The Social Network (2010)

June 5, 2020 4:27 AM

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room as a small site among friends soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, The Zuck is the youngest billionaire in history... "but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications". Fantastic score by Trent Reznor, fantastic 10 first minutes
posted by growabrain (14 comments total)

The Social Network is streaming via Netflix and Amazon Prime in the US.
posted by Etrigan at 6:10 AM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

Sometimes I think I really should watch this, but I don't think I could bear it.
posted by amtho at 5:32 PM on June 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

That's a pretty great poster.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:10 PM on June 5, 2020

I first got on the Internet through AOL in 97/98. I went to college and had an ethernet connection in my dorm room by 2000. I didn't have time for heavy duty downloading or anything, but I spent a lot of time surfing and reading stuff. Mark and I were crawling around the Web doing our things at the same time, mmmm. I was eventually able to create a Facebook account with my university email before the gates were opened for everybody.

This movie nails that time for me.
posted by Fukiyama at 8:48 PM on June 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

The soundtrack is one of my absolute favourites, better than the film.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 9:21 PM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

Great movie, greater music. The Fincher/Sorkin/Reznor&Ross collab makes magic.
posted by Justinian at 10:26 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed the movie but two hours later I ran into someone on the street who asked me what I was up to? When I told them I had just seen a movie, for the life of me I couldn't remember what I had just seen. Instantly forgettable.
posted by hoodrich at 12:05 PM on June 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Imagine having all of your shit stolen by Mark Zuckerberg and still somehow managing to come off as the less likeable person in that situation.
posted by schmod at 7:52 PM on June 8, 2020 [4 favorites]

Maybe it's Sorkin, but I keep watching this every 6mos or so trying to find the hook, and there...isn't one? The flip between depositionland and the evolution of the company, I want to say they each steal the energy of the other. Maybe that's a metaphor for Zuck's thievery?
posted by rhizome at 4:52 PM on June 11, 2020

It’s a breakup movie of the tragic college romance. Without the implied erotic tension, the film is super boring. It is pretty good as a doomed romance.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:36 PM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Also, Justin Timberlake is in it.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:11 PM on June 11, 2020

You couldn't pay me enough to play Shawn Fanning.
posted by rhizome at 11:22 PM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Maybe it's Sorkin, but I keep watching this every 6mos or so trying to find the hook, and there...isn't one?

For me anyway, the hook is tied to the line extended by the title, The Social Network, as it uses the faux-romance and Zuckerberg's legal issues among other things as a sort of measure against the promise of greater social connection. Movie-Zuckerberg's (both as a character and something of a stand in for technology driven social interaction) increasing alienation from others and end scene showing him endlessly refreshing his profile hoping for a reply suggesting how distant the promise is from the reality, at least that's my overly simplified summary. (I haven't seen it since it came out so some of the more involved details are fuzzy.)
posted by gusottertrout at 1:27 AM on June 12, 2020

Hey remember when Zuckerberg could be portrayed as a magnetic genius and not just some weird nerd who ruins everything?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:39 AM on February 13