There are many jaw-dropping moments in The Social Network, the story of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook. For me, however, the lightbulb moment came early on in the movie during a scene that most probably wouldn't call pivotal.
Zuckerberg, after having just launched Facebook (known early on as The Facebook) on the Harvard campus, goes up to his ex-girlfriend at a restaurant expecting some recognition for the buzzworthy creation he has just brought into the world.
Instead, he gets a verbal lashing from the girl because of things he posted about her online. She informs him that not every thought that stumbles through his head is worth being put on the Internet, and that whatever is put there isn't "written in pencil, but in ink."
There are times when the screenplay for The Social Network, expertly written by Aaron Sorkin and brilliantly brought to life by director David Fincher, comes across as a slap in the face to people of my generation--or perhaps, a wake-up call.
Here we are watching a movie that begins a mere seven years ago, and yet it chronicles the alteration of an entire culture and the defining of a generation...
...By a website.
And yes, that is being commented on in this movie.
When Zuckerberg's ex lets him know that his thoughts and feelings are both insignificant and still potentially harmful, the camera stays on her face so it's as if she's addressing the audience itself.
And as I was sitting in the audience, I felt like she was talking to me.
The Social Network, for me, was that slap in the face. I blog, I check my e-mail constantly, I'm always on Facebook.
And there were more than a few times during the movie where I identified with Facebook's founder and the movie's antihero, simply because I understood his motivations.
I use the term "antihero" but there are truly are no heroes in this movie. It's filled with rich, spoiled, smart kids who try to get to the top before they get their diploma.
Zuckerberg's competition in the movie, the Winklevoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer in a tour de force performance) accuse Zuckerberg of stealing the idea for Facebook from them, which is in violation of the Harvard ethics code. Yet when they try to report him to the President of the University, he chastises them. He tells them to go invent something else.
"The problem is," he says, "most of you students here want to invent a job instead of FINDING a job."
Is there any better summation of my generation?
Despite the fact that we should feel bad for the Winklevoss twins and other people Zuckerberg allegedly takes advantage of, it's hard to feel bad for people that all come into the movie having money and walk out of it with a lot more due to settlements and other successes.
So instead we watch the bloodbath with fascination, and honestly, with smiles on our faces.
And yet we're watching our own demise--minus the millions the characters in the movie have in their respective banks.
The Social Network has been called the movie of a generation, and though many movie posters have claimed that honor, this is one that may actually have delivered on it.
In the movie, Facebook is founded for trivial and abject reasons: Fame, sex, and money.
As the movie unfurls, you start to wonder if that really isn't the foundation of everything and everyone that has grown-up over the past seven years.
Look at reality television. Look at the explosion of Youtube Cinderella stories and semi-celebrities receiving front page news articles.
Look at me write now writing an article that will probably be posted on someone's Facebook page so someone else that's never met that person can "like" it.
How did all this happen is no longer the question. We now have a movie that answers that question. Zuckerberg gave us the tool, and my generation used it to make ourselves feel sexier, smarter, more creative, and people of "status."
We feel that we're all as good as each other because we can all access each other's most private thoughts and histories, and yet, all that's happened is that we've all gone down together into a world of disconnect and amorality.
We're the Facebook generation.
Most of the news revolving around the movie has been about how bad it makes its lead character look. Zuckerberg even went on Oprah in a disguised effort to try to improve his image by giving away tons of money to charity before the movie came out.
But the truth is, I don't think Zuckerberg is the person that comes out looking the worst once the end credits roll.
I think that person is...me.
And maybe you too.
Zuckerberg, after having just launched Facebook (known early on as The Facebook) on the Harvard campus, goes up to his ex-girlfriend at a restaurant expecting some recognition for the buzzworthy creation he has just brought into the world.
Instead, he gets a verbal lashing from the girl because of things he posted about her online. She informs him that not every thought that stumbles through his head is worth being put on the Internet, and that whatever is put there isn't "written in pencil, but in ink."
There are times when the screenplay for The Social Network, expertly written by Aaron Sorkin and brilliantly brought to life by director David Fincher, comes across as a slap in the face to people of my generation--or perhaps, a wake-up call.
Here we are watching a movie that begins a mere seven years ago, and yet it chronicles the alteration of an entire culture and the defining of a generation...
...By a website.
And yes, that is being commented on in this movie.
When Zuckerberg's ex lets him know that his thoughts and feelings are both insignificant and still potentially harmful, the camera stays on her face so it's as if she's addressing the audience itself.
And as I was sitting in the audience, I felt like she was talking to me.
The Social Network, for me, was that slap in the face. I blog, I check my e-mail constantly, I'm always on Facebook.
And there were more than a few times during the movie where I identified with Facebook's founder and the movie's antihero, simply because I understood his motivations.
I use the term "antihero" but there are truly are no heroes in this movie. It's filled with rich, spoiled, smart kids who try to get to the top before they get their diploma.
Zuckerberg's competition in the movie, the Winklevoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer in a tour de force performance) accuse Zuckerberg of stealing the idea for Facebook from them, which is in violation of the Harvard ethics code. Yet when they try to report him to the President of the University, he chastises them. He tells them to go invent something else.
"The problem is," he says, "most of you students here want to invent a job instead of FINDING a job."
Is there any better summation of my generation?
Despite the fact that we should feel bad for the Winklevoss twins and other people Zuckerberg allegedly takes advantage of, it's hard to feel bad for people that all come into the movie having money and walk out of it with a lot more due to settlements and other successes.
So instead we watch the bloodbath with fascination, and honestly, with smiles on our faces.
And yet we're watching our own demise--minus the millions the characters in the movie have in their respective banks.
The Social Network has been called the movie of a generation, and though many movie posters have claimed that honor, this is one that may actually have delivered on it.
In the movie, Facebook is founded for trivial and abject reasons: Fame, sex, and money.
As the movie unfurls, you start to wonder if that really isn't the foundation of everything and everyone that has grown-up over the past seven years.
Look at reality television. Look at the explosion of Youtube Cinderella stories and semi-celebrities receiving front page news articles.
Look at me write now writing an article that will probably be posted on someone's Facebook page so someone else that's never met that person can "like" it.
How did all this happen is no longer the question. We now have a movie that answers that question. Zuckerberg gave us the tool, and my generation used it to make ourselves feel sexier, smarter, more creative, and people of "status."
We feel that we're all as good as each other because we can all access each other's most private thoughts and histories, and yet, all that's happened is that we've all gone down together into a world of disconnect and amorality.
We're the Facebook generation.
Most of the news revolving around the movie has been about how bad it makes its lead character look. Zuckerberg even went on Oprah in a disguised effort to try to improve his image by giving away tons of money to charity before the movie came out.
But the truth is, I don't think Zuckerberg is the person that comes out looking the worst once the end credits roll.
I think that person is...me.
And maybe you too.
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