The physician at the movies Peter E. Dans, MD obnoxious.Notonlyisherudeandarrogantbuthemanages toalienateeveryonehecomesincontactwithandtobetray hisonlyfriend.Tocallhim“hyper”isanunderstatement.He isportrayedasafast-talkingself-referentialobsessive-compul- sive manic-depressive. Like many of his Harvard classmates portrayedinthefilm,hesharesthesenseoftheirbeing“spe- cialpeople.”Andtosomeextenttheyare,havingstoodoutat theirhighschoolsand,asoneguidancecounselorusedtosay, having built a cyclotron in their backyard or its equivalent. Theyareplacedinapoolof“numberones,”makingitharder tostandout.Ashisdate,EricaAlbright(RooneyMara),tells him,itmaysoundtritebut“youshouldtrytobecomethebest you”ratherthanobsessaboutandenvyhisprivilegedclass- mates.Somestudentsmanagetodojustthat,aswitnessedby theHarvardstudentwhograduatedatthetopofherclasslast year and then entered a convent. Zuckerberg, on the other hand, craves recognition and, despite his whining, many do recognizethesophomore’sgenius,orasonestudentsays,he isthe“BigManonacampus”withnineteenNobelPrizewin- ners,fifteenPulitzerPrizewinners,twofutureOlympiansand onemovieactor”(presumablyNataliePortman). DespitescreenwriterAaronSorkin’sclaimthatthestory is true, he did use a fictional narrative thread,2 crediting Zuckerberg’s energy to create Facebook and the associated spitefulnessasstemmingfromhisbeingrejectedbyAlbright, something she had every reason to do. For example, at the Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, in beginning of the film, he says to her: “You don’t have to The Social Network. © Columbia Pictures/Photofest study;yougotoBU(BostonUniversity),”ashetriestoim- pressherwithhowdatingaHarvardstudentwouldbenefit The Social Network her.Inanotherexchange,shesays,“Datingyouislikedating a Stairmaster. You believe that every thought that tumbles Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, through your head is so clever it should be a crime for it and Armie Hammer. not to be shared.” Zuckerberg is particularly upset that he Directed by David Fincher. Rated PG-13. Running time 120 is not a candidate for one of the big clubs, which he feels minutes. wouldgethimtheattentionhedeserves.Whenaskedwhy, he says they’re exclusive and fun and can lead to a better ’ve always believed that in order to enjoy a movie, the life, pointing out that Theodore Roosevelt was a Porcellian characters, especially the protagonist, have to be likable. and that led him to become president. Erica tells him that Consequently,I IfoundmuchofThe Social Networkdifficult heisana—holeanddumpshim.Herunstohisdorm,blogs to watch. Based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental thatsheisa“bitch”and,whiledrunk,hacksintothehome Billionaires,1ittellsthestoryofthefoundingofFacebook pagesofwomeninthevariousHarvardresidencehallsand by Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) while an un- createsTheFacemashsite.Usinganalgorithmdevelopedby dergraduate at Harvard. Mezrich’s consultant was hisfriendEduardotorankchessplayers,heinvitesHarvard Zuckerberg’s jilted cofounder Eduardo Saverin mentorankthewomen.Thesiteisasensation,earninghim (AndrewGarfield),sothebook’s“nonfiction” theenmityofthewomenstudentsandasix-monthacademic label is subject to debate. Zuckerberg, as probationfortheresultingcrashingoftheHarvardnetwork. portrayed in the film, is thoroughly Duringthehearing,heclaimsthatHarvardshouldthankhim 42 The Pharos/Spring2011 forshowingthemtheflawsintheirnetworksecurity. nosatisfaction,theyscheduleanappointmentwithHarvard Zuckerberg’s accomplishment wins him the admiration President Larry Summers, asking his help with enforcing of identical twin students Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss Harvard’s student Code of Conduct about not cheating on (Armie Hammer), who hire him to help them and Divya yourclassmates.TheportrayalofSummersasajerkstretches Narenda (Max Minghella) build their Harvard Connections credulity.Hedisavowstheircontentionthattheinventionis site.Hestonewallsthemforweeks,duringwhichtimehede- worthmillions,assertingthatitisjusttheirimaginationand velopsFacebookwithSaverinandDustinMoskovitz(Joseph that,afterall,heshouldknowbecauseheusedtobeSecretary Mazzello). His vision is to take the whole college experi- oftheTreasury.Hedismissesthemandadvisesthemtoin- ence and put it online on the premise that there is nothing vent something else, “which is what Harvard students do.” thatpeopleliketodomorethantalkaboutthemselves.The Interestingly,in2011,SummerswouldciteBillGatesandMark Winklevosstwinsarestunnedwhenheannouncesthelaunch ZuckerbergasarguablythetwoHarvardfreshmenwhohave ofFacebookand,onbeingconfronted,hedeniesthatheused beenthemosttransformativeoftheworldinthepasttwenty- anyoftheircodeorideas,whichhepronouncestobelame. fiveyears,addingthatneithergraduated.3 Facebook fever develops as he expands to Yale, Columbia, Zuckerberg borrows from his friend Eduardo to finance Stanford,andCambridge. Facebookbutrefuseshisurgingtogetadvertisers,sayingthat The Winklevoss twins embody all that Zuckerberg en- Facebookiscoolandheisnotinterestedinruiningitforthe vies and despises. They are handsome future Olympians on sakeofmoney.Hechangeshismindwhenheisintroduced the crew team, products of WASP wealth, and shoo-ins for to Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the ousted founder of the best club. They are in reality trusting fellows, especially Napster, who makes the prophetic statement, “We lived on Cameron,whorefusesforalongtimetoagreewithhispart- farms,thenwelivedincities,andnowwearegoingtoliveon nerstosueZuckerberg.Insteadhebelievesthattheyshould theInternet.”Parkergetshimcapitalforwhatheseesasabil- actlike“GentlemenofHarvard.”WhenZuckerberggivesthem liondollarcompany.MeanwhileZuckerbergkeepsEduardoin Andrew Garfield (as Eduardo Saverin), Joseph Mazzello, Jesse Eisenberg (as Mark Zuckerberg), Patrick Maple in The Social Network. © Columbia Pictures The Pharos/Spring2011 43 The physician at the movies thedarkabouthisjoiningforceswithParker.WhenEduardo isolatedoccurrence?Idon’tknow,butintheend,thequestion isfinallyeasedoutofthecompany,hejoinstheWinklevoss’s ismoot,sincethegenieisoutofthebottle suit.Muchofthestoryistoldthroughthedepositionprocess. Full disclosure: I am a confessed troglodyte and techno- Parkeraddshighliving,marijuana,bongs,cocaine,stripclubs, phobe. I don’t own a Blackberry, don’t text, and have never andsexpartieswithunderagegirlstotheventure.Addthisto acceptedinvitationstojoinFacebookevenwhenIrecognize theportrayalofhardpartying,harddrinking,andthehookup thepeopleasfriendswithwhomIwouldn’tmindconversing culturesoprevalentontoday’scollegecampusesandit’shard withbyphone,e-mail,orinhandwrittenletters.Sotakewhat tofathomhowthisfilmgotaPG-13ratingwhenThe King’s Isaywithapoundofsalt.Myconcernsarethatwearecreat- SpeechwasratedR. ingagenerationofpeoplewhoattachtoomuchimportanceto Given the characterization of Zuckerberg, the youngest talkingtostrangersratherthandoingsomethingworthwhile billionaireever,Ifounditstrangethatthefilmappearedwhile withtheirtimeandcommunicatingwiththosearoundthem. heisverymuchalive.Zuckerbergcallsitfiction,butSorkin Theyhavetheirheadsfocusedonthemachines,textingand standsbyhisscreenplay,sayingthathereliedondepositions tweeting,ratherthanontheirsurroundings,lovedones,and takenduringthelawsuitsfiledagainstZuckerbergandblogs naturalcommunity.Thenagain,maybeit’sbetterthanhours thathewroteduringtheperiodinquestion.Sorkindoesal- spentonvideogames.Forviewsofacouple whouseFacebook lowZuckerberg’sdefenselawyertopossiblynegatethevalue andwhosejudgmentsIrespect,seeAddendum2below. ofthedepositionsbysayingthateighty-fivepercentofthem areexaggerationsandtherestoutrightlies.I’mnotsurelaw- Addendum 1 yers would agree. Furthermore, when questioned about the In the end credits, we learn that Cameron and Tyler re- film’sveracity,Sorkinsaid,“Idon’twantmyfidelitytobeto ceivedasettlementof$65millionandsignedanondisclosure thetruth;Iwantittobetothestorytelling.Whatisthebig agreement. They both rowed for the United States in the dealaboutaccuracypurelyforaccuracy’ssake,andcanwenot Olympics in Beijing and placed sixth. Eduardo Saverin re- havethetruebetheenemyofthegood?”4I’mstilltryingto ceivedanunknownsettlementandhisnamewasrestoredto figurethatout.Insum,Iguesswhenyou’rerunninga$50bil- theFacebookmastheadascofounder. lioncompany,itdoesn’tmatterwhattheysayaboutyou,even whenthefilm’sclosinglineis“You’renotana—hole,you’re Addendum 2 justtryingreallyhardtobeone.” IuseFacebookstrictlyforfamilyandclosefriends. Iask Anotherthingthatstruckmeaboutthefilmishowtech- mybusinessacquaintancesandcolleaguestoconnectwithme nology that purports to connect one with “friends” was onLinkedIn,abusinesssocialnetworkingsite.I’mthemost fashionedbyaself-referentialloner.There’snoquestionthat engaged on Twitter. I don’t believe in online privacy. Some Facebook can be used for good purposes, e.g., keeping ser- young people are making bad choices about what they are vicemen in touch with their loved ones, reconnecting with posting online, in their words and photos. Youngsters need oldfriends,postingworthwhilemessages,orconnectingwith tothinkaboutthedigitalfootprinttheyareleaving.Frankly, the people in repressive regimes as we are seeing in today’s I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with social media in headlines. This is alluded to when Marylin Delpy (Rashida general.Iapproachitcautiously.Itcanconsumealotoftime Jones),oneofZuckerberg’slawyers,askswhatheisdoingon (ifyouletit). herborrowedlaptopattheendofthedeposition.Hesays“I’m MyfirstencounterwithFacebookwasas asortofcommu- checking in to see how it’s going in Bosnia.” She responds: nitybulletinboardforpublicprotest.Istayedwithittoreach