Geek Mythology - Social Network review

“The value of a social network is defined not only by who’s on it, but by who’s excluded.” - Paul Saffo

Before I start I would like to point out that I’m really not a big social networker. Some may even say I’m a little social networker. Truth is I’m a simpler, more visceral creature who, call me old fashioned, enjoys socially engaging with people and real friends through conversation and the occasional letter. I’m not afraid to admit I even have notelets.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a total digital dodger and yes I do have a Facebook page. I fit into the thirty-something category of men who enjoy the occasional COD Deathmatch with 10 year old American kids and has more DVDs and Blu-Rays than is both necessary or sanitary. No surprise then that I have a passion for film. In fact most of my online social activity is spent on movie blog pages such as theonering.net and Harry Knowles’ brilliant aintitcoolnews.com. I find this more engaging than throwing cyber sheep, virtually ‘poking’ someone or reading some twit’s tweet... but here I am, so now who’s the twit?

It is because of my fascination with all things cinematic that I was asked to write a piece about the film Social Network…which is brilliant by the way!

 Balancing a thin line between drama and comedy Social Network sees a solid return to form from director David Fincher after his visually stunning but somewhat flakey Benjamin Button. In it we follow the questionable inception and creation of Facebook. It’s ensemble cast includes Jesse Eisenburg (Adventureland and Zombieland) Andrew Garfield (brilliant Brit thesp who’s just signed to play the new Spiderman), Justin Timberlake (Black Snake Moan and apparently quite an accomplished singer. Who knew?!), Rooney Mara (soon to play Lisbeth Salander in Fincher's adaptation of the The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo Millennium Trilogy) and Armie Hammer, a revelation as both of the Winklevoss twins with the help of some astonishing digital trickery from Lola VFX (the technical wizards behind Brad Pitt's incredible transformation from 90 to 9 in Benjamin Button).

Based on Ben Mezrich’s non-fiction book ‘The Accidental Billionaires’ and adapted into a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson's War and A Few Good Men) it is worth noting that no Facebook employees, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, were involved in the project.

Sorkin's script never misses a beat and is both engaging and informative from the off; like a Shakespearean Greek tragedy (or should that be Geek tragedy), this is history being retold for our entertainment. In this retelling the geeks are filled with elegant prose and sardonic wit. A far cry from the clicks and whistles I’m used to deciphering from the geek community.

In 2003 Harvard Undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg got dumped by his girlfriend, but rather than drink himself into a stupor he sat down at his computer and began working on his revenge masterpiece Facemash - a simple concept in which fellow female students were rated against each other. The site became an overnight viral success with 22,000 views in less than four hours that crashed the Harvard servers. This popularity inspired Zuckerberg to create a unique social networking experience and in a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. Six years and 500 million friends later, 26 year old Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history. But at what cost? His success leads to both personal and legal complications. As the film's tagline suggests, “You don’t make 500 millions friends without making a few enemies”.

Social Network explores the moment at which Facebook (originally Facemash and then TheFacebook before finally dropping the ‘the’) was conceived through the warring perspectives of the super-smart students who each claimed to be there at its inception. The film moves from the halls of Harvard to the cubicles of Palo Alto to capture the fledgling days of this culture-changing phenomenon, and the way in which it both pulled a group of young revolutionaries together and then split them apart.

In the midst of this chaos is Mark Zuckerberg, the brilliant Harvard student who conceived the website. Zuckerberg's spite and inability to socially interact (clearly a sign of Asperger’s syndrome but which is never fully explored) fuels his dogmatic determination to prove himself academically superior and for no other reason than because it would be ‘cool’. He never intended for his creation to make him a multi billionaire, only seeking the recognition not the wealth.

Then there are the Machiavellian Winklevoss twins Cameron and Tyler, identical twins and Harvard classmates who asserted that Zuckerberg stole their idea and then sued him for ownership of it. Initially briefing Zuckerberg with helping them programme their Harvard Connection website and inadvertently giving Zuckerberg the lightening bolt he needed for his creation. Zuckerberg never did complete their Harvard Connection website nor did he use any of the code they gave him. For the Winklevoss twins this was about power through popularity; how a social networking website could bolster their reputation, climb Harvard's elitist social hierarchy and move them out of the shadow created by their father. Zuckerberg now had that power but had no way of harnessing it.

Add Justin Timberlake's brilliant turn as the Napster creator Sean Parker who brought Facebook to Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists. Sean is a man driven by the financial rewards genius can generate, In one scene telling Zuckerberg of Roy Raymond, the man who in 1977 created Victoria’s Secret and sold the company five years later for $4 million. By the early 1990s the company had become Americas most successful lingerie retailer topping over $1 billion in revenue. In 1993 Roy Raymond committed suicide jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.

Finally there is the fresh faced Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg's once close friend and Harvard roomy who stumped up the $1000 cash Zuckerberg required to start his venture - as Facebook grows he becomes further ostracised from the business. His character is by far the one you most sympathise with but is ultimately the less interesting.

Each has his own narrative, his own version of the Facebook story in this multi-level portrait of 21st Century success - both the youthful fantasy of it and its finite realities as well.

You never really do get to bottom of the truth but in Fincher's and Sorkin's tale of geek mythology it never really matters. As the credits roll the Beatles track ‘Baby your a rich man’ asks the question “How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?” - a question Zuckerberg could never truly answer and why would he, he’s from the logged in, left out generation that knows little of beauty and even less so of feeling.

In an industry where ideas are the heart of the business, what price do you put on a truly original idea? And is there really such a thing as an original idea?

The television, arguably one the 20th Centuries greatest technical achievements has changed the world forever in terms of the communication of thoughts and ideas to the masses. Though many consider the idea of the modern television to be the brainchild of John Logie Baird, it was actually down to the scientific breakthroughs of several luminary individuals. The beginnings of mechanical television can be traced back to the discovery of the photoconductivity of the element selenium by Willoughby Smith in 1873, the invention of a scanning disk by Paul Gottlieb Nipkov in 1884 and finally John Logie Baird’s demonstration of televised moving images in 1926.

What John Logie Baird was able to do was to bring that communication experience into the homes of the masses. Now a century later Zuckerberg has been able to bring his own communication experience into the dorms of every university in the western hemisphere and 500 million users globally. According to insidefacebook.com “If Facebook were a country, it would now be the 6th most populous in the world.”

Which I guess is kinda ‘cool’.

References:

imdb.com
empireonline.com
wikipedia.com

Posted by David Birch