The Social Network

The Social Network has a very definable and clear thesis; while the aim of sites like Facebook is to bring people closer together, they have actually achieved the opposite by isolating and preventing us from making real human connections. This is no more apparent than in the character of Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg). I say "character" because it must be pointed out that both the film The Social Network (screenplay by Aaron Sorkin of West Wing fame) and the book The Accidental Billionaires (by Ben Mezrich of 21 fame) represent ideas of who the Facebook players really are. Director David Fincher (of Se7en fame), and producers Scott Rudin (of everything classy fame) and Mike DeLuca (of getting a hummer at a William Morris party in full view of all the guests fame) have served up a deliciously snarky sauce and served it over a salacious story. The details of the Facebook beginnings are as follows; Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg gets dumped by his girlfriend after she declares him obsessed with getting into Harvard's hyper-elite "final clubs". In a lager-filled rage, he goes back to his dorm and blogs about wanting to start the next huge internet idea. Zuckerberg then hacks into Harvard dorm photo catalogs (called Face Books), and beams out thousands of pictures of women placed next to one another. The recipient of said photos is meant to rate the attractiveness of the women in comparison to one another. Zuckerberg gets 22,000 hits within the span of two hours, crashing the Harvard server. Zuck knows he's onto something big.
The film is told through the lens of two lawsuits leveled against Zuckerberg after Facebook began to achieve real success. The first is by Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield), Zuckerberg's best friend at Harvard and co-founder of Facebook. The second is by twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (played by Armie Hammer, great-grandson of billionaire industrialist Armand Hammer), who not only look like they were carved from chunks of shimmering plutonium, but their pedigrees do too. The twins (while simultaneously rowing crew and presumably having no problem getting ass) begin work on a social networking site exclusive to Harvard students. The Winklevosses contract Zuckerberg to be the site's programmer, then allege that he went on to steal the idea and turn it into what eventually became the monolithic Facebook.
Shortly after Zuckerberg and Saverin launch Facebook, its popularity catches viral fire and the two expand to other Ivy campuses. When it reaches Stanford, Facebook is discovered by the opportunistic Sean Parker (co-founder of Napster). Parker (played well by Justin Timberlake) meets with Zuckerberg and Saverin and nearly charms the nerd off of Zuckerberg, while Saverin develops an immediate repulsion towards the pseudo elder-statesman. Saverin's lawsuit claims that under the Svengali-like influence of Parker, Zuckerberg forced his co-founder out of the business by diluting his Facebook shares beyond recognition. While most of the details of the story can be corroborated by Mezrich's myriad sources and public court documents, the true nature of The Social Network's real-life cast of characters remain a mystery. Zuckerberg, Saverin and Parker are all famously private, and non-disclosure agreements assure no public shit-talking will take place anytime soon.
As usual, Aaron Sorkin delivers rapier-style dialogue with surgical precision, and nearly every actor delivers a spot-on performance, with Eisenberg being a standout. As Mark Zuckerberg, he portrays a genius with a social awkwardness bordering on Asperger's Syndrome. Angry and misogynistic, Sorkin's version of these baby titans are hell-bent on getting into the clubs (and women) who would never before deign to have them as members. On the surface, Sorkin delivers the aforementioned thesis; the crap about internet connectivity leading to isolation. But I would posit that the real thesis of the film lies within Sorkin himself. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was Sorkin's last foray into television. At the onset, the ratings looked promising, with everyone in the business predicting the demise of the similarly-themed 30 Rock. Soon, however, online bloggers (just beginning to gain momentum) helped to create a negative buzz that Sorkin seemed to blame for the cancellation of his show. He railed against the online critics, and soon, at the internet itself. To quote Sorkin, "One of the things I find troubling about the Internet, as great a resource tool as it is, and as nice as it is that we can all communicate with each other, and that everybody has a voice - the thing is, everybody's voice oughtn't be equal".
While Sorkin theorizes that Zuckerberg invented Facebook to get back at those who he perceived did him wrong, I theorize that Sorkin wrote The Social Network for a similiar reason. He wants to somehow trivialize and thus level a blow (however inconsequential) to the technological vehicle that made Zuckerberg, et, al. the billionaires they are today. My Comment is about Sorkin's hypocrisy. It is a hypocrisy that can be easily found in the film's first scene. While arguing with his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara, weird and aloof and watchable), Zuckerberg reveals himself to be one of those brilliant minds so incapable of intimacy, that they must hide behind their considerable intellects and lob zingers at whoever stands in their way. Zuckerberg rails against his girl mercilessly, denigrating her sexuality, her intelligence and her background. Sorkin paints a picture of Zuckerberg as an intellectual elitist whose snobbery come across as pathetic and sad. But what of Sorkin using his considerable intellect to ream out internet bloggers who according to him, don't rank as high as New York Times television critics. I'm not negating his position, and Sorkin has every right to let his writing fight some battles for him. I'm just not sure the Mark Zuckerberg necessarily deserves every arrow that Sorkin slings his way. I also have a hard time believing that someone as psychologically savvy as Sorkin could miss this inherent irony. But, The Social Network is still an engaging and entertaining film, which is ultimately Sorkin's goal, right?