The Social Network

The Facebook arrived on the University of Michigan campus sometime in 2004 - my sophomore year.  I was not one of the first to jump on the Facebook bandwagon, but sooner or later I came around.  A year later I may have known one or two people refusing to join and by the end of my senior year it expanded so widely that my high school sophomore brother was now a user. Additionally, thanks to a few of my closest friends I have some pretty hilarious Facebook memories.  My favorite being the take over of the campus starter account and the susbsequent email exchange with an administrator.  Every Facebook user on a campus is assigned a number that can be found in the URL.  A friend decided to see who the first account belonged to and discovered it was maintained by no one and only used to set up the usership for Michigan.  Obviously he decided to take it over and see what would happen.  A philosophical debate soon emerged fueled with my friend's smart-alec taunts.

The point is, I'm sure everyone my age has some story like this, some story that can be recalled to celebrate the role of Facebook in our lives. I know that The Social Network is Mark Zuckerberg's story, his creation, his genius, his decisions, his experience. But on some level this story belongs to me and my friends and the millions of students who postponed writing that paper at 3am to hit the refresh buttons on our newsfeed.

I went to see The Social Network again because I wanted to indulge in every witty line of Aaron Sorkin's amazing script and its impeccable delivery by Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Rooney Mara. And I wanted to marvel at each of David Fincher's scenes - of which not one is wasted. It is far easier for me to attribute a movie's strengths to acting or writing.  While both of those elements are worthy of great praise here, the instincts of the director shine through every well-crafted scene.  There is the perfect amount of subtle emotion delivered by Eisenberg, a toast to good writing, directing, and a talented actor.

There is a scene where Zuckerberg is required to go before the Harvard AdBoard to defend his actions surrounding his crash of the Harvard network.  Instead, he takes the time to state, "I believe I deserve some recognition from this board."  Clearly confused, one adminstrator asks for clarification, to which he says, "I believe I pointed out some gaping holes in your network."  Zuckerberg couldn't be more serious and the AdBoard is clearly baffled.  He walks away with a warning and probation period.  The delivery of this scene is matter of fact and sets a tone for Zuckerberg's future defense against both the Winklevoss twins and Saverin. Juxtapose this with a final scene of Zuckerberg hitting a refresh button in wait for Erica's acceptance of his friend request.  We see a genius mind full of creativity and willing to call attention to what should be his own glory.  We see a boy with the reminder of past mistakes and regret looming under the surface.  We see why he is where he is with work and relationships and it all makes a whole lot of sense.