The Social Network, David Fincher

The nearly universal acclaim of this film has always confounded me. For this reason, I embarked on a second viewing last Sunday night. The opening scene between Eisenberg and Mara is quintessential Sorkin. The bombardment of dialogue establishes the arrogance of Zuckerberg, who is the central, and perhaps the only meaningful character in the film. Throughout the film, I found myself searching for Zuckerberg's motivations, desires. What does Mark Zuckerberg want? He appears to be on a sort of anti-establishment crusade, as first evidenced by the facemash fiasco. Zuckerberg has a dichotomous relationship with Eduardo. Eduardo aligns himself with the establishment, immediately wanting to capitalize on their idea through advertising. Zuckerberg disagrees asserting: "We don't even know what it is yet." When that line is repeated by Sean Parker, the departure of Eduardo seems inevitable. Parker's character is an idealized version of Zuckerberg himself. He certainly is anti-establishment, but also outwardly appears to have that social exuberance that Zuckerberg lacks. Zuckerberg wants to be loved, both by the populous and by the individual. This individual undoubtedly is Erica Albright. The final scene, Zuckerberg refreshing his Facebook page, is powerful solely because of this idea. This was a film of two scenes; the first and the last. I'm reminded of a quote from the immortal Avon Barksdale.

"You only do two days, the day you go in, the day you go out."

2.5 / 4