The Social Network (Film Review)

[selenak]

Now I've seen comparisons to Citizen Kane (both film and character) for this David Fincher/Aaron Sorkin collaboration, but not the one which occured to me within ten minutes of this entertaining, frustrating and highly interesting exercise in RPF. But then, I'm not sure how many reviewers watched Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Comments

[skywaterblue]

Like you, I came down on the side of 'the sexism is purposeful and not Aaron Sorkin's beef with women' in this one. A good review, hitting many of the points I felt but with your own spin on it. (I'll never love Buffy enough to use it as a comparison here.)

I also don't think Saverin is supposed to be 'the hero'. The film makes it pretty clear that his ideas for Facebook and Zuckerberg's diverged fairly quickly, and the braggado about being a business major right before he signs the contract that ultimately screws him out of his own company? Yeah. He's a tool and not terribly bright.

[selenak]

I think it's the looks combined with the fact Saverin gets the teary-eyed "woe, how could he!" scene that made people conclude that since Zuckerberg obviously doesn't behave like a hero, Saverin must be it. Not withstanding the fact Saverin doesn't even get a farewell/emotional resolution scene but we're told off screen what his law suit brought him, and, as you say, his general tool-ness. (I really was expecting him to say Andrew's "he never really loved... us" line from "Grave" while he was at it.)

[skywaterblue]

Some reviewers baffle me.

The thing I found most impressive about this movie was that it feels like Sorkin finally says something he's been circling around for a while: many of his characters are not likable people who he makes sympathetic with his romanticism. (I argue that Bartlet is in fact, horribly frightening at moments.) This is the movie where it feels like he decided not to add in a layer of romance on any of the leads.

[selenak]

So what you're saying is that Saverin is Sam without the "you are so morally upright you will be President one day", Sean Parker is Josh without "but look, he really loves and adores Donna and isn't their banter cute?" and Zuckerberg is Bartlet without "my fondness for Latin trivia and turkey disguises the fact I can be a complete son of a bitch at times?" *veg* More seriously, I know what you mean though I'd argue that Sorkin is simply playing by the rules of the kind of story he wants to tell. In The West Wing, the dedication to the greater good was real and shared by nearly all of the characters, Democrats and Republicans alike, because it was a story about the romance of politics