Now that you're up to date on my status. Lets get on to reviewing David Fincher's latest cinematic offering about Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook. I have to admit that I was surprised when I first saw a preview for "The Social Network". I've been quite familiar with Facebook for quite some time now but I had no idea that anything about it could possibly make for a compelling movie. Little did I know that lurking beneath the clean, addictive and wildly popular social networking site was a fascinating tale of desire, genius and the perks and perils of success.
The story of Facebook and the creative genius behind it, Mark Zuckerberg, is somewhat shrouded in mystery. As we are informed by the text at the end, most of the real-life counterparts of characters in the movie have signed non-disclosure agreements with regard to their dealings with Zuckerberg. This, for me, begs the question of how the story came to be known to Ben Mezerich, author of the source material. However the story that appeared on the screen got there, it is indeed compelling.
In "The Social Network" Mark Zuckerberg is the stereotypical nerd. He is socially awkward, incredibly brilliant and has difficulty with the ladies. When we meet him he is having a conversation with his girlfriend who attends another university near enough to Harvard for them to have met and had a relationship. Things do not go well and Mark goes home and, while drunk, hacks half of the servers on Harvard's network. All Mark really wants is recognition and status. His one ambition is to be invited into one of the ultra-exclusive clubs on campus. The clubs are cool, have crazy parties and all but ensure future financial success. As we follow him on his journey from that drunken night in his dorm room to two separate depositions for lawsuits brought against him by two different parties we see the rise of the youngest billionaire in the world and we learn that the title of this film goes far beyond defining what Facebook brings to the internet. What Mark understands is that Facebook is not creating a social network where none previously existed. Rather, it is digitizing a pre-existing network of friendships and acquaintances. The relationships that make up this network are not nearly as simple and clean as they appear on the computer screen.
Like any great film, "The Social Network" brings up fantastic topics for further discussion. Unlike the last film I reviewed, however, I very much enjoyed watching this one and highly recommend it. I will ask you to do me a favor though. Please don't just watch this film. Think about it. Talk about it. Blog about it. Because every film should invoke a specific response and what more appropriate response could there be to a film about Facebook than exercising the forum provided by the internet and adding your voice to the mix?
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