The Social Network

I saw The Social Network last night. And it's taken me about 12 hours of processing to be able to put my thoughts into words. First off, I thought it was done brilliantly. Aaron Sorkin's writing, David Fincher's directing, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross' score, and especially Jesse Eisenberg's acting (along with Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake).

But I knew it would be a good movie. That's not what has had my brain turning all night, that's not what infiltrated my dreams, or what I've been struggling to understand. What The Social Network has done is take something so defining of my generation, and really now the world, and lifted the veil only to reveal a solid black curtain with a few holes we can sort of peek through.

Facebook has changed the world. The concept of social networking may have started slightly before with things like LiveJournal which launched in 1999 (and funny enough Zuckerberg used in the movie) and MySpace in August 2003 (which I thought had actually been before that). But Facebook is what has defined social networking. It took these vague ideas from MySpace and LiveJournal and Friendster or whatever other websites, and made something that 500 million people (more than 1 in 14 people in the world) are part of.

The part that I can't quite grasp has nothing to do with how this now 26 year old kid is now worth 6.9 billion dollars because of a website. It's how that in his Harvard dorm room at 19 years old, Mark Zuckerberg came up with an idea that has connected 500 million people in merely 6 years. The concept to me is unfathomable.

Since the world wide web launched in 1990 and Google in 1998, the world has become so much smaller while at the same time expanding the lives of individuals exponentially. We can now virtually see any place on earth from the comfort of our own homes. But Facebook created this forum for actually becoming "friends" with a person from any place on earth from the comfort of our own home. But, honestly, none of this is the point, it's more just my amazement. You either understand the impact of online social networking or you don't, that's another blog.

The point of this is Zuckerberg himself.

He refused to have anything to do with the writing of the book, Accidental Billionaire, and the making of the movie. So here is this man, still pretty much a kid, that is being portrayed on millions of screens throughout the country and probably soon the world with absolutely no certainty that any of it is truth. Jesse Eisenberg was fantastic in this David Fincher/Aaron Sorkin movie. From what I can tell he did an incredible imitation of Zuckerberg's speech and mannerisms. But how can he truly play the man if he has no idea what was going through the man's head through all of this? He can make up reasons for the dialogue and justifications for his actions, but how can he really know? His eyes show so much emotion, but what truth is there to that emotion? I don't have an answer, just posing the question.

And that leads me to this: I want Mark Zuckerberg to be a good person. I pretty much want everyone to be a good person, but that's beside the point. What happened to Eduardo Saverin is heartbreaking and horrible, and I'm glad that the movie captured so much of his story from a firsthand account. I "get" his side. But I don't want to believe a person that has united the world in such a defining and prolific way is a bad person. I want to clarify that I don't think the movie shows him as a villain at all. I think the movie shows him as a genius that did some really crappy things. But is that true? Is he a decent human being that, while maybe originally acting out of spite, has gone on to create something he truly believes makes the world better? I want to believe that. I want to come up with a million reasons for him screwing over his best friend. (I don't even think I need to draw attention to the twins because they basically just got brilliantly played and need to accept that they lost...with $65 million in their pockets.) But, honestly, I don't know what's inside Zuckerberg's soul. And it's taken me 12 hours of processing to be ok with not knowing, to quit trying to find reasons that what he did was somehow justifiable or not his fault, or that he even feels major remorse for it. And, most importantly, why it even matters to me.

From how the movie portrays him, and that's what this is based on, I think that he did feel pain for how things ended with his best friend. Eisenberg's eyes alone scream that at the end of the movie. But who knows? Mark Zuckerberg...and maybe anyone he has confided in. The story of how Facebook came to be is genius, it's powerful, and it's hard to watch. We, the world, reacted exactly how this 19 year old kid thought we would. One of my friends feels like we were just pawns in his game and it makes her angry, but I don't think that. I think he felt this great need for social connection, to belong, so in filling that void for himself he filled it for 500 million people across the world. But he knew just launching a website like MySpace was not going to make it happen. We're not dumb or stupid, we're desperate to feel like we belong. And sometimes that desperate desire takes over all rational thought.

The problem that has happened with Facebook is that it has given individual's power, over their lives, their friends, their portrayal of themselves. On Facebook you can make yourself be whoever you want to be, you give your opinions, you almost design your life. Zuckerberg gave people that power, and now people have started abusing it, as we humans do. Look at what we do to each other? I know I've definitely used Facebook to make statements about how great my life is, to vent about what makes me angry, and to even passive aggressively try making someone else feel bad or jealous (even if it's by doing something as stupid as posting "I miss you" on someone else's wall that I know they'll read). I feel like the past few months I've begun to watch myself more closely and what I do use Facebook for, but how can we judge this kid for his doings when we do the same thing? It might not be on a billion dollar scale, but when the intent is the same is there really a difference? Maybe. I don't really know the answer to that.

I don't know if Mark Zuckerberg is a good person or not. I do know that he created something that did "define a generation" and "change the world." And I have come to peace with knowing that. I do believe Facebook was his idea and is his baby. Just like him, it wouldn't be whole, wouldn't be what it is without all of the good and bad swirled together. Am I still fascinated by him? Definitely. Am I still curious about what was going on in his head through all of this? How could I not be? Do I hope that he is a good person who is just trying to do what he believes will make the world better? Yes, I desperately do.

But the looming question is why should it really matter to me whether or not he's the hero or the villain? I know why I want to know. I am a part of something that he created and possibly something that he created by using people, deceiving people, and betraying people that cared the most about him. And I don't know if I want to be part of something that was created in that way. But do I really need these answers? No. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook and he gave it to the world. Now, it's ours. What we do with it is what matters. Mark may have created something that defined a generation, but what's important is what we allow that definition to say. Is the world better because of Facebook? Only if we're better with Facebook. I can't dictate how others use The Social Network, but I get to choose how I use it. And that, I can come to peace with.

XO-

EBG

PS. Just to relate this to music, I did think the score was PERFECT for the movie. Do I want to listen to it by myself in the dark with a bottle of wine? Not really. But if I did, then it wouldn't be the same, and if it was any different, it wouldn't have been as good. I hope that makes sense.

Also: GO SEE THE MOVIE. Bottom line, the story is fascinating, it did define our generation and everyone that was part of it is at the top of their game. Only complaint is that the rowing sequence was a little long, but that I can deal with.