Script rec: The Social Network
The Social Network by Aaron Sorkin (drama, 162 pages, click to download)
You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.
i downloaded this script several months ago and never got around to reading the whole thing, because too many flashbacks in scripts give me headaches. when i realised that the movie is being released tomorrow, however, i decided to bite the bullet and finish the script, because i want to enjoy it without being influenced by the movie.
the script starts with young mark zuckerberg being dumped by his girlfriend, erica, who's less than impressed by his social awkwardness. angry and drunk, he blogs about how erica is the biggest bitch on the planet and, out of spite, starts a kind of hot or not website that allows male harvard students to compare their female classmates' looks. the website, though shut down quickly, spreads like wildfire, attracting the attention of two rich harvard twins, cameron and tyler. they bring their idea for a harvard-specific social network to mark and ask him to help them with it. this gives mark an even better idea: thefacebook. he develops it in secret and brings his best fried eduardo on board to handle the business side of it when he launches it. thefacebook grows at an unbelievable rate, and soon mark and eduardo are the two most popular students in school. however, their newfound popularity isn't all fun and games. eventually, things begin to sour, leaving mark where he is in the present: facing two lawsuits, one filed by cameron and tyler, and one filed by eduardo. from the beginning, scenes from the present are intercut with scenes from the past, gradually revealing everything that led up to the lawsuits.
the social network is so lovely and complex. the tone and pacing are spot on and almost make the script feel like a thriller. it also has a kickass sense of humour that captures the reckless spirit of college perfectly. at the same time, that recklessness is just as heartbreaking as it is funny. i understand mark's obsession with success, for validation, for confirmation that he's someone, because i've felt the same way so many times. perhaps that's where the allure of this movie lies -- we all see a bit of ourselves in mark, and it's fascinating in a twisted way to see what happens when you take that small seed of desperate ambition and nurture it.
that leads me to my next point: the characters are fantastic. eduardo as the best friend who gets backstabbed is the character i was emotionally attached to and pulling for throughout the story. i found that my heart ached the most when he hit his lows in his relationship with mark. mark's character is an intriguing protagonist. he's cold and ruthless, and he really has no redeeming qualities, but somehow you pity him by the end of the story. sean parker, the smooth-talking founder of napster, is also the perfect unconventional antagonist; he's sleazy, he's divisive, and yet he's also undoubtedly cool.
i think scriptshadow described this script perfectly: "the Social Network is a either a modern tragedy or a modern success story depending on how you look at it." on the surface, it chronicles an unpopular college kid's journey from nerd to billionaire in a few short years. the core of of the story, however, is its darker portrayal of the nature of human relationships. it's about betrayal, greed, ambition, and loneliness. the most poignant moment of the story is the last scene, in which mark is sitting in a dark room alone after a meeting with eduardo's lawyers. he logs onto facebook, looks up erica's name, and requests to add her as a friend. he sits back, and we fade out as he waits for her to accept the friend request. the lesson? money, success, and popularity can't buy you everything.
go see this movie when it comes out tomorrow, guys! (as if andrew garfield isn't already enough reason to see it)
You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.
i downloaded this script several months ago and never got around to reading the whole thing, because too many flashbacks in scripts give me headaches. when i realised that the movie is being released tomorrow, however, i decided to bite the bullet and finish the script, because i want to enjoy it without being influenced by the movie.
the script starts with young mark zuckerberg being dumped by his girlfriend, erica, who's less than impressed by his social awkwardness. angry and drunk, he blogs about how erica is the biggest bitch on the planet and, out of spite, starts a kind of hot or not website that allows male harvard students to compare their female classmates' looks. the website, though shut down quickly, spreads like wildfire, attracting the attention of two rich harvard twins, cameron and tyler. they bring their idea for a harvard-specific social network to mark and ask him to help them with it. this gives mark an even better idea: thefacebook. he develops it in secret and brings his best fried eduardo on board to handle the business side of it when he launches it. thefacebook grows at an unbelievable rate, and soon mark and eduardo are the two most popular students in school. however, their newfound popularity isn't all fun and games. eventually, things begin to sour, leaving mark where he is in the present: facing two lawsuits, one filed by cameron and tyler, and one filed by eduardo. from the beginning, scenes from the present are intercut with scenes from the past, gradually revealing everything that led up to the lawsuits.
the social network is so lovely and complex. the tone and pacing are spot on and almost make the script feel like a thriller. it also has a kickass sense of humour that captures the reckless spirit of college perfectly. at the same time, that recklessness is just as heartbreaking as it is funny. i understand mark's obsession with success, for validation, for confirmation that he's someone, because i've felt the same way so many times. perhaps that's where the allure of this movie lies -- we all see a bit of ourselves in mark, and it's fascinating in a twisted way to see what happens when you take that small seed of desperate ambition and nurture it.
that leads me to my next point: the characters are fantastic. eduardo as the best friend who gets backstabbed is the character i was emotionally attached to and pulling for throughout the story. i found that my heart ached the most when he hit his lows in his relationship with mark. mark's character is an intriguing protagonist. he's cold and ruthless, and he really has no redeeming qualities, but somehow you pity him by the end of the story. sean parker, the smooth-talking founder of napster, is also the perfect unconventional antagonist; he's sleazy, he's divisive, and yet he's also undoubtedly cool.
i think scriptshadow described this script perfectly: "the Social Network is a either a modern tragedy or a modern success story depending on how you look at it." on the surface, it chronicles an unpopular college kid's journey from nerd to billionaire in a few short years. the core of of the story, however, is its darker portrayal of the nature of human relationships. it's about betrayal, greed, ambition, and loneliness. the most poignant moment of the story is the last scene, in which mark is sitting in a dark room alone after a meeting with eduardo's lawyers. he logs onto facebook, looks up erica's name, and requests to add her as a friend. he sits back, and we fade out as he waits for her to accept the friend request. the lesson? money, success, and popularity can't buy you everything.
go see this movie when it comes out tomorrow, guys! (as if andrew garfield isn't already enough reason to see it)