Hollywood, despite not being able to operate without it these days, has never been particularly fond of information technology. Computers in Hollywood films are almost invariably depicted as catalysts for nuclear catastrophe, tools for dumbing down and enslaving the masses through virtual reality, or as monsters intent on taking over the world from humans. The situation did not significantly change with the internet revolution; on the contrary, Hollywood viewed the masses sitting in front of their computer screens as the main reason why it can no longer expect the same audiences in front of the big screen. This mindset has, both consciously and subconsciously, reflected a hostile attitude towards computer geeks. Since the 1990s, there have been increasingly frequent portrayals of main villains representing a fictional alter ego of Bill Gates. However, in 2010 Hollywood took a step further with a film where the geek villain was not fictional but a real person. This was The Social Network, a film based on Ben Mezrich's book Accidental Billionaires, which dealt with the founding of Facebook and its creator Mark Zuckerberg.
The plot begins on an October 2003 evening when young Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) goes on a date with his girlfriend Erica Albright (played by Kate Mara), unaware that she will break up with him. When he returns to his room that same evening, his boiling anger drives him not only to vent his feelings on his blog but also to channel his creative potential into extremely destructive purposes—after hacking into Harvard's dormitory websites, he sets up a page that compares the physical attractiveness of female students. The project called facemash.com brings disciplinary action but also attracts the attention of brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (played by Armie Hammer) and Divya Narendra (played by Max Minghella), who decide to hire Zuckerberg to create their own website—a social network for Harvard students. Zuckerberg agrees but simultaneously begins working on his own social network project called thefacebook.com, with assistance from his friend Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield). Once Zuckerberg's site launches, it slowly but surely spreads among Harvard students and later to students at other elite universities in the Northeastern US. The Winklevoss twins become furious, convinced that Zuckerberg has stolen their idea. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg connects with Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake), the flamboyant founder of Napster file-sharing site, who suggests that he temporarily move to California to utilise local resources and continue with the project. This puts Zuckerberg at odds with Saverin, who feels neglected.
Zuckerberg and his followers have publicly stated that they consider The Social Network to be "Hollywood fiction"; thus, it can be assumed that they weren’t overly pleased that Hollywood's exploitation of the events at their expense has become one of the commercially successful films of the season. They can take comfort in the fact that the cinematic portrayal of Facebook's founder has been entrusted to top talents. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, author of the acclaimed drama A Few Good Men and TV series The West Wing, while the director was David Fincher—filmmaker whose works represent something special even when they miss their mark. Fortunately, his pairing with Sorkin did not result in a miss. On the contrary, Sorkin's script, in which a former Clinton apologist depicts a less-than-bright atmosphere of greed and betrayal characteristic of the Bush era, perfectly complements Fincher's style dominated by dark tones and almost Kubrickian coldness and misanthropy. Additionally, there are significant amounts of misogyny since almost all female characters are portrayed as cheap and vacuous gold diggers, groupies, and/or simply being crazy.
The Social Network also benefited from a cast largely made up of unknown faces (with the exception of Justin Timberlake who convincingly embodies the "bad boy" of the computer industry). Among them, young Eisenberg stands out for portraying Zuckerberg as an unremarkable and almost sociopathically maladjusted young man who uses Machiavellian genius to vent frustrations against his physically more attractive, wealthier peers and/or those boosted by traditional social networks.
Fincher deserves credit not only for selecting good actors but also for turning what seemed like a banal and non-cinematic story about creating a website into an exciting drama while allowing some CGI playfulness in one actor playing the two Winklevoss twins. However, these effects do not detract from the film; minor flaws could be found in perhaps not entirely polished narrative structure or two complicated lawsuits serving as a framework for flashbacks. Despite this, The Social Network deserves praise and recommendations even for those viewers who do not know or cannot stand Facebook. Even Zuckerberg himself might realise that there are worse ways to be immortalised in cinema.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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