The Social Network: Click Here to Like This [Click]

Despite using Facebook on a daily basis, I have never once wondered how anybody came up with it, or why. And even though I've now seen The Social Network, I probably still don't know, but I still don't really care. All I know is that the story the movie tells -- from multiple viewpoints and in a constantly flashing-back fashion -- is about a socially maladjusted genius who could have gone one way in life and ended up a millionaire, but instead went another way and ended up a billionaire, albeit with two multi-million dollar lawsuits against him. And it's the most entertaining movie I've seen all year.

Director David Fincher is no slouch, and with this movie he has outdone himself. The story is engaging, jumping back and forth between a young Mark Zuckerberg alienating himself from half the Harvard campus as a student and a slightly less young Zuckerberg alienating himself from anyone within earshot at two separate settlement hearings with those who would lay claim to the Facebook fortune. Jesse Eisenberg is scarily in his element as a focused, self-centered computer whiz who responds to a bad break-up by developing a female-student rating program that's so misogynistically popular that it crashes Harvard's server. Eisenberg and writer Aaron Sorkin are a match made in heaven. The actor's rapid-fire delivery is well-suited to the writer's dense dialogue -- with anybody else speaking it, the movie would be twice as long, and probably half as funny.

Yes, in case you've been watching the trailers and think this is going to be a drama, it's actually as funny as it is sad. Sure, there are some tense confrontations, but there's also hilarious dialogue, and you have to laugh at the adult situations the college-age characters find themselves in, especially when they proceed to act like (or be treated like) kids. My favorite line is when Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the crew-team twins whose code Zuckerberg may have used as a springboard for his own site, are debating whether or not to simply beat Zuckerberg up. Tyler: "I'm 6'5", 220 pounds, and there's two of me." (Accurate, since Armie Hammer plays both twins to indignant perfection.) Andrew Garfield (Never Let Me Go) is great in a completely different way as Zuckerberg's friend, not to mention the underwriter of the endeavor, although the latter ultimately proves to be the more important trait to all involved. And Justin Timberlake plays Napster founder Sean Parker as a paranoid, sleazy bastard, which should pleasantly surprise his fans and reassure the haters.

Critics are already talking Oscars in regards to this movie, and I have to agree. In fact, I may start a Facebook campaign.

Did you see it? Tell us what you thought below, then see how we thought the film could have been made more Fincher-appropriate.

57 Comments

October 1, 2010 11:02 AM
Kristen
Reply

I can't wait to see this movie. When I first heard they were making a FB movie, I dismissed it, thinking it would be some fluffy college thing, but I've been hooked ever since that first trailer with Creep playing over it came out.

October 1, 2010 3:46 PM
Carrie
Reply

I saw this movie in an advanced screening, and it literally took my breath away from beginning to end. It never lulls, it feels like a high speed train that is about to hit you and when it does at the end, all you can say is 'thank you'. As a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin, I was really excited to see it and I couldn't have imagined a better film. Tell all your friends to go see it, it's the best movie I've seen in years.

October 2, 2010 1:22 PM
Shawn
Reply

Sean Parker, founder of Napster? you might want to tell that to Sean FANNING, founder of Napster......

October 2, 2010 5:27 PM
Eli
Reply

Shawn Fanning did create Napster, along with Sean PARKER

October 2, 2010 7:02 PM
Shawn
Reply

If by "create" you mean "financed", then yes Parker "created" Napster...I guess when I buy a car I "create" it also because I financed its construction?

October 3, 2010 6:07 PM
SC
Reply

No, that makes you a customer. A financier analogy would make you the person who pays for the factory that makes the cars.

October 4, 2010 12:53 AM
kris kris
Reply

I enjoyed the movie. Great collaboration. But Oscar worthy? I don't know. Is it that slow of a movie year? I can see Oscar nominations for writing, supporting acting for Andrew Garfield and the twins guy, maybe even Jesse Eisenberg (who more or less plays variations of himself in every movie), but I can't say this is Best Movie caliber. Oscar hype has really gotten out of control as of late, and the quality of Oscar-worthiness has taken a decline in recent years.

October 4, 2010 1:10 AM
Jill
Reply
replied to comment from kris kris

Word to everything you said. But, bear in mind, it's still early October...we still have 3 more months, and we know especially in the last 2 Hollywood unloads it's prestige projects. But yeah, slow year so far if this is the best we have seen (for the record, I'd give the movie a B+ overall).

October 4, 2010 10:06 PM
Anonymous
Reply

I saw it. I don't think it's worthy of all the praise--the rapid-fire dialog sounded like the writers from the Gilmore Girls worked on the script, the characters were cartoonish, and the motivations seemed contrived. I did think the one link you quoted was funny, but most of the obvious laugh-getters missed the mark. And I thought the portrayal of almost all the women (with the exception of the wide-eyed new lawyer) was abhorrent--apparently Ivy League women are all bitches and ho's--at least as portrayed by this movie. It's biggest sin, though, was that it was actually pretty dull.

October 9, 2010 4:28 PM
Yahaira
Reply

Great movie!!!But i dont really think it is Oscar material! I heard that they are making like a tv show based on facebook. It is some sort of tv series about how privacy has become an issue due to all the things people post on their status updates.

October 11, 2010 3:06 PM
adrian
Reply

What kind of drama other then what is already in the movie would you expect to make it Oscar quality.. sure maybe it wont be best picture.. but there are other types of nominations.. hey! if rappers can win an Oscar... then why wouldn't this film and the makers of this film win one?

October 11, 2010 3:09 PM
adrian
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

That would be the typical tv show of our generation.. and sadly seems like it would last a while.. as many people have read some pretty messed up comments and statuses that can be used to make a show.

October 12, 2010 8:22 PM
Karen
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

Couldn't have said it better!

I oppose! that movie wasn't great at all, it was so pointless! especially how the story was presented.. they're in a court, and then the movie starts as they talk? ehh. i think they could have done way better. It was horrible they should have made it a bit more interesting don't you think? In the end everyone has their own opinions but honestly in my point of view, it wasn't good at all.

I must add that they should have done the whole court scene at the end of the movie... Also, the ending wasnt catchy...
Maybe the fact that its about facebook, has most teens going crazy and rating it as a good movie, but if they really payed attention to it they would have probably detailed it as i did.

October 12, 2010 10:40 PM
Cynthia
Reply

I have had very bad experiences with facebook, I used to update my status like twice a day, I stopped doing it, it is so dangerous. I would like to hear stories about that, it really catches my attention, what channel is going to release it and when?

October 12, 2010 11:39 PM
Karen
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

I didnt really like the movie but a TV series would really catch my attention, it would be interesting to know the different kinds of of cases and consequences there is due to updates on Facebook.

October 13, 2010 3:48 PM
Captain Awesome
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

Love Facebook, Love the Movie, and I will Love the show. Facebook is too big for hollywood to not score off of

October 13, 2010 5:10 PM
JC
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

A show about how sexual predators and scam artists use social networks to locate new victims is a good idea. It may teach the audience how to use this sites safely.

October 17, 2010 9:00 PM
GMM
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

A show sounds cool. The networks need something fresh, and I think introducing a series based on social networking crimes would be a new idea!

October 22, 2010 5:50 PM
JC
Reply
replied to comment from Captain Awesome

I agree I love the movie and it is definitely a hot topic now.

October 22, 2010 6:38 PM
Cathe
Reply

I have read so many stories about crimes and all the dangerous things than happens through facebook. I think people should learn how to use these types of sites safely or else they are gonna end up destroying our privacy...a series just like criminal minds or something like that would be a hot!!!

October 24, 2010 9:55 PM
Yahaira
Reply

I agree with u cathe, if we dont start using these tools properly we are gonna end up loosing our whole privacy. Its crazy how people is able to update their status up to 10 times per day, it is like an adiction. I dont update my status often but it is entertaining to go through facebook and read all the stupidity people post, i do that everythime im bored.

October 26, 2010 1:19 AM
Pat
Reply

The movie is Oscar material. I really didn't think i was going to like it as much but the performance in the movie is excellent. A show about violation of privacy? What about cyber-bullying ?

October 26, 2010 1:36 AM
JC
Reply
replied to comment from Pat

I think the show is about ALL crimes that may be generated by social network sites. Will be an action/drama show

November 1, 2010 5:30 PM
Max
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

I had some bad experience with posting pictures on facebook...some other person copied my photos and claim to be me!!! I don't know what to do about it :( A show? can you tell me more about this.

November 1, 2010 11:55 PM
Natasha
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

That tv series sounds interesting because it would give people a reality check of all the things that can happen when you post personal things on social networks!

November 2, 2010 8:12 AM
Yahaira
Reply
replied to comment from Pat

Cyber-bullying and other types of crimes that have been posible thanks to this network is what the show will be about. there is nothing wrong with facebook or any other social network, dont get me wrong, but people are not using it properly and thats why all those things are happening.

November 2, 2010 8:17 AM
Yahaira
Reply
replied to comment from Max

You're not the only one, i heard that a family from Germany posted some pictures on facebook from their daughter's first bday and a year after they saw them in an advertisement in a billboard...isnt that crazy? Big companies stealing private content from facebook..wow!

November 2, 2010 10:50 PM
JOSH
Reply

Ill be a number one fan of this show!! thats an awesome idea. There are so many crazy freaks out there posting all their life on facebook, thats just not right. Up to now, i have had only good experiences with fb. that story about the family pic is scary but possible and can happen to anyone...

November 2, 2010 11:01 PM
JC
Reply
replied to comment from JOSH

I read an article about people breaking up through fb... most of them do it just before spring break, and others find out for the first time that they are single from status updates. And the worst I heard was that a man killed his wife because she change her status to "single'...that's just crazy!

November 3, 2010 3:15 PM
Karen
Reply

it’s surprising how many ridiculous updates people post, things like "i just ate" omg really? do you thing anybody cares...seriously people need to get a life and understand that there other things that deserve more time and attention than being updating a page every 5 minutes...

November 3, 2010 5:17 PM
Max
Reply

The movie was drama with a touch of humor and to be honest I really enjoy the movie. The cast did a really good job. Is the TV show going to be pure drama? I will def. watch it if it's a little humorous/sarcastic like the movie

November 3, 2010 5:28 PM
Eve
Reply

The movie Oscar quality idk???... from the business point of view it might be decent material and worth to watch. A show about facebook ???? Don't really care much about fb as a social network...so it will depend on the content of the show to be worth watching

November 3, 2010 9:14 PM
Ella
Reply

"the social network" what an amazing story. Although some parts of the movie didn't happen for real, the overall content seems realistic. Is Mark Zuckerberg only 26? His character in the movie is pretty odd. I wonder if he is "like that" in real life. Is the show related to the movie some how?

November 3, 2010 9:24 PM
EM
Reply

I think fb is pretty safe as long as you use it responsibly. For example, don't accept people that you don't know as friends and only posts pictures "rated PG".
Some of the updates that people post can get silly sometimes but in majority of the time they are harmless within your circle of friends.
Fb allows you to block and report unwelcome users, which I have done in the past.

November 4, 2010 12:02 AM
Scott
Reply
replied to comment from EM

Even if you put your fb on private there are others who can stil see it..u have no idea how many crimes, and even fraud marriages (business done to get a green card) have been caught through facebook. for this instance i think this tool is effective, but for privacy issues, i think fb is gonna end up destroying private lives.

November 4, 2010 12:04 AM
Kaylee
Reply

I have lost my job because over a month ago i was silly enough to write
on facebook what i thought of someone i worked with, as he had told me to f off! i wrote on facebook when i was upset about it.
someone then printed this off and showed my boss...............now is this fair? can i do anything about this?

November 4, 2010 12:07 AM
Danny
Reply
replied to comment from Kaylee

Honestly i don't think its fair and its your personal life i don't think that they should interfare with that and your boss is deffinatelly being wayyy too protective....but the important thing is, you learned a lesson. Becarefull what you do in facebook, but now its time to move on because this is life. What you can do is try to get a better job, do something better and you will be much better,dont regret, learn something instead....

November 4, 2010 12:15 PM
Eve
Reply
replied to comment from Kaylee

Unfortunately all pictures posted to any social network stops being private and become public. Always remember anything that is posted online is NOT private. Parents, employers, teachers, admission officers, etc. can find out thing about you from your profile or a friend's profile. Many people have lost jobs, scholarships... because of online information

November 7, 2010 9:05 PM
Natasha
Reply
replied to comment from Yahaira

Not only that employers also check out facebook and that can determine whether you get the job or not!!! That's crazy!!!

November 7, 2010 10:10 PM
Alex
Reply

I think that social networks are a problem.
Why people put their life on internet?
People from 12 to 18 put their life on social networks,why??

November 7, 2010 10:12 PM
yahaira
Reply

If you know how to use it properly, there is no way it will be a problem in your life

November 7, 2010 10:20 PM
Valencio
Reply

I actually believe that Facebook is great. In addition, I would like to condemn the company for firing an employee for saying that her job is boring. Facebook is a personal forum and not a professional one.

November 7, 2010 10:30 PM
Jim
Reply

The police department at my university has made fake Myspace and Facebook accounts. They use them to spy on students. For example, they will have someone pretend to be a student on campus and then "friend" other students saying, "I'm in your dorm."

Regular tactics are to ask students, "So did you go to that party in Johnson Hall?" Then some idiot will always say, "Yeah, check out the pictures I just posted! We got SO drunk!" The police use the photos as evidence to bust students for drinking in the dorms.

So, the moral of the story is that you never know who you are talking to.

There are also privacy issues, since you give up a lot of information about yourself every time you fill out one of those surveys. I don't have enough time to go into the whole subject of Datamining, but just realize that the information you put out there is being used to predict what you and your friends habits are, what you will buy, where you will go, etc. You are being watched and tracked and analyzed.

Protect your privacy.

November 7, 2010 10:37 PM
KarenP
Reply

Using Twitter and Facebook could harm moral values, as they don't allow time for compassion or admiration, scientists have warned. Today's fast-paced media could be making us indifferent to human suffering and should allow time for us to reflect, according to researchers.
They found that emotions linked to moral sense are slow to respond to news and events and have failed to keep up with the modern world. In the time it takes to fully reflect on a story of anguish and suffering, the news bulletin has already moved on or the next Twitter update is already being read.

November 7, 2010 10:40 PM
Yaya
Reply
replied to comment from KarenP

I think if anything its brings people together, facebooks helped me stay in contact with a lot of family and friends that i would never hear from without it. I dont think it makes us insensitive, i think that is down to newspapers and tv news glorifying things, news used to be really dull because they never reported horrific things even though they did happen as much as now, but now we've just got used to hearing about death and crimes, every single day, and we cant burst out crying every time we hear the news, so we have to ignore it and desensitise from it to some extent

November 7, 2010 10:44 PM
Xelmi
Reply

there was a time when it took days for news to travel to your town
and horrible events that happened on the other side of the world stayed there
today every horrible event anywhere in the world is right in front of us within minutes of happening on tv, internet etc

we have empathy exhaustion
earthquake victims, famine victims and so on
there's only so much we can take

as for facebook and twitter i think they have a minimum effect on us they are just faster ways of communication..by the way, that tv series sounds interesting, thats what we need, something new and crispy..

November 7, 2010 10:46 PM
Alex
Reply

I think the line is now blurred between a legit story or documentary and a titillating, juicy piece of gossip or schadenfreude. The latest reality TV show here in the UK is a prime example I think - "Find me a Family" - about the plight of a group of children looking for a family to adopt them. The programme follows the families and the children to see who ends up with the children.....I think this is a bit voyeuristic and not really something to be considered entertainment

November 7, 2010 10:51 PM
cathe
Reply

i want to be safe online because lately i've heard stories about it...
like this 40 year old guy who created 200 facebook profiles, all different, and linked friends to each other so that he could pretend to be a 15 year old boy. he added this 11 year old girl and they started "going out" on facebook, and he met her family pretending to be the dad of the boyfriend, he told the girl at one point that it was really him, and the girl snuck out one night to see him at the beach and he murdered her..
so this is what i do with my facebook: i have my mobile number, photos of myself, the school i go to and the state of australia that i live in. around 95% of people i am friends with on facebook or more i have met in real life ..

November 7, 2010 10:58 PM
JP
Reply

The only thing that bothers me is having your mobile number public. If you're that concerned, change your privacy settings for your profile and take your mobile no. off.
I remember leaving my msn on a similar site i used to go on and got a ton of pervs and creeps, some even claiming to have videos and photos of me (indecent) that i knew for a fact didnt exist.
That creeped me out big time.
Also, don't meet with anyone you don't know very well from facebook or any similar sites cos that's usually the case with people who go missing/end up killed/abused. Although some creeps out there may actually stalk you just listen to my advice above and use your common sense so none of these terrible things can happen to you.

November 7, 2010 11:05 PM
Yahaira
Reply

yeah, posting life relating things on status are acceptable, but phone numbers is too much, unless it is for business purposes

November 8, 2010 10:23 AM
Karen
Reply

i read that 13 Employees of Virgin Airlines crew were fired because of insulting virgin airline passengers on the company’s facebook group. Calling them with slangs and having fun which finally got them fired !!! isnt that insane

November 8, 2010 8:30 PM
Chris
Reply

Every site tracks where u go, If u put any info about ur real life anywhere, well there will be other sites that find out about it. I really don't think that there are ANY sites that are SAFE. just look at wat are internet has become u know, that show that u guys are talking about might finally show people how harmful these sites are becoming to our privacy

November 8, 2010 9:10 PM
Aleja
Reply

I personally love facebook, but there are some bad things about it.

You must use your real name on facebook. Unless you specify "friends only" anyone can see your profile, making them easy prey for internet predators. People are allowed to find out there stripper name, and send booze to each other, soom things parents might find innapropriate for their kids. There are some innapropriate pictures floating around on facebook, which again some parents find unsuitable for there child.

I personally think facebook is a lot of fun. My day would be pretty borring without it XD

November 8, 2010 9:15 PM
yaya
Reply

a few years from now, we wont have to call our friends anymore because the main communication bridge would be internet...isnt that sad!!!

November 8, 2010 9:21 PM
Aleja
Reply

The main thing that bugs me is that you have to use your real name.

I have a facebook but no picture up only for my friends that refuse to use Myspace.

November 8, 2010 9:25 PM
JF
Reply

A fresh tv show would be amazing,im so sick of the typical stories on CSI and other series...we want something newww!!

August 27, 2011 4:17 PM
public
Reply

se puede completar el blanco?
http://www.b4yporn.com/

aaa

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