The movie The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin attempts to portray the story of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. Before becoming the face of data privacy, Mark Zuckerberg was a student at Harvard University who developed one of the greatest inventions of all time: Facebook.

As always, I’d first like to start off my admiring the case. Let’s be honest, the casting director deserves a round of applause. I re-watched this movie for the second time and I forgot how many hotties they casted: Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, and let’s not forget Justin Timberlake.

This has nothing to do with the cinematic content or value of the film. But, I have a confession. I kind of have a weird obsession crush on Jessie Eisenberg…. I know, I know. But he’s hot. Disagree? I don’t care. HE PLAYS A HOT NERD PEOPLE. For a girl who is on her way to getting her third degree, his character is the best thing since sliced bread. Wait, I’m not eating carbs this week… either way, more for me 😛

ANYWAY

Let’s talk about the actual movie for a hot sec. A couple of observations:

Don’t get me wrong, ultimately I loved the dialogue. However, I felt like I had to watch the opening dialogue between Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) like 30 times just to understand what they were saying. It was one of the moments where I didn’t know if they were speaking English or trying to sound intellectual. Sorkin’s writing embodies a certain level of sophistication. But it is hard to believe that anyone talks like this in real life. Correction, no one talks like this in real life. Overall, the dialogue is corky, unconventional, and surprisingly makes you laugh at times where you feel like you shouldn’t. In other words, it grows on you.

Although Mark Zuckerberg may be the reason your mom posts embarrassing photos of you online, The Social Network describes a deeper inverse relationship that we experience in our lives.

One of my favorite writers is Mark Manson. In his article Why the Best Things in Life Are All Backwards he says,

“Most activities in life do not operate along the linear effort/reward curve because most activities in life are not basic nor mindless. Most activities are complex, mentally and/or emotionally taxing, and require adaptation.

Friendships operate on a diminishing returns curve. Having one friend is vital. Having two is clearly better than one. But having 10 instead of 9 changes little in your life. And having 21 instead of 20 just makes remembering people’s names that much more difficult.”

– Mark Manson

This movie may seem like “yesterday’s news” but there is more than meets the eye. In the film Eduardo Saverin ( Andrew Garfield) gives Zuckerberg money to fund the initial operations of Facebook. Even though Saverin invested the first $1,000 he becomes father removed from Facebook’s development. He ultimately sues the company and settles for an undisclosed amount shortly after.

I don’t think this movie was created to see whether Mark Zuckerberg acted in accordance with his character in the movie. That is another issue. He created one of the greatest inventions of all time. If anyone were to be the CEO of one of the greatest inventions of all-time, you’re going to need more than intelligence. A person of that caliber has an atypical combination of courage, wit and a strong sense of what they want to be in this world.

Despite the movie cutting back and forth between two separate lawsuits, the color palette in this film was warm and inviting. The movie often used grey undertones tones with a hint of the “Facebook” blue. The city of Boston also functions as a perfect backdrop for this corky coming-of-age story.

Overall, this movie was far beyond its time. When Zuckerberg created a social network, his invention developed a platform to build digital connections. But as we strive to “connect” through social media, our relationships become less intimate overtime.

Is this the price we pay for innovation? Exchanging genuine friendships for popularity?

. . . and just to feed your curiosity . . .