“The Social Network”: 10 Years Later
David Fincher’s “The Social Network” turns ten this September. Labeled as an adaption of Ben Mezrich’s book, “The Accidental Billionaires,” Sorkin’s film doesn’t tell the story of Facebook but the relationships of the people who created and developed it. ‘Social Network’ takes an intimate look at Mark Zuckerberg and his associates as they accidentally their way into fame and success.
This is my favorite role from Jesse Eisenberg. Known for being a one-note actor, Jessie was given roles suitable for his quirkiness and offbeat chemistry, ala Adventureland or Zombieland. It’s in ‘Social Network’ where Jesse is firing on all cylinders. The opening film has Mark in a conversation with his soon to be ex-girlfriend, Erica, about the appeal of academics over athleticism. This becomes a bigger conversation as Mark overanalyzes what Erica says about his “obsession” with getting into Finals Clubs. The most important moment in this scene is when Mark jokingly tells her that she should be more supportive of his efforts because if he’s successful, he’ll be able to bring her with him, enabling her to meet people she’s never been able to before. Sorkin’s writing is riddled with sarcasm and thus, so is this conversation. Mark mentions something about “speaking in codes” about what Erica said by “girls liking guys who row”.
After hearing that she should be more supportive, she sarcastically thanks him and the conversation turns serious, for her. She asks what that was supposed to be mean and Mark replies by saying the only way they’re able to drink at the bar is because she slept with the door guy. She’s devasted. She defends herself and the doorman saying they’re mutual friends and says she should leave to go study. Mark now realizes the seriousness of the situation. He asks, “Is this real?” when she responds, he straitens his body posture and replies as if autonomous. “I’m sorry.” It’s not genuine and she knows it. As she leaves, she says the most important thing in the entire film:
“You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you’re gonna go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd. And I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that, that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole.”
The rest of the film follows Mark on his journey to essentially prove her right. Throughout the film, Mark steals, sabotages and manipulates people all in the hopes of being liked. Later that night, a drunk Mark decided to make a program that allowed users to rate their classmates. Of course, those classmates where all women, and the “rating” system was based on attractiveness. This sexist program was impressive, tech-wise. Mark was soon contacted by The Winklevoss Twins who at the time, was working on a dating app for students called the Harvard Connection. After accepting and being granted access to their code, Mark began using the code to work on his side project. He shortly releases TheFacebook. Overnight success finds Mark and his best friend, Eduardo Saverin, who’re approached by several large companies. Sean Parker, founder of Napster, was the one who made it all happen.
A divide comes in between Mark and Eduardo as Sean moves into the picture, seeing the future of what their company can become. Starving for recognition, Mark sheepishly follows Sean’s advice to the dismay of Eduardo. Mark moved to California at the suggestion of Sean without informing anyone. Eduardo, being the main benefactor for the project thus far, decides to freeze the companies accounts; showing Mark his control of the situation. Mark then tells Eduardo that due to the rapid success of the company, they received a half a million-dollar investment and Eduardo is elated. However, the new investment stated that Eduardo’s share would go from 34% to 0.03%. Everybody else’s share on the team stayed the same. Eduardo’s name was even removed from the company’s masthead as co-founder.
Andrew Garfield’s performance during his argument with Jesse is completely enthralling. We’ve watched his character be a true friend to Mark, he has his best interests at heart and doesn’t want him to get hurt. To see how Mark treats Eduardo throughout the film is truly heartbreaking. Mark operates solely based on his insecurities and is completely unable to be happy with himself.
You don’t root for Mark even though his our protagonist. Mark has no ambition other than to just be liked. Jesse’s performances are often considered robotic but every small smirk or eye squint is essential to portraying such a removed character. We never get any true insight on what Mark believes in other than his views on those with intellect and those without. He’s radically self-centered and believes that being an asshole is synonymous with being brilliant. He makes it apparent that he cares very little about money even though he’s one of the richest people on Earth. What he truly cares about is admiration and just wants to be accepted from those he seems ‘cool’.
The film echoes this sentiment on the final scene. The film is anchored around Eduardo’s suit against Mark and is being played in flashbacks. At the end of the session, a junior lawyer informs Mark that they’re going to settle with Eduardo due to their belief of the jury not being on Mark’s side because of his brashness. Before she leaves, she says:
“You’re not an asshole, Mark. You’re just trying so hard to be.”
He’s alone now. He opens Facebook and types in his ex’s name, “Erica Albright.” He hovers over the “add friend” button and thinks about everything he’s done. Maybe he’s not an asshole, he clicks the button. He crosses his arms and sinks into his chair. The camera is now pushing towards Mark and his laptop, he refreshes the page. We’re now getting epilogues for the characters we’ve seen in the film, he refreshes.
He refreshes.
He refreshes.
He refreshes.
His eyes are now heavy and full of water. We are left with our final epilogue:
“The Social Network” is one of my favorite films and continues to become better with each watch. It uses the origins of Facebook to tell a story about how insecurities and intelligence can become incredibly toxic when a person behaves out of those desires. Mark’s main problem is that he assumes his relationships are in jeopardy due to their inability to connect on his level intellectually. His disdain for the Winlkevoss’s stems from his insecurities about athletic, attractive men and their role in intellectual academia. His disrespect for Eduardo stems from Mark needing to be the smartest man in the room. Some would say we wouldn’t have Facebook now if it wasn’t for that infamous break up at the bar. The entire conversation is based on why you do what you do. Mark failed to realize his “obsession” with getting into Finals Clubs is a microcosm of “fitting in” in the world. Mark uses people as a means to an end but doesn’t know how to genuinely connect with people. The ending is truly bittersweet. In another film, we would cheer as he won the case and would hope that Erica would click “Accept” before the screen went black but this is reality. Mark is now successful, rich and alone.
