Can We Still Enjoy The Social Network?
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- čas přidán 26. 02. 2023
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The voice of Fincher:
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SOURCES:
Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron, “The Californian Ideology”, Science as Culture, vol.6 (1) (1996).
Scott Foundas, “Revenge of the Nerd” Film Comment, Vol. 46 (5) (2010).
Laurence F. Knapp, “Introduction” in David Fincher: Interviews, University Press of Mississippi (2014).
Emanuel Levy, “Social Network: Interview with Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin” Emanuel Levy (2010).
Emanuel Levy, “Social Network: Interview with Director David Fincher” Emanuel Levy (2010).
Heike Paul, “Expressive Individualism and the Myth of the Self-Made Man” in The Myths That Made America, Transcript Verlag (2013).
Jim Rutenberg, “The Facebook Movie Told Us What We Needed to Know About Mark Zuckerberg” The New York Times (2018).
Kaitlyn Tiffany, “In 2010, The Social Network was searing - now it looks quaint” The Verge (2017).
Angela Wattercutter, “The Social Network Was More Right Than Anyone Realized” Wired (2019).
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The only thing I'll say is that Eisenberg's performance makes Zuckerberg WAAAAAY more charasmatic and compelling than he actually is.
That’s also Aaron Sorkin’s script, to be fair
@@cthulhutheendless1587 fair point. Granted, if they didn't make Zuckerberg more charismatic, in the context of film language, an accurate performance would come across like bad acting.
True but no one would watch a movie with the main character actually like Zuckerberg
Show got stolen by Garfield though
Which is particularly hilarious given that it makes him seem like the worst person in every room.
As someone who loves The Social Network and rewatches it annually I never understood the take of the film that sees it as a glorification of Zukerberg. Throughout the film highlights Mark's pettiness, insecurities and vindictiveness. He ends the movie with no friends or allies and is extremely pathetic figure still obessed with his ex who's thuroughly uninterested. That isolation seems to highlight what the cost of seeking individual glory over everything. Sure he's the protagonist of the film but, to my eyes, he's never framed as a hero.
It doesn't.
It portrays him as a tragic hero in many ways imo
True, the film clearly shows him as a ruthless, disloyal, cold..they clearly say he use his best friend as a tool and stole the idea of the twins...
literally i dont see how someone could see this as glorification. he is a really shitty guy in the movie. anyone who doesnt see that is blinded by the money and power he ACTUALLY HAS.
People are really good at blocking out specific bits of information they find inconvenient. Watch Wolf of Wall Street with a group of finance bros some time. Speaking from experience, it is very illuminating the way people slant information to see what they want to see.
Zuckaberg hates the movie because he didn’t like how he was portrayed. The film is very critical of him as a person. He looses all his friends by the end of the film. So to hear that anyone thinks it glorifies him is deeply confusing to me. He’s clearly portrayed as a self righteous egotistical villain with a victim complex. I always saw it as a MacBeth like tragedy about a man who ironically made a website about “friendships” while destroying and betraying all of his in the process.
100% my take too.
Exactly. He done all this because of a girl, but in the end he's a millionaire but he still doesn't want him. He comes across as a loser.
Yeah, I feel like you only come away from this film thinking it glorifies tech culture, mark, and the whole ethos of big tech if you just conflate "protagonist" with "hero", which is a tendency I see a lot. Mark is the protagonist and we follow him and his perspective the most, but he's not really portrayed as heroic. The origins of him creating Facebook is portrayed as just the afterthought of a drunken, misogynistic rant, impressive in so far as he was able to do it drunk, but that's about it. And while he's portrayed more sympathetically than the Winklevosses in a "geeky kid from a non-elite background" vs "arrogant privileged jocks who don't even know enough about the tech they're trying to claim is theirs" angle, I always found the inclusion of Erica and Eduardo to be the much stronger and more salient counterbalance considering Erica starts and ends the film (her presence does, since Mark is trying to friend her) and Eduardo is there throughout. Both are there to show that 1) Mark is just as misogynistic as the final club/jock types he sneers at and 2) Mark is just as ruthless as them as well, perhaps even more so given that Eduardo was his closest friend and not just a stranger. The film intentionally plays off of the classic Hero's Journey formula to show that he is far from a hero, and it's precisely the arrogance of thinking of himself as a hero that enabled his worse instincts to his own detriment. He is cruel, insecure, and lonely at the start of the film and crueler, more insecure, and lonelier at the end.
The social newtwork is probably one of the best modern day villain origin stories. Even if it's not 100% true, there's a lot of elements of truth to it. Id also like to thank this movie for single handedly taking down that "scrawny, smart boys are the true heroes and deserve the girl" ideology because goddamn. Nice guy syndrome fucking sucks.
You really think Zuch qualifies as a "villain" lmao?
@@dv4497 yeah because I actually keep up with the news
@@dv4497 bro there's so many examples of Facebook's complete lack of care for anything other than human exploitation. Yeah, Zuck is as much a villain as any other capitalist and probably a little more
Love this comment. Women should not want to be with Shia Lebouff characters and should not be told to want to be.
People forget that these are systems of power, not individual power. Sure these CEO's can fire people, but those people can simply find other jobs. The power structure controls them as much as anybody. Usually figures like these are chosen by the financial system. There were LOTS of facebook kind of apps before, the 'machinery' tries to move them to one platform. Go watch the documentare Enron, Smartest Guys in teh Room. Turns out they WEREN"T very smart, and you could see how the banking industry was simply propping them up to launder money. The banking industry runs the world, not tech.
I watched The Social Network a few years ago and it still holds up - in a sense that the movie accurately captured toxic bro culture of mid-2000s.
@kitkat you clearly didn't live in the early 2000's
It holds up because people have been using power as a substitute for intimacy, connection and authenticity for thousands of years, and that’s unlikely to change until AI shows us a better ways to deal with our failings.
@@markofsaltburn …I’m not sure AI is the cure-all balm you think it’ll be
@kitkat i think it may be just as bad but in a different way if that makes sense
@@egdarallenhoe I feel like people are somehow skipping this bit, AI is a mere reflection
I see The Social Network and Wolf of Wall Street as critiques of greed and power. Both films are cautionary tales about greed and power. The problem is that many audiences (particularly male) have misinterpreted these films as aspirational. It’s concerning to see how many men aspire to be Jordan Belfort or Mark Zuckerberg.
Life will correct them where their misreading of these films won’t.
True, same goes with the godfather, scarface, wall street, breaking bad etc but people are stupid..they will just see the money, women, clothes, hypermasculinity, lavish lifestyles..lmfao.
@@afrosamourai400 Their loss of a parent, their virginity, or, if they’re unusually stubborn, the birth of their children will usually put them right. If they haven’t matured by then there’s usually no hope for them.
wolf of wall street has made jordan belfort a literal second carreer as an alpha male ish podcaster iirc.
i agree with the social network but dicaprio's character in wolf of wall street is portrayed way too inspirational. i feel the movie glorifies him and his world, he end up winning and we don't see him lonely or sad like zuckerberg in the social network
Andrew’s “you better lawyer up” moment is completely iconic, you can hear it even if it’s just a frame of the movie
Nice Utena PFP I just finished this film and the anime for the first time recently!
It’s a great movie because I don’t think it lionizes Zucc, even though it still portrays him as smart and innovative. He’s cold, ruthless, and bad with women. But if there was any movie based on a true story that deserves a sequel, it’s this one. What Facebook has become since 2010 is far more dramatic than what’s shown in this movie.
I actually would love a sequel for The Social Network, you’re brilliant!!
That’s one of the problems with the film, Zuckerberg isn’t cold, or bad with women in real life. He isn’t neurotic either. Zuckerberg is a lot more masculine than he was portrayed and the significant plot point of him bad with women wasn’t even remotely accurate
Oh for sure. Mfer went “smoking these meats” like he was Pagliacci.
Facebook implemented Pages, Big Data and dev Tools in 2007/08, fully formed. Facebook was already that when Sorkin first started to research and write, and either ignored it or failed to notice.
If a film about the nature of power doesn’t humanise its anti-hero even a little bit then what’s the point of it? You should feel first corrupted and then subverted by any good narrative that deals with the dark arts. There is a little bit of the will-to-power in everyone, and films like this should summon it and then undermine it.
Yea you can still enjoy it.
When it came out I saw it and thought "wow, they're all a bunch of assholes"
I saw it a few months ago and thought "wow, they're all a bunch of assholes"
It holds up.
It’s a film about the dangers of power and accelerated intelligence without wisdom, about unloving, unmoored boys without either fathers or mothers to teach them the dangerous follies of youth and certainty. When Sean Parker is the voice of seniority in your world, beware.
Some of the concerns of the film are eternal and universal, some of them are historic and local.
I always saw this film as a Shakespearean tragedy where no one wins at the end
We know Zuckerburg wins!
While I definitely think it's very critical of Mark, the fact that the narrative around this movie went from "this movie is too mean to Zuckerberg" to "this movie isn't mean enough" is iconic as hell
It baffles me that Zuck doesn't like The Social Network. He should be thankful Sorkin and Fincher portrayed him with even the slightest shred of intelligence.
When you know about cambridge analytica..he looks like an angel in this movie...
I don't think he ever said he didn't like it, only that it wasn't accurate.
@@tylerjhunter right, and he was right. Although the movie didn't reflect him as is (like at all) it's important to note that the film zuckerberg was just a tool for sorkin's portrayl of the why of facebook
Which is just 'he wanted to get women! " , + swapping women with 'power' in a few scenes
The overall film is just plain bad
What I took from the movie is that Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield have electric chemistry and should work again.
P.S. I love watching compilations of them being cute together.
Spiderman vs Superman?
bhai urban guide pehle aur ab yaahan. You and I seem to watch the exact same CONTENT?!
@@sasmit.9846 Algorithm ki den hain 😂
@@sasmit.9846 Pokhraj bhai har jagah hai. Isse pehle Alice Cappelle ka video dekh raha tha wahan bhi the aur abhi yahan. I hv found him on some of the most niche channels and atp know quite a bit abt his life.
@@satya7198 accha
i think the ambiguity of the social network is a big component of why i find it so incredibly addicting to watch (i watched it over 6 times one particularly gloomy month). it makes it so multi faceted, like you really feel every side of the story -- there's not one hero, there are just a few people who got fucked over while also not being the best. also the musicality of the dialogue is just.. so good
I've seen it over about 6 times within the last two years and it is still one of my favorites!
The hippie & silicon valley thing has always been true, a lot of computer pioneers were very active in the counterculture movement (while working on military funded projects)
Facebook was developed by DARPA it was known as Project Lifelog. Zuckerberg is just a front man.
This is why I refuse, as a developer, to work military contracts / defense contractors' systems
Even internet is a military project itself
@@clairelist1060 yeah, same. 70s silicon valley must have been something to behold though
@@clairelist1060 enjoy losing the best paying most interesting projects you'll get to work on.
I always saw Mark waiting for Erica to accept his friend request without show him receiving that reward as a resounding slap of "he got all this and he ended up with nothing." the movie is a tragedy, a fascinating one. I rooted for Mark to become a better person, and he had every opportunity but never did. it's a success story about terrible people who succeeded in technicality only. it's not a happy ending, and Mark was always his own villain.
ngl never in my life i read that last scene as humanizing. i watched that movie when it first came out and i was like 11 and even then for me it was clear: he is an asshole. he treats everyone on his life like shit, he stole an idea that already existed and finessed a good looking site. he got everything he wanted but was still a horrible person inside just trying to show off to women how big and important he was, and will always be deeply unhappy crappy person.
sameee, that last scene is so perfectly pathetic (as in pathos). he sits in this cold sterile room refreshing the page over and over again as though the result will somehow be different, despite the fact that he hasn't changed at all. he's the same asshole he was at the beginning, he only has more money now, and he has learned nothing
Well his personality isn't even close to how it was represented in the movie, and his wife was a girl he dated in college. Lol.
Walk two people through a war zone, one will be horrified and demand war end, and the other will be awed and demand another begin.
That sounds promising. If the former can insulate themselves from the latter, it won’t be that long until the latter die out.
@@markofsaltburn Though, there's few places the latter won't be able to blast apart if they get far enough...
Thankyou for a great video. To me, the social network exposes the flaw in thinking "it will never happen to me". People see Mark's actions and instead of being horrified by what he has done, want to be friends and business partners with him. All without considering that maybe what Mark has done to others he will do to them.
First he betrays the women at Harvard. And the twins seeing what he has done, want to hire him because "it was just the women on campus he screwed over, he won't screw over us, we are gentlemen of Harvard".
And then on with Edwardo, and then Sean Parker.
Each person thinks that Mark could not possible screw over him because, "I have status" "I am a friend" "I am cool".
When there is clear evidence that this is what Mark does to everyone.
Well that is how I read the film.
Great video-- as usual!
I'm confused and disturbed by people who view the film as a heroic treatment of Zuckerberg when the opening scenes frame him in such a damning light. He's rejected by Erica (with that great monologue) and immediately goes back to his dorm room to create a vitriolically misogynistic website. The scenes of women seeing their pictures being compared are gut-wrenching.
To me, the film reveals how deeply embedded misogyny is in tech culture, and exposes the geek guys as just as cruel and sexist as the "cool" frat boys. It's kind of a proto-gamergate expose on the nastiness of male geekdom
Wow, this whole comment is so cleverly worded. Thanks for sharing!
I think at the root of sexism in geek culture is a need to reclaim power and control where it’s not given to them in a normal social setting. As a guy from the era, facemash was a reflection of most men and hookup culture more broadly back then. Female objectification was not nearly as frowned upon especially on a college campus. I think what the film does really well is present Zuckerberg’s use of it as a fragile defense mechanism when his nice guy act fails.
As I thought about that scene and your comment, I felt implored to ask, if the roles were reversed with facemash ranking guys on their objective hotness, would the site still be sexist?
U spazzed
What's interesting is that the face smash website compared both men and women, one of the reasons Zuckerberg didn't like the movie's portrayal of him
I will say as somebody who totally missed the bus on The Social Network and only saw it very recently, I never understood how anybody could walk away from it rooting for Zuckerberg.
"A time capsule someone put in a river instead of burying it underground"
You have such a way of putting it in words Zoey
her name is Maia !
Speaking of Steve Jobs, what about the spiritual sequel to The Social Network, also written by Sorkin but directed by Danny Boyle? It's like Sorkin saying "nooo, these people are _deeply_ flawed"
Very good video. I felt like Wolf of Wall Street had a similar impact on young men. When it came out I was 17 and it felt like it had an IMMEDIATE impact on “dude-bro” culture and how easily it mutually existed and bleed in with“hustle” culture. Plus It allowed the awful boat shoes, shorts and shit sunglasses look to continue a few more years.
Fantastic video - highlighting the differences in Fincher's and Sorkin's perspectives gives a really interesting explanation in the varied audience reaction on the film as time as passed. One of my all-time favorites
Just wanted to thank you for this analysis -- both for the text itself, and also for an excellent showcase for how a work can be legitimately seen in a different light, both by different people in the moment, and across time.
This is the best video essay I have ever seen on a film. The social network is my favorite film and I’ve never seen a CZcamsr do a just an analysis. Great job.
I haven't watched the video yet (or the movie), but I always thought the point of the movie was "mark Zuckerberg was an emotionless hack who has no friends, yet runs the larger social media". Like his life was a Greek tragedy. But I'd like to see if it hasn't aged well
You talking about the contrast between the script and the visual direction from Sorkin and Fincher is brilliant! I firmly fall on the side of the movie being an indictment but I I never really understood the other reading of it. And now I'm realizing that's probably because I tend to focus on dialogue over those visual storytelling elements 😅
Sitting in the theater watching TSN when it first came out, I was expecting a reasonably good movie. But as soon as the movie ended, I thought to myself, "Did I just watch the best movie of the decade, even though it's only the first year of this decade?"
I hope you eventually came to your senses
The Social Networks flaw is that it came out too early. It accurately predicted the amount of the dudebros' assholery at that time.
But it failed to recognize that assholery isn't static but progressive.
Honestly, we all still do. We still underestimate how much potential left there is for evilness.
The human capacity for “evil” is bottomless. This doesn’t even touch the sides.
Yes
Great video. Like you, I always saw movie's Mark as a villain. A complex one, and therefore compelling, but definitively in the wrong nonetheless. I never considered the possibility of other seeing it differently...
Whoever think this movie glorifies him must have watched another movie...
The soundtrack sets the mood as much as the camera work. Reznor and Ross chose dark, anxiety inducing tones for a reason. So you have both the dialogue and music pulling you in the same direction. I’ve never seen the direction as elevating any one character in any way. It’s typical Fincher, beautiful, dark, “sexy”, and moody. If you pay attention, it’s hard to argue against this movie as anything but critical of its subject. It’s a near perfect movie about a human, if people want to watch obscene caricatures of good and evil, go watch a superhero movie.
Thank you!
Exactly! I also think portraying Zuckerberg as pure evil would make it sort of "too easy" for the audience. By humanizing him the audience can't just write him of as a "bad person" and "bad people do bad things" because life is hardly that simple. He's a product of our society; his fragile masculinity, his arrogance and his need to prove himself are all (at least partly) results of societal expectations and ideologies.
Dang I didn't know this was one of Reznor's scores. That dude is so talented
I appreciate the analogy of this film being a Rorschach test. That analogy helped me recognize my own mixed feelings regarding how this film portrays Mark. I first saw this film in high school in my English class, I believe. Many of my rich, technology inclined classmates adored this film and read the narrative as a hero’s journey. To my surprise, they all aspired to be just like him, which I guess turned me off to this movie without giving it a fair, balanced reading. After seeing this video, I can now better respect what the writer and director were trying to do. It also now strikes me as odd that many of those same classmates interpreted the Fight Club as a positive portrayal of masculinity 😅
If they think fight club is a good portrayal of masculinity then you can't save them..lol..college people being so dumb is unpardonable..
this continues to be one of my most favorite channels on youtube. a million thanks you, broey, i hope you live a long, happy, and fulfilling life friend. i love u and you’re a g!
I often think about this Nick Pinkerton quote in his 2020 essay on Mank "Fake It After You Make It".
"Fincher is I suppose what you would call an anti-authoritarian filmmaker, with certain conspiracy-minded tendencies, and I wonder if he ever wonders why these positions have cost him so little, personally and professionally"
I think reading the movie as a glorification of Zuckerberg is like reading Breaking Bad as a glorification of Walter White.
This is SUCH a brilliant and nuanced take-how you pointed out the juxtaposing themes between the two creators of this film just wows me. Now it’s impossible not to see, amazing
This is so thoughtfully put together, thank you!
I literally just re-watched this a week ago, this is perfect serendipity
Yessss the Adam Curtis doc drop. I'm so surprised you mentioned it! His documentaries pack such a punch, but I hardly ever see them talked about and in such a seamless tie in to the subject in the video. Thank you!
That's how I felt too!
i saw this as a 13 year old, i remember thinking it was pretty straightforward 😂 especially the last scene where he’s refreshing the page and rashida jones is like ur not an asshole ur just trying so hard to be one. he won, at what cost. he’s still a loser.
I love that a writer-director duo with opposing ideas of the key themes of what they're making still managed to bring it all together into a cohesive and complex film. Also really interesting seeing the sort of "cinema-narrative dissonance" that comes of that, where the on-screen elements seem to tell a different story than the script and acting itself. Personally I use subtitles on everything I watch -- I wonder if that contributes to someone noticing one more than the other? Great vid!
extremely good video essay!! Obsessed with the idea that competing visions from Sorkin and Fincher exist in tension with one another in the same movie
I think this is your best essay.
Congratulations! It was really well-handled argument. It was an academic paper on video. Brilliant!
such a great video maia!! so well produced and well written
incredible video!! it makes so much sense that fincher has a history of conflicted takeaways from his films, i never put that pattern together before.
I never read it as an aspirational hero’s journey, but one revealing a deeply insecure and pitiable man that felt he had to stab a bunch of people in the back to make his company successful. Him refreshing that facebook page at the end was sad and shows that no matter how big his company had grown, he himself has not, and his need to be cool and liked is him unable to wrap his mind around valid rejection. I didn’t come out of that theater pumping my fist in the air feeling inspired, but it is disappointing that, as great as he can be at directing, Fincher’s views on the ideology that are more in favor of such individuals. While he claims to be neutral in his direction, his bias, like any other director, comes through, but in this instance, I only saw an a**hole screwing over people and his best friend over to be “cool” and “rich”. I agree that it reveals the myth rather than validating it. I’m glad his direction was so neutral that Sorkin’s bias pushed through lol.
I actually just watched all 26 minutes straight ahead without stopping or checking the time. What a compelling, well made video😂
same lmao
Ugh, in an era of youtube overloaded with wanna be video essayists its such a breath of fresh air to find such an amazingly written, well researched and well argued video essay that is actually insightful. Thank you for this amazing piece of content
Who would you name as wanna be video essayists?
One of your best, most thoughtful and fascinating videos yet!!!
Back in 2010, people told me I was crazy when I said The Social Network deserves to win Best Picture and Best Director over The King's speech and will be remembered as the better movie. God I hate being right all the time
Maybe the last time the Oscars went for a 'Prestige' picture.
And Andrew Garfield deserved an Oscar (BSA) nod
You're still wrong, LOL.
you're definitely right. While I enjoyed both movies, The Social Network felt more daring and compelling.
The King's Speech is one of the most mediocre movies that won Best Picture in the last 30 years. Social Network is one of the most well-received, critically acclaimed movies of the 2010s. There's not even a comparison there.
I always had wavering opinions each time I watched this film. Hating it to completely loving and appreciating it. I was always unable to pin point why my opinions were mixed each time. This video perfectly took the words out of my mouth and showcased why I felt that way.
you're videos are always trippy to watch because most of them display and show feelings I have about media pieces I could never describe in such a articulated manner. I love your videos, keep it up.
We studied technological determinism in my engineering ethics class, and the definition there was that technology will progress despite human will. Sort of like, if you don’t develop something, someone else will. A lot more melancholy than the Silicon Valley version lol
I've watched this movie loads of times and read tons of essays about it, but this is the first one to point out the different views between Sorkin and Fincher and how that contributes to the presentation of the story. Mind blown, good stuff here.
Can I just give a big shout out and thank you to Broey D for insightful, intelligent and thought provoking commentary / video journalism. Always a pleasure to hear your considered and well researched POV.
I remember watching this in cinemas when it came out in 2010. At first I thought it was a little strange that a movie directed by the same guy who made Fight Club had virtually no one in the cinema I went to. I walked away feeling glad I went to see the film, and thoroughly roused by the story but also for the first time felt like I was lacking some piece of information that would render a completed emotional and critical response. Basically, I felt about two thirds satisfied. Stranger still were the conversations I overheard afterwards praising the film as a beautiful portrait of Zuckerberg. Now that I'm older, and still love a good Fincher rewatch, I realise now that whenever I watch one; I end up feeling really sad for the main character/s because it often seems to me that their last actions in the film offer little to no hope of changing for the better. The journey ends in completion but no hope is offered. Perhaps this what happens when you watch films with inherent nihilism. Anywho, well done Broey, I love how thorough your work is, this one was a tough one for me to watch but I'm glad you gave it a good dissection.
Ngl, I've never heard of someone romanticizing this film, or it's characters. The message of the film is clear: Zukerberg is a borderline sociopath with only his intelligence as a semi-redeeming quality. Your original opinion is right, and your friends clearly didn't take away what you are meant to. The Social Network is great, timeless movie, I've never met someone who didn't think so.
This is such a great video! Thank you
Very interesting! And beautifully made. Will definitely rewatch and relisten to this vid and let it simmer
can't wait to watch!
Holy shit, this is a great video. Exactly the analysis of The Social Network we've needed for years. And I'm so happy to see Adam Curtis quoted - I've been mystified for years that most video essayists on the left ignore him.
Because he’s left-libertarian, rather than liberal-left. He’s anti-state, whereas liberal-leftists think “nice” nation states can be legislated into existence.
@markofsaltburn But there are plenty of people who make video essays who are libertarian left, or are at least strongly sympathetic. And even for those who are not, Curtis has a lot to say which doesn't presuppose that ideology.
@@colonelweird He’s also a commentator whose disinterest towards boogy-men such as Rupert Murdoch and Vlad Putin has ruffled a few soft-left feathers amongst viewers who favour sentiment and Manichaeanism over material analysis.
ur essays are always spot on !!!!!
I usually never write comments BUT I have to say this was such a great analysis you totally nailed it!! I got goosebumps when you were talking about the contradiction of sorkins dialogue and finchers visuals and you were showing a scene that perfectly encapsulated that idea ,like chefs kiss, it was SO GOOD.
Good video! I'm not sure I would come to the same conclusions about Fincher's worldview as you from those excerpts. I think he's finding ways to tap into empathy for these characters as oppose to going to bat for a guy like Zucc or Jobs or whoever. My big point of departure though is this idea that the screenplay is critical of Zucc while Fincher's camera isn't. I think that at every possible turn, the filmmaking itself is telling us that this guy is, at best, a deeply damaged person who will go on to make the world a worse place. The countless shots of Mark sitting alone, looking miserable. The massive close up on Erica telling Mark he's an asshole (the thesis statement for the whole film imo), the dingy lighting and sickly color grading--it all supports a reading of this film that is highly critical of Mark and his contemporaries.
If Fincher were directing the film from a standpoint of sympathy for Mark, I think the entire thing would look very different indeed.
If Fincher was directing the film from a standpoint where no sympathy for Zuckerberg was possible at all, it would be propaganda.
This is how I feel too. I didn't understand how Fincher's quote was supposed to be damning on his character. And that jibe at the end about it being scary to have empathy for billionaires was strange. It is important to have empathy for people, because that's how we understand ourselves. I don't think these people are deserving of outright villainization.
This was a nice video that helped me clarify some of the things I'd been thinking about The Social network since I first saw it. I think all movies that seek to critique greed wind up suffering from similar issues. Namely: critiques of this kind of extreme moneymaking wind up being unintentionally glamorizing. Yes, Fincher specifically may have intentionally been glamorizing the lifestyle with his camera but because we live in a capitalist society where people have been raised to view accrual of wealth as something good in and of itself, a lot of people will come to films like this with a similar outlook. It's basically Francois Truffaut's “Every film about war ends up being pro-war" but for capitalism.
True, and it goes for tony montana, gordon gekko, walter white, patrick bateman, jordan belfort, tony montana, michael corleone...people only see their money, power, status, lifestyle etc even if it comes from wrong deeds, people aspire to be rich because people are stupid...
I recently started to watch it again and turned it off 20 minutes in. The simple act of devoting my valuable time to watching these guys do what they do felt indulgent. They don't need any more of my attention than they've already had.
Loved it. One of your best videos so far.
Fantastic video essay, really love it. In my opinion, it's always important to help the audience actually feel the motivations of the main character, which is why making the Harvard and Silicon Valley experiences feel kind of cool. It makes me think of the different approaches Requiem for a Dream and Trainspotting take to drug abuse. Requiem really depicts the horrors of addiction, but as an audience member it makes me ask "Why would anyone do this to themselves?" whereas Trainspotting, despite being dark, captures the youthful energy of the culture that kind of make you understand why they're stuck in this lifestyle. Obviously this can easily swing into glorifying an unhealthy lifestyle, but I think its more impactful to be on that edge.
I think that people often forget that despicable people are humans and not monsters. A kid living a happy childhood and given the opportunities to express themselves can grow up to be assholes. Zuckerberg at that point was just a regular asshole but today we know he can't wield the power he has safely.
There's also the reality that people in tech don't understand the ramifications of what could happen if they do or don''t do something because whatever a S&P500 billion-dollar company learned in 30 years, these tech companies have to learn it in 8 or 4 years. Tech is advancing faster than our ethics about it.
Thoroughly enjoying your work after finding you through your Saltburn review!
Maybe it’s because I love the social network and lean much more heavily towards your point of view on its message, but this is one of your best videos!
Very good video!
This movie is in my top 3 for several years so it was very interesting to see other people's views on it.
What came to my mind while watching was something you brush over in the last minute, the movie was made in 2010, when Facebook was somehow a much smaller network than it is now, and had a much different profile of who their users were.
With everything that's happened in the last 13 years, everything we learned about how Facebook has constantly been misused and turned basically into a cesspool of fake news around the world, it's much harder to empathize with the character of Zuckerberg, and it does feel like the critiques in the movie are light. I don't believe they were at the time though, and the movie simply fails in guessing how much worse everything that relates to Facebook and Zuckerberg would ever become.
I watched this video 4 times, I love it so much because The Social Network is on of my favorite movies and this was such a great look at it.
Just found your channel. Excellent content - another sub for you!
The score is what draws me back to this film over and over again, like I love the visual style with it too but the score is what makes it perfect to me. It reveals this deep seated anxiety that runs throughout the film, this desire to prove yourself and ambition and the booming tech world. But it's a dark world, one where best friends end up enemies, and the top of the mountain is lonely.
This is one of my favorite movies even though most of it isn't true. Zuck had a girlfriend during most of the forming of FB. The most dramatic point in the movie where he dilutes his friend to nothing isn't true. He diluted him down to 10% not .03% which is common when taking on new investors. Also there were a ton of social media sites out there already so stealing the idea from the twins is a real stretch. The juxtoposition of the depo is a really compelling story telling element though. A very tightly written script that Sorkin should be proud of.
I was annoyed that people's impression of Zuckerberg as being "cool" was from them seeing that movie. I guess I was one of the few who watched actual interviews of him where he would turn into a sweating babbling mess when people pressed him a little on Facebook's data mining policies. Its weird in hindsight seeing how people talked about him like they did with Steve Jobs, that he was a genius that he was a rebel because he wore flip flops and hoodies to board meetings. Same stuff they said about Sam Bankman-Fried and we saw how that went.
Were it up to me all current showings of The Social Network would replace that "where are they now" ending with footage of the January 6 riots and Rohingya refugees.
Excellent analysis! I lived and worked in Cambridge when Z was a student, through the making of the film, with its on location production.
one of your best videos so far, how enjoyable
You can critique and glamourize at the same time. There is no doubt that starting a massive tech company in the Valley would be equally glamorous, romantic, debaucherous and exploitative. Same with working on Wall St. or being in the mafia.
I'm about 4 minutes in & I love the video so far, but I just want to make a quick historical note- It's not really relevant to the video, but the hippies were a separate group from the political activists at the time. They agreed with the views of the political activists, but they were not the main driving force behind the movement. Just wanted to mention it because it's a common misconception that both groups were one in the same.
We come to it at last. The great battle of our time. You're covering one of my comfort films. I am not ready.
Brilliant analysis!
This is an excellent video, though I confess I'm bewildered by the critics/article writers you mention who suggest that the film valorizes Zuckerberg.
(I lived in SF and worked, not in tech, in Silicon Valley during the rise of FB. I understand how some techbros might misunderstand the film as providing some kind of template for success; many of them are often not the most sophisticated consumers of media.)
But someone (the writers you quote, and the friends you watched it with. Not you.) who positions themselves as offering a critical commentary and says that the film makes Zuck out to be a hero...that is just such a reach. And it's *so* ahistorical. Like, yes, FB in 2023 looks different that in 2010. But using the contemporary reality to criticize an artistic-artifact-from-years-before's *intent* seems more than a little prestidigitous.
As an aside, I don't think that Fincher's glam visuals make Zuck any more sympathetic, *in terms of the intent of the film*. Even surrounded by the trappings of wealth and such, Zuck still comes off as a prize asshole.
(was thrilled to see you clip from Adam Curtis; I wish more people were familiar with his oeuvre.)
Always enjoy your videos; great production quality, thoughtful commentary, interesting choice of subject.
11:38 Heh, ‘the Winklevi’. Nice.
this is the greatest video essay i’ve ever watched
Thank you for this analysis. This is the first time I see someone paying attention to the duality of interpretations between Sorkin and Fincher on the film's material. This is the perfect portrait of the last years of the 21st century before the social media/cancel culture era.
I see this with a lot of younger people when it comes to older media. They’re so used to media nowadays having to spell everything out for them. “This character is bad and evil and there can be no ambiguity or nuance to their portrayal.” So hearing that your friends thought that the movie was a positive portrayal of Zucc is sad, but unsurprising.
I disagree. These days video essays and web articles and Reddit posts and comment sections talking about story structure and character building are increasingly common. I’d say it’s in the public consciousness now more than ever.
the movie depicts a total a*hole and then at the end has him saying he's not the bad guy and the attractive, smart lawyer telling him she knows and that he is indeed not an a*hole, but that he's trying to be one. So yeah, the protrayal is not positive, but the movie ends with absolution for Zucc, so it is, on the hole, positive. Zucc is forgiven and this bad person is not who he really is. It's not sad the friends thought so, it's just the obvious conclusion of the movie
You've never seen a "classic" Western if you think that media is currently becoming simpler.
Agreed. It's like edutainment is becoming mainstream.
i don't know if that's 'younger people' so much as teenagers who haven't properly learnt media analysis lol like obviously a 13 year old might need more help seeing things as less than black and white
I'd love to see you analyse Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom" I dunno. I just like the show and no one ever talks about beyond its iconic opening scene
Great video. I think it's imprtant to keep in mind that movies can have more than one reading.
Great essay and reading
smashed the MF like button - love how you're editing the visuals!
*INTJ,* who only watched the movie because it's a portrayal of an INTJ archetype... I think the movie serves as a *historical artifact* of the times, not necessarily good or bad.
A intj being a amoral ruthless monster...how surprising!!! Lol!
This was such an incredibly crafted video
Great video. Thank you!
I rewatched this recently and def see him as the villain, but I also felt like this story is due for a follow up. I think this would help continue to frame him as a villain. O god, it could be an amazing trilogy in the future when the story of zucky is finally done.
This is great analysis.
I actually enjoy watching this channel because the creator is so naive and simple in her thinking. She actually doesn't understand concepts like capitalism, socialism, the hero's journey, or the male genius, but is, bless her soul, so confident in talking about them. It's enjoyable watching her discover/grapple with certain concepts, such as art can be messy/characters can be flawed, things normal people have known for centuries, but she discusses them as though they are new concepts. You can almost see the lightbulb go off, as the synapses in her simple brain finally start firing toward understanding. In a debate against anyone of even average intelligence, she'd be thoroughly outclassed, but CZcams provides a safe bubble for her ideas to exist. Great channel.
I concur. Exuberance of youth optimism of spirit. I roll my eyes and snicker but have been able to watch almost all of her video essays from start to finish. Some twice. No thumbs up and the lone thumbs down. This essay, David Fincher is 60+ and has been in the business for 40 years. Maybe consider that he doesn’t have a blind spot and recognizes reality and how life works. How humanity works. How business works. Success. Hopefully Maiya aka Broey will gain wisdom over time and will be honest to publicly change her views.
this is like watching two 3-hour old chatbots talk to each other
Replying before watching the vid …
I just watched the social network 4 days ago and really enjoyed, it is a classic and will always define its era