So I finally got around seeing The Social Network a couple of days ago and I have no idea why, but I feel compelled to say something about the movie so I am just going to blabber a bit about it. A couple of things that are upbeat about the movie:
For a change it is good to know that even people like Mark Zuckerberg who are capable of starting something as amazing as Facebook also have mere mortal problems like breakups in their lives. The way Mark is shown reacting to his breakup is inspirational (except of course, the bitching about his girl friend in public part). The idea of channeling your energy towards building something, specially when you are depressed is an idea that has always fascinated me.
The characterization of Mark was brilliant if you ask me. I am not sure if mark is just as obnoxious, loud and restless in the real world, but the depiction of his character was fascinating to say the least.
The downsides of Social Network are many though. To begin with I am sick and tired of overnight success stories when someone sits through an entire night, slams his fingers on the keyboard and produces something which earns millions of dollars and makes him rich. The idea works on fairy tales but in the real world I think the idea is sick because it just fools ordinary people into believing that is how life works. That some people are just geniuses who can produce products which produce millions of dollars by just slamming the keyboard throughout the night.
BULLSHIT!
The idea of facebook, as the movie depicts was clearly stolen. But then ideas are a dime a dozen and the very fact that Mark had the talent to shape the idea into reality makes it seem just that he should be the one making the big bucks with facebook. The point here however, is that was it really just one FaceSmash that got mark the negative popularity and made him capable of building something as fun filled as facebook? Bullshit! It probably took years for that level of competence to come about. The movie begins at the breakup and quietly ignores the period where the competence was getting formed.
The other thing that is really stupid about the movie is the amount of time given to the "Actual building of Facebook". Mark is shown working for a few minutes (which depict days) and then bham! Facebook comes into existence. STUPID! The dedication, the hard work and the effort that went into building facebook does not even show through in the movie.
The movie ends up depicting Mark as a weirdo, a jerk and an asshole. Someone who is just an amazing programmer and a passive observer to everything else. I don't know if that is truly the case. It is hard to believe though.
All in all, when you are building a movie on something like facebook and you are going to put in the research, you are better of telling the story of facebook rather than Mark Zuckerberg because human beings are basically capable of doing some fairly stupid things. Show us what Mark did right, focus on that and let us learn from those things rather than showing us stupid parties, lesbians kissing and how the CEO of napster liked having crack with a bunch of interns.
I am sure there were greater minds at work on Facebook that brought it where it is right now. Why not showcase those minds? Show us how they worked, their marketing strategy, the decisions that they took and how things worked out. Yes I know all of that is probably not as interesting as lesbians kissing in wild parties and the CFO of facebook humping an Asian girl in a toilet, but I would be much more interested in knowing how facebook evolved than seeing the shitty acts every mere mortal is capable of indulging in. Is that just me? Huh? Huh? Huh?
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