Lawrence 1 Taylor Lawrence ENG 101 Professor Bolton February 8, 2013

The Social Network

The Social Network is a film that depicts the life of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenburg) while in the midst of creating the world-renowned network, Facebook. This movie captures the hardships that Mark and his colleagues endure during the process of building their billion-dollar network. The Social Network lets viewers in on the secrets of the beginning of the network giant from the late night parties to the serious lawsuits between each other. Interesting scene changes and flashbacks along with portraying the true characters of the people behind the network keep the audience motivated to finish the film. The Social Network is a good movie because it provides specific details about major moments during the journey of creating the network, shows the true characters of the Facebook people, and keeps viewers interested with every scene change. Sharing some hidden details of the beginning of Facebook is one reason to why The Social Network is a good movie. Seeing Mark Zuckerberg hack into the network of the school he is attending, Harvard, is one of the first main details that are shared with viewers. Seeing Zuckerberg hack into this network really shows how impressively smart he is with computer programming. Hacking into the school network is the beginning of Marks giant computer programming career. During the movie, Zuckerberg and his friends constantly party and computer program simultaneously, letting viewers see how

Lawrence 2 the college kids really act throughout creating their network. The details that are shared uncover the real relationships of all the people behind Facebook. Seeing the arguments during each lawsuit and the prospective from each character really helps to understand what is really going on. The film does an awesome job of explaining why there are two lawsuits against Zuckerberg. (The first lawsuit being the one filed by the Winklevoss twins in accusing Mark stealing their idea of a social network for the students who attend Harvard.) The twins come to Mark to make their idea come to life, knowing they could not make it happen without him. However, Mark decides to take this idea, make it better and use it for his own. This results in the twins wanting the credit for what really is supposed to be their brainchild. In addition to the first lawsuit, Zuckerbergs best friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), files the second. In response to a bad business deal, Eduardo takes action against his best friend. While trying to get Facebook up and running, Eduardo gives $19,000 to Zuckerberg to cover any costs regarding the start of their new network. This generous offer makes Eduardo Chief Financial Officer and entitles him to 30 percent of all profit. However, Zuckerberg meets another programmer, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), and with his influence Mark decides to change the dividends of the company. In the end, Eduardos percentage dwindles down to 0.03 percent, causing him to retaliate. Without these specific details, viewers would never begin to understand the mass of trouble Mark Zuckerberg goes through while creating this enormous company. Providing specific details of the major moments of this film made it worth a watch.

Lawrence 3 Getting to know the true characters of the people behind Facebook is another reason of why The Social Network is worth watching. Mark Zuckerberg is exactly how someone would think a computer programmer would be. He is a scatter-brained, emotionless genius, however, he has some other qualities as well. Zuckerbergs exgirlfriend proclaims him as a self-righteous jerk in the beginning of the film and that trait is reasonably seen throughout. He also has this witty sense of humor that is portrayed during his lawsuits. One the other hand, the Winklevoss twins are portrayed as fortunate, money hungry young men. Having things handed to them throughout their lives, the twins were extremely astounded when Zuckerberg created Facebook off of their idea. Eduardo Saverin is the epitome of a great friend towards Mark throughout the movie. He continuously goes out of his way to cater to Zuckerberg to the best of his abilities and ends up getting the short end of the stick. Showing the characters in this way makes viewers believe that anything is possible and can happen to anyone. The way the true colors of the characters are portrayed seem relatable and appeals to different audiences viewing The Social Network. The final reason of why The Social Network is a good film is because of the interesting scene changes and flashbacks. Throughout the film, viewers are constantly reminded with past occurrences by the use of flashback. The use of flashback helps to completely understand the rhyme and reason behind the lawsuits against Mark Zuckerberg and why some of the things are done throughout the process of creating the network giant. These flashback scenes do an awesome job of keeping the audience motivated to finish the film.

Lawrence 4 With all this said, The Social Network is a good film. By sharing little details, showing the bona fide characteristics of the masterminds behind Facebook, and having awesome editing details leaves this films expectations fulfilled. The Social Network appeals to different audiences of all ages and genders and has a universal theme that anything can happen by chance.

Lawrence 5 Works Cited The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher. Perf. Jesse Eisenburg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake. Sony Pictures, 2010. Film.