I was riveted to every word of the fast-paced and brilliant dialogue in the recently released movie about Facebook entitled The Social Network. I’ve been moaning and groaning about social media, but having experienced this film about the creation of thefacebook (it’s original name; how it got the name changed is a great scene), I am in awe of what was created in a dorm room at Harvard only 5 short years ago and will not moan or groan anymore. I get it now.
Although this is a fictionalized version of Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to fame and notoriety, it relies on enough facts to convey the meteoric spread of the phenomenon he created (or stole). The dismissal of his opponents, the Winkelvoss twins, from Harvard president’s office was one of my favorite scenes.
Mark Zuckerberg’s character never hesitates to edit what is on his mind, no matter how direct or tactless the comment may be. I found myself cheering him on when he chided one of the attorneys who was able to add $18,000 and $1000 and come up with a $19,000 sum. Zuckerberg does not suffer fools lightly.
What the trailer points out, and what is the theme of the movie, is the lengths to which this genius entrepreneur would go to fulfill his human needs for acceptance and attention from a girl and the university’s elite social clubs. In real-life television interviews, Mark Zuckerberg speaks of his mission to get people connected. In the movie version, this desire leads to an affluent, but lonely bottom line.
In coaching, the ultimate question is, What do you really want? From the beginning, the Mark character lets us know that it’s not about the money. In fact, he has become the youngest billionaire ever. It leaves me wondering though. Mark, have you gotten what you really wanted?
Thanks for the review! I might have to check it out when it gets to my neck of the woods.
*Mark Zuckerberg. It was created in 2003, by the way.
If you had been Matt’s life coach, what would you have advised him along the way?
Crystal
http://www.crystalspins.com
Thanks for the heads up about this movie. I often make fun of Facebook, but it has become a great publicity tool for my articles, and I cannot deny the fact that the creators are absolutely brilliant. Hope to see the movie soon!
I believe his name is Mark, not Matt.
I look forward to seeing the movie!
I did enjoy the movie and the character of Mark Zuckerberg and made me curious about him…
I think the guy’s name is Mark. It was a great movie.
Regards,
Tony
the problem with MARK Zuckerberg’s vision of humanity is apparent here. The “top page” of WordPress links to a review of a Film about MARK , and the reviewer calls him MATT throughout the review.
Actual human intellect is dead. Knowing how to navigate how machines operate all meat puppets will be good for….
maybe fix the review? HE got what he wanted…but not what he’ll need.
mark, not matt.
I haven’t gotten out to see this one yet, but I definitely want to. Looks like a really solid flick.
Great review!
http://www.themoviebros.com
IT’S NOT OUT IN THE UK YET! Sob.
But after reading this post, I have a hankering to go and see it…
Theater viewing or rental? Hmmmm???
definitely theater! you should have heard the people around me when it was over – they were loudly sharing their opinions – everything from “what a f*cking bastard” to “i’m going home and shutting down my account NOW.” lol took it pretty seriously.
I do use (but don’t overuse like all those creepy applications) Facebook, but I hate mark.
This is a movie that I want to see at some point. But if you are going to talk about a movie, you need all of the facts otherwise people tend to avoid your reviews. IMDb.com has helped me in the past so that I could be sure I knew the right names and years for movies.
hi, i hate to say it, but i just saw the movie and while it was a brilliant movie, mark is not a hero in any case. i went to carnegie mellon, which was not an ivy league but does pit itself against MIT, and people like this character were everywhere. i used to say, “you could hear the air buzzing.” they have no personalities, and exist only to flip off the people that came before them. facebook is fun for about five minutes, but as the movie developed, you would think they were describing how he came up with a cure for cancer. please. people like the character of mark have nothing going for them but – possibly – their resumes (not even a girlfriend, or other friends, in his case).
What do you mean by edit?
Glad to hear you liked it. I wanted to see it, but it seemed like it was kind of “over-advertised”, and I sort of got sick of it. But, seeing how much you liked it, I’ll give it a shot :). It should be interesting.
@TheSimpleLife
I hope you will check it out.
@madeleinsblog
Thanks for the correction. My goof. All fixed. BTW, Wikipedia says 2004 for the creation date.
@CrystalSpin
You’re basing this on the premise that Mark would hire a coach, which I doubt. He doesn’t appear to be letting in that kind of input.
@Lisa
Glad FB is helping you.
@Lindsay
Thanks for the correction.
@Tigerlalie
Ditto!
@Tony
You’re right.
@cubicspace
I appreciate your input and have made the correction.
@kissmeimshomer
Got it!
@mattvolke
Thanks for your comment.
@EricDoesNotExist
Come east over the pond!
@Modern Funk
Brand new release–in theaters now
@Sajib
I appreciate your input.
@notesfrom…
Thank you for your suggestion.
@jbrower76
Yes, he sure was glorified, but only to a point.
I used to write reviews on a regular basis and still do a home-theater column. I have seen the best make these same kinds of mistakes. Once you have a good reference source in hand, it makes a world of difference.
Just some friendly advice: no one will take you or what you have to say seriously if you cannot get even the most basic facts about your subject correct.
I seen the movie this weekend and I thought it was great as well. The scene where he adds up the $1000 and $18000 was my favorite scene. I had no idea Sean Parker was involved with facebook. Second best movie of the year to ‘Inception”
I can’t wait until its release here in Spain on October 15th!
Mark Zuckerburgs character “never hesitates to edit what is on his mind”. I think you meant something different. Nice post, but lacking originality – I could have learned this from the ads or just guessed that Mark wasn’t realllly happy.
See the indie movie “Catfish”, too, while you are on the facebook theme.
Great review! -Going to see Social Network next week with some fellow advertisers and was a little leery about how successful a film on a popular website could be.
Thank you for the reassurance!
There is life without facebook! http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/life-after-facebook/
What I could do with a billion dollars….lonely or not!
@trashbird
I probably needed a better word there. My point was that whatever comes into the Mark character’s mind gets blurted out without editing, without considering that his words might be taken as rude or insulting.
@globalgirlbkk
I don’t watch much TV, but had seen the trailers in the movie theaters. Let me know if you like it.
@sammano
Thanks for your input.
@Chriswilliams11
I loved the Sean Parker scenes, too.
@Coraline
I hope you enjoy it.
@Lynn Bridge
I’ve heard about Catfish. It’s high on my list.
@adv180
I hope you like it.
@Andreas Moser
I hope your comment and blog url help people find you.
@ryoko861
Would you really make that trade-off?
I’m guilty of being somewhat addicted to Facebook, so I was excited for this movie the first time I saw a preview…my only fear was that it wasn’t going to be as good as the previews made it look. I went to the midnight showing and I absolutely loved it! I felt like the movie did attempt to portray Zuckerberg in a bad light, but I still loved his character. I loved his intelligence and wit that he didn’t even realize he had, and I especially loved the fact that he really didn’t care what people thought of him even if he was being a smart-ass. Overall, I loved it and am really interested in reading The Accidental Billionaires now!
I just saw the movie this weekend. I thought it was a great movie. And while I wouldn’t say that Mark Z. is a “hero” he is certainly a genius and managed to create something that millions of people use on a daily, even hourly basis! I have to say that I find Face book somewhat boring….I can’t sit on it for hours at a time. But I do check it almost daily, have managed to reconnect with old classmates etc. I would have to say that he probably has social issues that are difficult for him, and maybe connecting to people through a website, for him, is easier…and he made that easier for millions of others. I reccomend the movie!
Good post, congrats on being freshly pressed. I use FB, and I read all about the making of FB about a week before the movie started showing it’s trailers. I want to go see it sometime, but may wait for the DVD release since movie theaters are so expensive lately.
Once again, nice post 🙂
THanks for the review, I may just go and see it now.
Intriguing. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for it. 🙂
You’re basing this on the premise that Mark would hire a coach, which I doubt. He doesn’t appear to be letting in that kind of input.
I heart juxtapositions, so the idea that a less-that-socially-savvy person is responsible for creating the biggest social media craze makes me uber-happy! Can’t wait to see the flick… 🙂
Interesting post – after seeing the interview with Oprah regarding his $1 million commitment to the Newark school system, it left the impression that yes he did get what he wanted.
One of the things that I loved about the interview – he lives in a modest home with Priscilla (I think that’s her name – from Harvard). Very Buffet-esque.
Really want to see this, waiting for the DVD
http://www.philcoders.com
Good post. He must be a genius in order to create society’s first ever, legalized, non-narcotic drug. When was the last time that anyone went more than an hour not checking the facebook page? I know that I can’t how bout you?
@maggiefair90
Hadn’t heard that title. I’ll check it out. Thanks for your thoughts.
@lwayswright
Thanks for your comment.
@The Perfectly Imperfect One
Thank you!
@wicklessbbrown
Hope you like it.
@teapotchronicles
It’s been widely distributed so should be somewhere near you. Hope you like it.
@y3games
I believe I said that.
@Mikalee Byerman
Well put!
@YouGetWellSoon
Glad to hear about Mark’s lifestyle choices. I hope he’s happy. He’s made an enormous contribution to our culture.
@Arthur Abogadil
I hope it comes out soon for you.
@Matt
I’m able to resist the addiction to Facebook. I have to remind myself to go on. Now email…that’s another story.
I’ve gotta say I’m really curious to see this flick but I’m being held back by a “don’t see it without me” group. I’ll take your word for it until then.
I haven’t seen the movie but for sure I’m not going to miss it. It’s a must-see movie for all those Facebook fanatics. Mark’s story happens to be really inspiring, and it just tells us that indeed this line is so true “Expect the unexpected”. A lot of things occur in our lives without knowing that it’s meant for us or so. Isn’t it amazing that he’s purpose wasn’t fortune? But look at him now, he now has both fame and fortune.
Buy WoW Account
@educlaytion
You’ll likely want to see this more than once, so follow that urge and go.
@Akasha82
I got a different message–that what he wanted was acceptance, which I’m not sure he’s achieved. Money, yes, but it doesn’t buy happiness, friendship or acceptance. Those are earned in a different way.
Loved the post.
Gem
http://trendycupcake.wordpress.com/
Second positive review of the movie “The Social Network” that I’ve seen today! Here’s a link to the Ridgefield Press review http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/arts/columns/reeldad/72931-the-social-network-captivating-and-complex.html
Doesn’t convince me I need to see it in the theater, but it’s definitely going on my Netflix list!
@Pamela
I love Netflix, but if I have an opportunity to see a movie in a theater with an appreciative audience, I prefer that experience. My hunch is you’ll like either version. There’s also something about being current with what’s out in the movie houses that appeals to me. Thanks for the additional review.
I have yet to see the movie, The Social Network, but i am so excited to see it. Just like most people i am a facebook addict! I think the fact that Mark will not go see the movie is interesting to me, because he is showing people that he is not going to support the movie because how is was shown in the movie is not how he really is in real life. Every time he comments about the movie, he does not really say anything like, “WOW” it’s going to be a great movie. He is just kinda dull about it. But i do love the fact that he gave millions to the New York school program, and it got leaked out that he was the one that did it, but if it never got out he wanted to keep it a secret about who did it. I think that he is just a good guy. Just my opinion. 🙂