The Social Network - Is He An Asshole?

 (2010) ★★★★☆

I like David Fincher's films. I like the poster. I like the tagline. I like everything about 'The Social Network', except Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg. I don't know Mark Zuckerberg in reality, but in the film, he appears so mean and shady. He's a total asshole to me. I know, however...that an asshole is not necessarily a genius, but a genius must be an asshole. Why? Simple. They're posh. They're cocky. They're very proud of themselves. They don't quite care what we, average people, think of them. And we're definitely jealous of their talents.

It's ironic that the guy who created the social network for people to socialize online is not at all sociable. Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, is a total computer geek. He's a gifted programmer. He handles the computer language a lot better than the language he speaks, for most of time he's not answering what he's asked, and he speed-talks as if he was going to die any time soon. It's absolutely not pleasant to talk with a guy like him. No wonder he's got no close friends or girlfriends. I don't know if Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) really takes him as his best friend, but one thing for sure, if not for him, Facebook wouldn't have been existing. He seemed to be the only person who believed in Mark's idea in the very first place. Another person that made Facebook possible is Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). If not for her, Mark wouldn't have been stimulated to come up with FaceMash that evolved into Facebook in the end.

This is a superb film in teams of screenplay, editing, directing and score. I guess the screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin, must be crazily talented enough to produce those machine-gun breathtaking dialogues. And the director, David Fincher, must be daringly confident enough to make a film of basically nothing but dialogues. Yet it's so spellbinding that there's actually no breaks for nature's call. Despite the fact that it's a story about how Facebook is created, there's nothing technically difficult to digest. You don't have to be computer knowledgeable to enjoy it.

Unlike any other triumphant stories, 'The Social Network' is not to pep you up by telling you how an abominable nerd turns into the youngest billionaire on the planet that everybody admires. It doesn't see Mark as a hero or a role model or stuff, but simply a pathetic prodigy that could sense a winning move and make billions out of it by cannily taking things into his own hands step by step, and gradually losing all of his good friends. David's direction is ingenious, and rather bleak. It's a story made to upset us by unveiling our dark nature, whether we're familiar with it or not.

This film will leave you one question: is Mark Zuckerberg an asshole? Did he steal Winklevoss brothers' idea? Did he intentionally force his best (only) friend, Eduardo out of the game, as he appeared to be not a 'good' partner afterwards? Did he set his mentor, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) up after having made good use of him? Of course the film gives us no straight answers. It's all up to us to interpret what an asshole is. Said Mark is not an asshole. He's just trying hard to be. Well...I don't think so. I look up to him too, but I don't think he's a great person anyhow.

Note: 1) The Social Network has won 4 Globes, including Best Picture, Best Director. Will grab one or two Oscars for sure. 2) I don't use Facebook. I find it super boring and stupid. 3) The North Face must be one of the sponsors of the film. Check it out for yourself.