The Social Network (Analysis)

            To some people, there is a skeptic hesitation over watching this movie because of its idea of having a movie about Facebook, a website that some people do not even know much about. However, this movie is much more about the creation of the website and the resulting consequences of it, according to the tagline, "you don't go from making 500 million friends without making some enemies." The tagline not only make sense, but it also makes sense in terms of physics. This movie is a generation movie that appeals to the struggles that teens face, along with opening up a company while coming across lawsuits with these enemies. The enemies consists of the Winklevoss twins, who claimed that Mark Zuckerburg stole the idea of Facebook from them, and Eduardo, a former friend of his who is filing a lawsuit against him. The movie is witty, funny, and smart; however, it too has a dark parable that we often see in some Aesop tales. To me, this movie is a parable on certain stories and it's a movie that attacks certain American ideals, in effect, trying to be the "Citizen Kane" of the 21st century.

            The movie grabs hold of us with a fast pace five minute beginning consisting of Mark and Erica in numerous discussions that leads to them breaking up. Struck by this, we see Mark using his computer abilities to hurt people's lives by creating Facemash, where you vote to see which of the two faces is prettier. With this, Mark is exposed to the concept of power, and it later functions as an important morality issue later on in the story. Later on in the movie, Mark comes up with the idea of Facebook and names Eduardo the co-founder, splitting the earnings 70 to 30.

            Mark, played be Jesse Eisenberg, talks fast, he speaks in logic, and only cares on how Facebook will succeed. He works as an emotionless character and he would become the anti-hero. It's only in the ending do we see Mark's true face. A sad, lonely kid isolated from the world who realizes that ultimate power does not grant everything in the world. Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield, plays as the character who slowly becomes the sympathetic character, the character whom we learn to love and follow instead of the main character. He tries his hardest to get advertisers to advertise about Facebook, to which Mark is against, thus starting their rivalry.

On the left, we see Mark's eyes in shadows,
whereas the picture on the right, he shows his eyes
as we see him as he really is in the end of the movie.

At this point, the serpent, Sean, seduces
the main characters into doing his bidding
 by lavishing them with food and drinks..

            Eduardo serves as the loyal friend, but he is neglected and even abandoned when he goes on a business trip to New York. To Mark, Eduardo is more of a deadweight than a friend. Sean Parker, played by Justin Timberlake, serves like the Tyler Durden character, who seems to be the answer to all of Mark's problems. Sean Parker serves as the shoulder devil, or the serpent from the garden of Eden. This is fascinating in that he even mentions about a snake in order to call attention to something. He even has the girls and the drugs on his side. When we first meet Sean and Mark together, there is a comfortable yet eerie presence of Sean where he lavishes the group with food and drinks, thus setting up a sense of seduction that the serpent in Eden accomplished. However, therein lies the foot-in-the-door-phenomenon in which one small things lead to the next. He finds Mark new ways in making the company better, and making Mark, not a millionaire, but a billionaire. He tells him to print out the company's card that says, "I'm CEO, bitch," emphasizing on Mark's absolute power over the company and his ability to make his own decisions. Sean is, in many ways, fueling Mark's inhumanity. With the "I'm CEO, bitch" card, Sean attempts to give Mark a taste of absolute power. Although Mark's personality sounds like that of an autonomous robot with the brains, Eduardo's character is the heart and the humanity of the story. Even though friendship comes before work, and Mark's website is aimed towards connecting with friends, he truly doesn't know much about friends in general. He's socially awkward, he chooses to isolate himself, he's always wired in (having head phones on), and he chooses the more successful music industry businessman rather than his close dorm mate.

Before Eduardo's confrontation, the background is out of focus,
showing that there is the unforeseen notion
of backstabbing that's about to take place.

            The ending was really fascinating for it involves Eduardo having his 30% share diluted down to .03%, representing the loss of innocence from the sympathetic character. Eduardo was walking into a trap that was secretly concocted by Mark and Sean. To me, this is the equivalent of Brutus backstabbing Caesar, and it's heartbreaking to know that they started the company together as two friends taking on the world. Even though the diluting of the shares was meant for business purposes, there is a hint as to why it could've been for personal reasons. It probably had something to do with Mark's envious view on Eduardo's success among his friends. Eduardo makes it into the Phoenix club while Mark doesn't, despite making the biggest networking site in the world. Eduardo accuses him of ratting him out with the chicken story, thus leading to disloyalty. With this, we are reminded about the stark contrast between the inception of Facebook to what it resulted in, 30% to .03%. The 30% represents the cheery optimism of taking on the world together, and the .03% is what the real world can do to the unfortunate. What's also interesting is how Sean controls Mark like a puppet. During the confrontational scene, Sean takes over, not giving Mark room to talk and instead, talking for him. At this phase, Sean has influenced Mark to the point of where Mark is now a corporate businessman. All Mark can do is take the impact of Eduardo's threat. After the confrontational scene, Mark is given a package that contains the "I'm CEO, bitch" cards. He holds up the card and contemplates on what absolute powers resulted in, losing a friend.

The "I'm CEO, Bitch" card is the symbol of
power that resulted in the
losing of humanity.

In the confrontational scene, there is a literal triangle between
Mark, Eduardo, and Sean, showing that Sean has taken over Mark.

            The movie is more appealing to us because it's a movie about a business company, but the movie isn't run by boring executives, but rather, it's run by kids. It's the Oscar movie of the year that appeals to college kids. To me, it's more of an emotional appeal if we see kids trying to run a company because they are still growing up and learning life lessons while still having their friends from college by their side. When we move on with our lives, do we try to bring our friends along, or do we leave them laying in the gutters? When the Italian mafia contemplate over whether something is business, are there any hints of personal vendettas involved? This movie can be technical at certain points, but as a whole, it accomplishes to acknowledge the principals of the conflicts between the roles of friends and work.

There are many parallels with
Citizen Kane and The Social Network.

            In this movie, Mark has his own "Rosebud." One of his motivations in expanding the website to other campuses is that so he can get Erica Albright's attention. The last shot of the movie is one of the few times where Mark is not working and is actually trying to make a friend. In the conversation with Erica Albright in the beginning of the movie, Mark claims that he didn't want friends. He finally sends Erica a friend request, showing his true intentions on why he wanted to build Facebook. For the creator of Facebook, he's all alone in the room, crossing his arms waiting desperately for a confirmation from Erica. In most shots, Mark's eyes are in shadows, emphasizing on his soulless existence as a human being. In the last shot of the movie, the eyes are brighten up and we really see Mark show a real emotion other than frustration and anger. As we see his sad puppy dog face, the ending text says, "Mark Zuckerburg is the youngest billionaire in the world," emphasizing that money doesn't buy happiness or love. What's also interesting is the choice of having "Baby, You're A Rich Man" by the Beatles, playing at the end, signifying an irony of the situation.

Erica Albright represents Mark's (Rosebud).
The object that Mark couldn't
attain, despite having everything.

To me, the movie is an updated version of "Citizen Kane," aimed towards college kids. It's a modern parable that deals in friendship, loyalty, betrayal, integrity, honor, and seduction. It's one of my pet peeves when people say that this movie is about Facebook. For the hundredth time, it's not a movie about Facebook.