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The Social Network (2010)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
2/22
2/22:
A tale about Facebook in disguise, The Social Network is the most Machiavellian movie I've seen.
I wonder if Mark Zuckerberg read The Prince or had it all figured out in his head. Anyway, I avoided the movie for
years because the subject didn't interest me. I barely use Facebook, and I'm not registered to every popular social app
there is in existence. Then, I decided to see the film out of the blue.
What stands out the most is the writing. It's brilliant. All the tech and Harvard talk sound authentic. I looked up the
internet to see if an Oscar was given out for the screenplay. Yep, so who did it? Aaron Sorkin. It's no surprise because
this guy is legit as they come (by the way, he played the ad executive in the film during the sales pitch which included
something about a "glottal stop"). I'm a big fan of his early stuff such as
A Few Good Men, Malice, and
The American President. Sadly, that's all
he did during the 90's before switching to a few TV shows afterwards.
As for the story of how Facebook was started, it's interesting. Like all CEOs, I don't know a damn thing about Mark
Zuckerberg and thus don't care about him. In fact, I went on the internet to see what he looked like which turns out
to be an alien. The movie is certainly damning of him. If the word "asshole" is looked up in the dictionary, you'll find
a picture of him.
Regardless, the acting is strong. Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake are outstanding. Only
the first was Oscar-nominated. His character is somebody I'm not used to seeing in cinema. He isn't what I describe as
evil; he's just an asshole in his own quiet way which is probably narcissistic personality disorder, but yes, his high IQ
is undeniable. The intro sets the tone for the rest of the film which reportedly took ninety-nine takes to get it right.
What do I think about who should get the credit and the lawsuits? If the story as presented to me is 100% accurate, I'll
have to say Eduardo Saverin didn't invent Facebook and therefore had no case. But it's exactly the same thing for Sean
Parker. The difference is the former was thinking of small potatoes while the latter brought in the big fish. No
matter what, everybody became millionaires and billionaires alike, and they should consider themselves lucky.
All in all, Aaron Sorkin's writing has transformed The Social Network into a well-made movie.