberg.

Sean Parker: One suggestion: Get rid of the "the". Just *Facebook*. Flows better


As the flashback scenes continue, and we see Eduardo and Mark opposing each other on certain ideas we get to where it becomes time to make Facebook a corporation and make money or just keep it a simple cool website. Mark doesn’t want to water it down with ads and Eduardo wants to have corporations attach their name to this creative website. In comes Sean Parker an overconfident young individual who created a free music downloading site called Napster. Sean actually went broke through Napster yet somehow still managed to come out clean from all of it. Eduardo takes an instant disliking to Sean Parker, because their initial chat was all about him and his business transactions not about what Mark and Eduardo were there to talk to him about. Mark however immediately likes the tenacity of Parker and decides to bring him on. As it continues we see Parker take a larger role and thus begin the money making of Facebook and what we know Facebook as.

David Fincher sets up such a crafty film because you can end up taking from it what you want about Mark Zuckerberg. He at times makes some of the things Zuckerberg says and does about his passion towards the creation of facebook. You can also take from this film that Mark was all about making it for himself, his way not really caring what other people thought. Perhaps you can take a little bit of both even, because obviously Mark was passionate about the work everyone contributed to facebook, yet at times he answers in such a condescending way that you cannot help but have a negative reaction to what he is saying. Fincher creates a film that accurately depicts the social aspect of this generation. The new age of people relies so heavily on access to facebook and now Twitter, that without it we feel bored and lost. Zuckerberg changed the generation, Facebook has many users in many different locations that span the globe, all because he had the will to spend the time in his dorm room figuring out codes and creatively figuring out what people want.

There are times through out this film where the insanity of today’s world is captured perfectly. We live in a fast paced, take no prisoner’s kind of world. We live in the type of world where people get left behind as Mark says to Eduardo. Fincher creates a film about university students, living the life working towards something, but he also captures the downright nastiness of people these days. Mark was even willing to stab his best friend in the back to make what is essentially his idea become a reality, even though Eduardo had been there with him the whole way. Fincher not only creates potentially a candidate for best picture at next years Academy Awards ceremony, but he creates a film that in 10 or 15 years time will be the film that defines this generation.

Take what you want from the Social Network, perhaps it will turn you off of social networking, but for me all it does it is reinforce how dependent we all are on having these means at our disposal. In the end the Zuckerberg that is displayed on screen will not change my views on Facebook, it shows me that there was a lot of hard work and dedication involved in making the website. We cannot hate it for becoming a means to make money and a corporation, because that is the intent of everything we use in our day to day lives. There is no point in boycotting facebook for doing what every other corporation does.

Everything about this picture is definitely flat-out awesome. Eisenberg is ferocious as Zuckerberg, he creates a character that is interesting and engaging. Garfield plays Saverin wonderfully as well. Eduardo seems to be the innocent victim in Marks grand scheme of making all the profits of facebook. These two have such an interesting dynamic on screen. You can instantly feel a connection through the flashback scenes, yet in the dramatic interrogation scenes you can see that there is something that tore them apart, and you are dreading watching it happen. This film breezes by, it is starting and finishing before you even know it. Enjoy the entire film. The Social Network is definitely a film going experience you do not want to pass up.

Gage: Mr. Zuckerberg, do I have your full attention?
Mark Zuckerberg: [stares out the window] No.
Gage: Do you think I deserve it?
Mark Zuckerberg: [looks at the lawyer] What?
Gage: Do you think I deserve your full attention?
Mark Zuckerberg: I had to swear an oath before we began this deposition, and I don't want to perjure myself, so I have a legal obligation to say no.
Gage: Okay - no. You don't think I deserve your attention.
Mark Zuckerberg: I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try - but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing.
[Pauses]
Mark Zuckerberg: Did I adequately answer your condescending question?



10/10