The rise of the Internet domain gathering space, Facebook, and the story behind the computer screen.
Courtesy of flickr.com
Our modern world is one that is closely tied to the Internet. More apparent is our affinity with the online experience of Facebook. The real face of Facebook is exposed in The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010). Based on a true story, The Social Network shows the story behind our wall posts and blog updates because not only is it an informative movie, but it portrays an exciting, suspenseful plot with vibrant characters that keep the audience glued to their seat until the end.
The story involves 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg, Zombieland) facing all the difficulties – including various lawsuits – of building a social network based on everyday Harvard University life. With actors Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield of The Other Boleyn Girl, the movie proved to be a very “connecting” presentation.
Early on in the movie Zuckerberg caused an internet scandal that ended in Harvard’s network crashing. A frustrated, intoxicated, undergrad programmer was able to shut down the entire Harvard system in a mere four hours? I found this to be very amusing and an intriguing start to the movie, as it boldly states the kind of character that Zuckerberg is, with his sarcastic remarks and his fast-paced thinking process. Following up was a confrontation with the Harvard administration in which Zuckerberg ridiculed them by saying, “As for the charges (breaking into and defiling the Harvard network), I believe I deserve some recognition from this board.” This kind of cockiness brought an interesting element of humor into the movie that appealed greatly with the other aspects of suspense and intensity.
The movie comes at the audience very quickly; one must pay attention to dialogue and the elevating situation at hand, or else one will be left trailing behind with the plot of the movie. Once Zuckerberg began programming “The Facebook” in the movie, scenes and countless information flew at me: Designing the page. Done. Financial support from CFO/bestfriend, Eduardo Saverin(Andrew Garfield). Done. Adding unique perks that other sites do not have. Done. Ignoring the actual college life in Harvard to create a virtual world. Done.
Young entrepreneur Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) joined the Facebook team and added his own flavor to Facebook. Statements such as, “One million dollars isn’t cool, one billion dollars is,” made me see a wider spectrum of the movie that shows how Facebook achieved its fame. It wasn’t just the brilliant idea of Zuckerberg that launched Facebook, it was the ambition, greed, and ruthlessness of tricky businessmen like Sean Parker. As a young entrepreneur, Sean Parker added the cornerstone that Zuckerberg’s Facebook team was missing: changing the name from “The Facebook” to just “Facebook,” Setting goals of reaching 500,000 friends by the end of the summer. Dynamic characters, such as the aforementioned, stand out to me because it adds on to the progression of a film, with unexpected twists and climaxes, as The Social Network did.
Apart from the whole chronological timeline of Facebook in the movie, The Social Network was very entertaining. With Zuckerberg’s bold nature and the building tension that came from publishing the website and confronting lawsuits, I was engulfed entirely into what was happening. Perhaps the greatest appeal of the movie was how it was set up over all. The movie begins at Harvard, before Zuckerberg began Facebook, and flash-forwards to lawsuits that Zuckerberg was facing because of financial disputes that came about from the “Facebook project.” The constant flash-backs and flash-forwards had a very attention-drawing affect that kept me intrigued and eager to find out what came next.
With the suspenseful scenes and fast-paced story, garishly presenting the tension of Mark Zuckerberg and the college lifestyle, this movie proved to be a satisfying experience. I have no regret in “educating myself” with the background story of our Internet domain gathering, Facebook, in The Social Network.
