David Fincher's Academy-Award nominated film “The Social Network” stars Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield as Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, the original founders of Facebook. The film explores the founding of Facebook from multiple perspectives- those who were lifted into the technological stratosphere, and others who became collateral damage on Zuckerberg’s path to technological superstardom. Fincher uses a variety of narrative techniques in examining the evolution of Mark from a lonely college co-ed to a cold social media mogul, who disposes of his friends just as quickly as he does his enemies. Fincher uses Zuckerberg’s story to posit the film’s moral thesis: Is is possible to build a community of friends through the Internet, or are we simply recreating our previous failures at social interaction within a new medium, as part of humanity’s desperate attempt to rewrite our lives in a different, more significant light? From the first iteration of Facebook in Zuckerberg’s dorm room (a ridiculous revenge-fantasy called “FaceMash”, for which Zuckerberg allegedly hacked into the registry of every Harvard dorm to compile an elitist version of a ‘Hot or Not’ website), to the company’s million-user threshold, Fincher takes an unflinching look at our desire to escape into a better life- even when that can mean sacrificing the people who have accepted the real you. Fincher favors low light and extreme close-ups in these shots, not shying away from Zuckerberg’s pained face as he hunches over his dorm computer, typing to no one, and using his computer to process the emotional minefield of intimate relationships rather than confiding in a friend. After all, Zuckerberg’s best friend Eduardo remarks that he only knew something was wrong with Mark “because I read the blog.” During one sequence at Mark’s dorm room, shortly after his breakup with Erica, the camera angles down and shoots Mark powering on his computer, grabbing a beer, and beginning to type. All of this occurs without once showing Mark’s face, the implication being that his online personality is a detached form of pseudo-communication, not unlike the purpose of the media empire he later builds. Eisenberg’s Mark appears possessed by a singular energy, clear-eyed and ominous, almost as if he’s playing at being a Harvard co-ed. His costume for most of the film is a simple hoodie, jeans, and tennis shoes, suggesting an inability to engage with college culture other than through his low-impact clothing. However, Zuckerberg continues to grasp for that elusive, all-American college experience; one which evades his grasp even as he chases it into a technological oblivion. Fincher also uses extended close-ups on Zuckerberg’s face while other characters are speaking to him to suggest that he processes human interaction on a need-only basis, collecting information from other, more well-adjusted individuals and using it to create his website.
…show more content…
The low-impact color scheme, composed of blacks, browns, and grey's, as well as the coolly removed camera angles suggest that the online world has begun to bleed into Zuckerberg’s daily life, consuming not only his relationships but the way he processes the world. Mark may study at one of the world’s most prestigious universities, but his ability to interact with others remains at best a bleak prospect. He is clearly more comfortable at his computer, programming or coding away. The irony of Fincher’s narrative is that Zuckerberg created “the facebook” in an attempt to recreate the exclusivity of a Final Club, but never once does he express interest in them after the idea becomes official. Here, the director is suggesting that the most appealing part to Zuckerberg of joining an organization like the ones he used to admire so much was the idea of a better life, rather than the reality of it. One of the film’s most interesting technical aspects are the extreme close-ups on Mark’s face while others are speaking to him. Fincher appears fascinated with how the character processes emotions. Even while he remains still and composed, Zuckerberg’s face betrays a flurry of unconscious processes that absorb information and turn it into rhetorical assumptions about the motivations of his friends and enemies. Zuckerberg even undercuts Eduardo, his best friend and business partner’s, success. When Eduardo is punched by the Phoenix Club, Zuckerberg reinforces Eduardo’s self-deprecating comment that he was “punched for diversity reasons.”
The low-impact color scheme, composed of blacks, browns, and grey's, as well as the coolly removed camera angles suggest that the online world has begun to bleed into Zuckerberg’s daily life, consuming not only his relationships but the way he processes the world. Mark may study at one of the world’s most prestigious universities, but his ability to interact with others remains at best a bleak prospect. He is clearly more comfortable at his computer, programming or coding away. The irony of Fincher’s narrative is that Zuckerberg created “the facebook” in an attempt to recreate the exclusivity of a Final Club, but never once does he express interest in them after the idea becomes official. Here, the director is suggesting that the most appealing part to Zuckerberg of joining an organization like the ones he used to admire so much was the idea of a better life, rather than the reality of it. One of the film’s most interesting technical aspects are the extreme close-ups on Mark’s face while others are speaking to him. Fincher appears fascinated with how the character processes emotions. Even while he remains still and composed, Zuckerberg’s face betrays a flurry of unconscious processes that absorb information and turn it into rhetorical assumptions about the motivations of his friends and enemies. Zuckerberg even undercuts Eduardo, his best friend and business partner’s, success. When Eduardo is punched by the Phoenix Club, Zuckerberg reinforces Eduardo’s self-deprecating comment that he was “punched for diversity reasons.”