Friday, October 12, 2012

Social Network


You don’t get to 500million friends without making a few enemies.  The Social Network was released in 2010 was directed by David Fincher and has won many awards such as an Oscar, a Golden reel, and a Critics choice award.  It stars Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker. It follows the story of Mark Zuckerberg’s time in Harvard and how he created Facebook, one of the most widely used social networking sites today, and the lawsuits that followed.
Although I’m not a genius getting sued for millions and can’t hack into Harvard’s computers or make a website while I’m drunk let alone sober, I am a college student who has seen some of what is portrayed in the Social Network and I’m also an avid Facebook user.  I was expecting some boring story about computer nerds sitting around a computer where one eventually screwed the rest of them over for a lot of money.  All I can say is I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong there are still some computer nerd aspects such as the competition to become an intern by hacking but they even found a way to turn it around by making the possible interns take shots every few minutes. But like any great college movie the film included some humor, drama, and aspects of college life.
           The film is mostly a drama but there are a few parts that make you laugh. The film doesn’t use dark humor, but it’s not light either. In one scene they try to build a zip line from the house to the pool but rip the chimney off the house instead. The characters mostly use sarcastic humor such as the character Erica Albright says “I'm sorry you are not sufficiently impressed with my education.” Zuckerberg replies “I'm sorry I don't have a rowboat, so we're even.”
          
          Getting sued for millions? Yeah, that’s some drama. Some claim their ideas were stolen, others that they own more of the Facebook Company, while all of this is going on they bring darker sides out of one another making more drama arise. Zuckerberg’s girlfriend tells him “..You’re going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. 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.” They’re in college for the creation of Facebook so naturally college life is all around them. One scene Saverin has to carry a chicken with him everywhere as part of his hazing. Also they party; often in the film they go to parties and clubs, or are drinking. Zuckerberg even creates a website while drunk in the beginning.

I loved this movie, and think any college or Facebook fan would. It brings the best of film out with a lot of drama that is softened with humor. Although it did have a few dry spots it’s still worth it to see the award winning film.