TSN Meta: Not All Apologies Are Apologies

[silviakundera]

I liked this little psychology article in terms of The Social Network meta - what kind of response Eduardo is expecting from Mark and what response could successfully facilitate a reconciliation.

"Variations on “I’m sorry” are playing an increasingly prominent part in our public and private discourse...One type of pseudo-apology downplays the

Comments

[leafy365]

I totally agree with you on the Eduardo characterization. When I first started reading TSN fic, I was surprised by the amount of sympathy that Mark is given, while Eduardo tends to be viewed as bitter and stubborn if he doesn't accept Mark's attempt to reconcile or if he doesn't make the first move. I suppose it's a credit to Jesse Eisenberg that he has managed to portray such a nuanced and sympathetic figure; a lessor actor would probably have sunk the movie. And this fandom has produced some high quality stories that I love intensely, but often I find that they strike a slightly dissonant emotional chord with me. I can't see Eduardo accepting that Facebook will always be Mark's first priority during a reconciliation, or Mark saying that "it was a business decision" and Eduardo truly understanding that it may not have been personal. I think it's a discredit to Eduardo's character and puts him in a weak position. It's why I tend to prefer AUs or other pairings. There are lots of the former, and very few of the latter. Sean/Eduardo is a pairing that I looked for after I got kind of annoyed and was amazed that there weren't more stories that focused on the dynamic. Ok, this is now getting really long and pointless- I had a point, I swear! Basically, I agree with your interpretation of the characters and am glad you write excellent Sean/Eduardo. <3

[silviakundera]

THANK YOU. <3

And I loved to read your thoughts on this! I totally know what you mean.

[lol editing out the "anyway" I'd left here after babbling at you and then deleting it out of horror at my incoherent ramblings]

I was JUST SAYING to someone how the idea of post-movie m/e can depress me when I worry about them stepping back into that unequal power relationship. In post-film M/E what I really like is the idea of a Mark who's in love with Eduardo now devaluing Facebook, being willing to sacrifice his time & even his place at Facebook, seeing Facebook as just a company, just a THING, and a thing that's intrinsically tainted, as something whose success was partially bought with the person he love's pain--someone whose needs & goals are as important to him as his own.

Because maybe in a way it helped Eduardo to get broken in this fashion, in order to assert his own needs and become his own man. But the deposition scenes still leave me with a view of Eduardo as kind of a tragic figure. Because he doesn't get everything. He doesn't even get half of his 30%. Because we see that years after he strides out of that office with head held high, he's still wounded in ways that he may never really recover from--can only incorporate into his evolving, older self.

So, yeah, naturally sometimes I want to pair him with Sean as a friend or romantic partner (as strange as the rest of fandom may find that), because sure I like the bantering & prickly dynamic... but most importantly I like the idea of writing Eduardo with someone who who understands how to talk in "we", instead of Mark's perpetual "I", and who is very skilled in building people up as well as putting people down. Sure, we see in Sean's confrontations with Eduardo that he's great at tearing into people, but we also see conclusively that Sean is excellent at the other side as well--with how he effortlessly connects with Mark, complimenting him and finding commonalities between them that he can emphasize, how he casually reassures Amy that she was listened to and seen as a person...