The Social Network (2010)

"On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication." (imdb.com)

Viewed once in December 2010

Every awards season there is at least one film that is critically and audience acclaimed as the movie of the year, if not the decade. In the 2010-11 season, I count five movies that are top awards contenders; any one of them could walk away with the top honors. So far, The Social Network is one of the most talked-about films this time around, and it's not without reason. Honestly, Social Network is a well-written drama with complex morals and layered development. It is a quality production with good acting and a haunting punchline.

That being said, I personally do not think it is worth all the hype. I believe that it's over rated and does not live up to the expectations. It's too wordy and too foul. I feel like it has over-dramatized way too much and has most likely permanently ruined Mark Zuckerberg's reputation. Knowing how gullible the film audience is, I'd be ticked off if I were Zuckerberg. But that's a different story...my main problems with the film are the over-wordiness and the filth and foul. There's way too much talking, and it gets annoying after a while to have to listen to all of the quick, emotionless chattering.

The basic storyline is as follows: Zuckerberg is a moody, arrogant college student at Harvard University in 2003. He's not really popular and doesn't really understand the true meaning of friendships--but he's a whiz at computer programming. A couple of other Harvard students approach him with an idea for a social networking site that is exclusive to Harvard students. Zuckerberg accepts the job from the others, but then he refines the idea and creates his own version of the idea, calling it "thefacebook.com." Not surprisingly, the other students don't take kindly to this and, after much moral debate, they file a lawsuit against him. At the same time, Zuckerberg has basically stolen money from and betrayed his only friend, the one who financially supported the venture and worked the business end of the entire deal. His friend is forced to file a lawsuit in order to retain his own interest in the company. The entire film is Zuckerberg recounting the story and only half defending himself. This movie is a moral tale with real-life progression and realistic consequences.

NEGATIVES:
>>Profanity: This film is rated PG-13 for a reason; honestly it probably should have been rated R for its language. (I thought you were only allowed one F-word? This movie had 2 1/2.) There's alot of emotionless name-calling as well as angry screaming at people. Plugged In counts around 20 S-words and multiple abuses of God's name. Honestly it's a bit too much foul language, and it dilutes the hard, biting message of the movie. Profanity a good movie does not make.
>>Violence: There's just alot of growling threats thrown around (which is appropriate, given the subject matter).
>>Spiritual Content: Nothing besides a passing reference to prayer.
>>Alcohol and Drugs: I really wonder how Harvard and Facebook feel about the image portrayed in this film. Apparently, all that college students and Facebook employees do is drink, smoke, snort, chug, sip, sniff, and chew. There are quite a few wild and raunchy parties depicted in this movie, and more than one inebriated sexual encounter happens. This film is quite possibly the closest to a college party movie without actually being one.
>>Sexual Content: What would a PG-13 college movie be without sex? People have one-night stands and even allude to one character "personally interviewing" each and every female Facebook intern. Women take off their clothes at parties; two characters have graphic escapades in bathroom stalls; we see more than one person in their underwear; there is a girl-on-girl kiss; Zuckerberg says the Facebook relationship status should say, "Are you having sex or aren't you?"; Zuckerberg gets brutally dumped by his girlfriend and posts an angsty blog about her bust size; a joke is made about necrophilia.

It's pretty overwhelming at times how much filth and foul and faulty doctrine is thrown at us in less than two hours. In fact, it starts to impede the messages of the movie. I don't recommend this film to anyone less than 18; in fact, I can't truthfully recommend it at all. This is a great story masquerading as a party movie (or is it the other way around? I can't tell).

In the end, Mark has bashed, smacked, badmouthed, drank, cursed, and typed his way out of most of his friends' lives. **SPOILER ALERT!!!** Mark is left alone, albeit with a company worth literally billions of dollars. We wonder at the end of the movie if his "success" is worth all of his failures. **SPOILER OVER!!!**

I don't care for Social Network. I wonder if any of us care so much about the backstory or if it's better left alone.

2 out of 6 stars

So that everyone (including myself) may benefit from it, please feel free to leave your own personal opinion of this film.

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