Script Review: Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network
The Social Network written by: Aaron Sorkin – May 2008 Draft Review
Everyone and their mother has a Facebook. Literally. My friend’s dog Seamus has a Facebook. The yogurt shop I go to has a Facebook. A group of Israeli dancers I saw have a collective Facebook, and are quick to make sure I know when their next big performance is. What could Seamus possibly need a Facebook for? His status: Sniffed some shit today. I only use facebook for one thing and one thing only, and that’s to hit on girls. At least try to anyway.
Mark Zuckerberg was a Harvard nerd without a clue until he got drunk one night in his dorm room and accidentally created a social networking atom bomb. At least according to Aaron Sorkin (of West Wing fame) in his new screenplay The Social Network that I had the pleasure to give a read.
In Sorkin’s May 2008 draft, our story starts with Zuckerberg, one hand on the computer the other on a shot glass, creating www.Facemash.com (a superficial website where the user votes on which co-ed is more attractive) after his girlfriend tells him she wants nothing to do with him. Out of sheer accidental brilliance, Zuckerberg crashes the Harvard Internet connection in his building, making him an instant campus celebrity. When three other Harvard students toke up an idea for an inter-campus dating website, they turn to Zuckerberg to create their brainchild. Zuckerberg agrees, but lets his imagination run wild and, behind their backs, creates the notorious www.theFacebook.com and the rest is, well, internet history. Sounds rather pedestrian doesn’t it? Well it kind of is. Almost like something transcribed off a wikipedia page. With the basic plot worthy of something just short of a college campus newspaper article, Sorkin works hard to turn this success story into a dramatic piece of non-fiction.
So who could play this young entrepreneur? A computer genius, a fool when it comes to women, and a limp grip on the realties of life? No, not Michael Cera, but his uncanny go-to spawn Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland) Although the Zuckerberg on the page seems nonchalant with his instant success, Sorkin makes sure his past is anything but behind him. This story of the little website that did is chock full of revenge, lies, and lawsuits. Ahh, when young people get rich…
The plot meanders a bit, but picks up when a bold new character comes in to shake up the somewhat predictable and sluggish story: Twenty-two year old Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake), the charismatic madman behind illegal music sharing and downloading, or as we all remember it- Napster. Parker, hung over and recovering from a one night stand, opens Zuckerberg’s laptop to discover the infamous website and decides to hunt him down and become his unofficial business advisor. Just another day for the guy that killed record companies. (His first official piece of advice to Zuckerberg: “Drop the ‘the’”)
Directing this pop-culture fiasco is the talented David Fincher and I’m pretty sure we’ve all seen at least one David Fincher film (Fight Club, Seven, Zodiac, Alien 3, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button) Fincher knows what he’s doing behind the camera, and that’s better than half the filmmakers out there. Fincher almost always grabs the audience by the balls (except in last years Button, where he just simply reached) and doesn’t let go until we’ve cried Uncle. He takes us step by step through a film and not one shot is ever wasted. His characters are obsessed, troubled, addicted, and most of the time, unsuccessful in the end. So, why does this guy want to make the Facebook movie? Because Sorkin gives him all the characteristics he loves, just this time not in a high dose. The plot floats to an obvious end from the opening pages, but along the way Sorkin makes sure all the bumps are rocky, and all the backstabbing is deserved and justified (no pun intended).
Bottom line, The Social Network is going to be a film that will serve the demographic, not really challenge it. Sorkin makes sure we all understand that Zuckerberg didn’t intend on becoming an instant billionaire, he was just a guy trying to cope with a break-up. However, the underlying theme is that a creative idea and a smart team can equal easy success and a steady future. There isn’t too much depth to the characters and their story, because in the end, it’s a film about a website. But one day someone will write their thesis on how www.facebook.com has changed the way kids mature, college students interact, and adults keep in touch. Until then, I’m sure my Newsfeed is going to be filled with quotes from some band, pictures of cute girls in goggles, and some crap about the playoffs. Let’s just hope that one girl messaged me back.
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