New World Cinema: What Did You Think of The Social Network (If You've Seen It), and Does It Change Your Opinion of Facebook and Virtual Worlds?

So last weekend The Social Network opened at the top of the US box office, and though David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's contentious story on the rise and rise of Facebook wouldn't seem to have anything to do with virtual worlds like Second Life, there's more than a few commonalities. For one thing, Fincher once wanted to make a movie about Second Life, but opted for the world's largest social network as a topic instead. For another, the metastasizing of Facebook has dogged at the much slower growth of virtual worlds. Proposals to connect virtual worlds like Second Life and Facebook in various ways are met with much resistance, largely because such a linkage is seen as a threat to the relative privacy and anonymity of avatar identities. In a telling sign of this deep unease, one virtual world blogger theorized that Second Life was about to launch an official Facebook log-in/identity mining system -- and as evidence, posted this photo of Second Life and Facebook founders Philip Rosedale and Mark Zuckerberg posing together. So for a lot of us, Facebook haunts our virtual dreams.

All that in mind, what do you think of The Social Network, if you've seen it? Does it change your opinion of Facebook or Zuckerberg, or their relation to virtual worlds? That's our open forum topic today. If you haven't seen it yet (that includes me), at least watch this cool viral trailer for the movie after the break:

Photo of Philip and Zuckerberg via Robert Scoble.

Comments

[Kimberly Rufer-Bach]

I wanted to like the movie, but didn't. Maybe a few female characters who weren't stock groupies, prostitutes, or girlfriends might have helped. Even the woman at the law office was just a wall for the main character to bounce dialog against.

[Little Lost Linden]

All I can say about this is...

Is Zuckerberg's head really that small compared to Philip's?

Does anyone have any data on these head dimensions? They appear off.

To be honest, I think this is probably the real size of the two compared, side by side:

http://thebotzone.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/big_zucker.jpg

[joetonight]

Well, I went to see the Facebook movie, “The Social Network,” over the weekend. The folks who created this should look forward to aisle seats at the Academy Awards show. While it is expertly directed and beautifully acted, the high point is the script by Aaron Sorkin. He has taken a complex series of events and placed them in an order that is understandable. He has taken a complex set of characters and made them, if not sympathetic, at least approachable. In many ways, Sorkin has defined the internet era, its creators and its inhabitants as no one else has. In no other world but a Sorkin world could the line “Drop the ‘the’” be so pungent and true. And funny.

At the heart of this movie is an odd celebration of the new arrogance of geekdom. The satisfaction of being the smartest guy in the room is no longer enough for the Facebook co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg, who is brilliantly portrayed here by Jesse Eisenberg. In addition, the script by Sorkin and the performance of Eisenberg make it clear that Zuckerberg also wants to be the coolest guy in the room. Since that is never going to happen, we get to witness that his greatest achievements are accrued through outright intellectual property theft and cruel accounting and legal tricks. In many ways he is almost a cartoon villain seeking revenge for the callous ways he has been treated, but you can also tell he not only has no remorse, he has no idea of the pain he continually inflicts on others. He is an utter sociopath.

A lot of this seems to be from the emerging dominance of what I would call a gamer’s personality. He is utterly devastated when dumped by a girlfriend, but you would be hard pressed to figure out a kind word to say about him in the context of that relationship. After a few moments of his non-stop rambling toward his girlfriend in a Harvard bar, my bet is the audience would have cheered his defenestration. He has absolutely no self awareness of his insensitivity. In fact, he has absolutely no understanding that his actions and words might have consequences. If absolutely pushed, he might be able to insincerely mumble, “I’m sorry.” But he would never, ever, take any responsibility for his actions. He seems to think he can constantly return to the same level for a “do-over.” Utter gamer.

I am reminded of a time at a DragonCon when I attended a panel on employment in the field of gaming. The panelists, professionals in the field, could not understand that they had systematically alienated every single member of their audience through their ill disguised misogyny and racism and disdain for everyone who was not one of them. At the end, as we all exited quickly from the room, the panelists left their microphones on and wondered why no one was coming up for job applications or at least to ask to buy them a drink. I looked at the woman next to me who had been identified as one of the panelist’s wives. She shook her head sadly as I remarked, “They haven’t a clue, do they?”

I can not recommend this movie enough. However, please let it be known that it is not a heart warming drama. It is not a pleasant morality tale. When it is all said and done, Zuckerberg still ends up with the most toys. But in a movie about an internet application about friendship, it is telling that the co-founder of Facebook deservedly has none.

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Nice smile, Philip. Looks like a traitorous grin to me, just before you stuck it to the EDU folks you buttered up at SLCC.

[Hamlet Au]

Ooof!

Really good review, Joe Tonight, thanks!