Growing up in the 1980s, my social network consisted of a couple of kids on the play yard that didn’t mind me chumming around with them. What we knew about each other’s lives was gleaned from casual comments made on the fly or picked up on the occasional visit to each other’s houses to play Nintendo games. My kids have no real concept of this kind of life, having grown up on a steady diet of Tick Tock, Instagram, Twitter (now known as X), and Facebook. The last one is the primary one I use these days because it is a forum for older people like me to keep track of family, old school mates that I’m still on speaking terms with, and an endless number of social groups filled with strangers who happen to have similar interests to mine. It’s a source of social upstaging as we all post things we have or are doing that we hope will garner likes and comments because on some level it gives us gratification to have people be envious of us for something. The number of likes we get from any given comment or photo can sometimes lighten an otherwise dreary day.
All of this is a part of everyday life for the younger generation who were raised with this kind of environment around them. They can say whatever they want without fear of retaliation, too. This has caused a shift in the attitudes of those who would otherwise be afraid to say something in person but have no problems being antagonistic behind their keyboards, secure in the fact that they are unreachable to most of the people they are attacking. You can stalk that girl from work on her Facebook or Instagram profile, even download their personal pictures to your computer thanks to social media. And apps like Facebook don’t tell the creator of their page who has been looking at their profile. It’s a scary thought when you get right down to it. But it allows families to keep in touch with each other without having to call, text, or host a family blog that the other members have to log into to get their updates; those updates just magically appear on our page whenever we are browsing Facebook like the social addicts we are.
I was on Facebook for a couple of years before the film The Social Network hit theaters. I don’t know why, but at the time I hadn’t given one thought as to how the platform came into existence or who was behind the code. Much like other services I used regularly, I appreciated its usefulness but not what brought it into being. The name Mark Zuckerberg meant nothing to me, and now fifteen years later, I wish it still did. Nothing I have learned in the years since this film released has endeared me to the man in the slightest. Looking at this film, I acknowledge that it is dramatized, and is probably exaggerated, but there is going to be a kernel of truth in there; otherwise, the film would probably be in litigation. Instead, while Zuckerberg has denied much of the film actually happened, there are no lawsuits out there for libel that I am aware of, neither for this movie nor the book it is based on. All three principal players have spoken up about the factuality of the film, though, so…who knows for sure other than those who were actually there?
The story begins in 2003 at Harvard University, where sophomore Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). Returning to his dorm, he writes an insulting post about her on his LiveJournal blog. He creates a campus website called Facemash, where he steals images of all the female students from their house face books, posts the images two at a time, allowing other students to rate them by physical attractiveness. Facemash is a huge hit, crashing Harvard’s computer network and landing Zuckerberg on academic probation for six months.
The popularity of Facemash attracts the attention of twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer), along with their business partner Divya Narendra (Max Minghella). The trio want Zuckerberg to build them a social network tied to Harvard email addresses for the sole purpose of being a dating site. Mark listens to their ideas but has grander plans. So, instead of working on their project, he works on his own, titled Thefacebook, with a little financial help from his college friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). Once it launches, the Winklevosses and Narendra sue him for IP (intellectual property) theft. Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), co-founder of Napster, a file-sharing music piracy site, gets wind of the site and makes in-roads with Zuckerberg, slowly pushing Saverin aside. Through Parker’s advice, the now-retitled Facebook moves to Palo Alto and goes public. But the changes aren’t all embraced, especially by Saverin, who is getting frustrated with Parker’s maneuvering.
The real Mark Zuckerberg has expressed his dislike for this film. Watching it, it is easy to see why. The Zuckerberg in the movie is an unlikable character. We get a good look at this right from the first scene as he is sitting across from his girlfriend at a restaurant. Erica is trying to talk with him/break up with him, and he keeps talking over her. We never get a good sense of their relationship other than to extrapolate that it was probably more of what we see here. Whatever it was like, it is coming to an end here, and instead of reacting like a normal person, Mark vents his negative opinions about her on a public online forum. This tells us a lot about his character; he will turn on you the moment you do something he doesn’t like. This is an important trait to establish early on as it will play out again with his relationships with Saverin and Parker. He never quite gets over Erika, though, and ends the movie by looking up her Facebook profile on his computer and sending her a friend request.
Jesse Eisenberg has a nervous energy that serves this character well. He is the kind of actor that seems to be channeling Woody Allen, portraying characters with nervous energy and rapid dialogue. These kinds of anti-social characters seem to be his specialty, with this being perhaps the best example of it. To date, it is the only time he has been nominated for an Academy Award for his acting. How well he is conveying the real Mark Zuckerberg is up for debate. What he is doing here is really just another variation of what he seems to always be doing in front of the camera. Of course, the same thing can be said for Woody Allen in Annie Hall.
The Social Network is an interesting chapter in the ongoing connectivity of social media. Facebook has been a major part of how the world interacts with each other over the internet, morphing from the cool thing with the younger generation to a platform that greatly appeals to the older generation that uses it to keep in contact with family and those long-ago friends whose lives we used to no longer have access to. So much has changed in the social media world since 2010 that it could easily provide material for a follow-up story. Indeed, as early as 2019, talks were in place for a sequel that would focus on this shift in the platform and how it has sculpted the world. Mark Zuckerberg started out envisioning a platform that would bring the whole world together, and to some degree, that has happened. But with that came the unintentional side effects of social media status and people’s feelings of self-worth tied into responses to their uploads. It has become a phenomenon far beyond what he originally envisioned, and a sequel could easily explore these things.
Films about the trends of a certain decade often feel dated once the world moves on from them. Perhaps someday that will happen with The Social Network. That hasn’t happened yet, but that could be because people still use Facebook regularly, even though the younger generation has mostly moved on to other platforms. I often have to force myself to stay off of it when I am watching movies or doing other activities because it can be addicting. There is no doubt Facebook has changed the online world and how we interact with people. That is both a good and a bad thing, adding to the rise of cyberbullying. I would like to see a sequel materialize and tackle this powerful subject. For now, we have to settle for a look at one of online’s most enigmatic individuals’ rise to celebrity status by “simply” typing code into a computer and changing the way the world communicates with each other.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Dana Brunetti, Ceán Chaffin, Michael De Luca, and Scott Rudin
Best Director: David Fincher
Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (won)
Best Cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth
Best Film Editing: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter (won)
Best Original Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (won)
Best Sound Mixing: Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, and Mark Weingarten
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Release Date: October 1, 2010
Running Time: 120 minutes
Rated PG-13
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, and Max Minghella
Directed by: David Fincher
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