“I feel I deserve some recognition from this board.”
These are the words uttered by the character of Mark Zuckerberg as he stands before the Administrative Board at Harvard University. He has just crashed the entire Harvard computer system, and is about to be put on academic probation, but instead he stands and demands recognition. At the time this may seem like a throwaway line, a quick peek at the egomaniac within. Instead, this sentence is one that perfectly captures the essence of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. All he wants is to be noticed. Status defines his life, as it does many of ours. Our existence can be broken down into various races and competitions, the end result allegedly proving how “I’m better than you.” David Fincher’s The Social Network observes a man so obsessed with status that he creates a website which celebrates it. Its creation is not artificial, but instead is a natural extension of his mind, which is a world of endless struggle, and as such he created a tool which has come to define the social behaviors of humans in the 21st century.
The film opens on Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) having a conversation with his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), and Mark spends the entirety of the conversation obsessed with the final clubs at Harvard. To him they are the epitome of what college, and by extension, life, is all about: Being better than everyone else. He has never been part of that scene, and whenever he feels one-upped he strikes back in the most aggressive way possible. This is the night Erica breaks up with him, and this utter feeling of rejection leads him to begin a project which at the time seems sophomoric and immature, but will begin the rest of his life.
In this night of inebriated misjudgment Zuckerberg creates FaceMash.com, a site where people can vote on various Harvard girls based on looks alone, and the internet at Harvard crashes. Zuckerberg takes this as a breakthrough: at last he has been noticed. To Zuckerberg, infamy is infinitely preferable to anonymity. After this brief burst of attention he is approached by the Winklevoss twins, two men who embody all that he envies, who offer him a job in their new project intended to give Harvard students a centralized social networking service based on exclusivity. Mark is intrigued, but he takes this idea and makes it his own, and the path to billions began to be paved.
Zuckerberg does not make decisions based on business but instead based on hype. Being rich is not the goal (though it helps). He wants to be the guy with the most friends who is seen as “cool” by all around him. As such he decides to get Sean Parker, founder of Napster, involved in the Facebook project. Mark is entranced by this man, a mood brilliantly captured by director David Fincher. In the eyes of Zuckerberg he represents the goal: complete and utter fame. He ignores the inevitable bad press that would ensue, because he only cares that he gets the press. In the eyes of Zuckerberg, Parker is the absolute pinnacle of social status. Not only is Justin Timberlake revelatory in this part, I don’t know if there’s anyone else who could have hit all the same notes. He is not merely the best actor for the part, but this is also the best part for the actor.
Along for the ride with Zuckerberg is Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), his best friend at Harvard who becomes his Facebook partner in crime. Saverin is not concerned with infamy but instead in maintaining a profitable business. However, Saverin has made it into a final club and Zuckerberg has not, and thus Mark feels inferior. As such he feels no remorse when he inevitably leaves Eduardo out to dry as he did the Winklevoss twins before him. It becomes apparent that all of this betrayal is not what Mark WANTS to do, but what he feels he HAS to do to stay ahead. His greatest fear is being left behind, but he’s the one behind the wheel.
The screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, the direction by David Fincher and the performance by Jesse Eisenberg paint Zuckerberg as a Charles Foster Kane for the modern age, a man who goes on to great fame and fortune as a result of a singular obsession. It goes without saying this is no small feat, but giving a talented writer like Sorkin (The West Wing) a character like Mark Zuckerberg is like giving a star hitter an 85 mile-per-hour fastball down the middle. As is the case with just about everything here, it is a match made in heaven. Performances are perfect at every turn, and many Oscar nominations can be expected. The script is just about perfect. The direction is just about perfect. The haunting score by Trent Reznor is perfect. To watch The Social Network is to watch a project firing on all cylinders.
David Fincher has, in all likelihood, created a masterpiece which evokes the very way we live our lives in the 21st century. Facebook began as a mere experiment, but became bigger than anyone could have ever imagined. The Social Network is based on a book about Zuckerberg and Saverin entitled The Accidental Billionaires, and I could think of no title more apt. Zuckerberg’s attraction to status caused him to make a website, become a billionaire, and in the process betray his one and only friend, but when all is said and done dissatisfaction remains. As it turns out, every Kane has his Rosebud.
Rating:
(out of 4)---------
The Social Network will be released on Friday October 1st.
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