The Social Network or just Social Network?

Did I just watch a "movie that defined this generation (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone)" ? No. I watched a movie that documented a major part of my generation, but that wasn't cinematically defining by any means.

5 Things I learned:

1) Mark Zuckerberg is an a**hole.

2) Jesse Eisenberg can play an a**hole pretty well.

3) It is possible to hate Justin Timberlake.

4) Andrew Garfield is a babe.

5) Andrew Garfield will make the new Spiderman excellent.

Basically, it was an incredibly interesting movie that gave me a new insight into a major part of my culture. Sure, when people look back on the first decade of the new millennium they may cite this movie, but not because of the actual film. It provides an interesting historical view with some obvious bias.

For example, Andrew Garfield's character Eduardo Saverin, the original CFO of Facebook, is portrayed as a real innocent who got screwed over by Mark Zuckerberg. But who knows? Maybe Saverin was just as responsible for Zuckerberg's actions. The film only portrays him in a positive light. It's hard when watching this film to really tell which parts are fictionalized. Another example is Justin Timberlake's character, Sean Parker (the inventor of Napster and one of Saverin's destroyers). He is portrayed as the closest thing possible to the Devil. Even the way they chose to light his face indicates that he was there for chaos only. Again, who knows? All I know is that I'm grateful to him for dropping the "the" in "The Facebook."

One thing I liked about this film was that it focused on the pettier side to Zuckerberg's life. By showing him missing a girl and being jealous of a friend's bid into a frat, the film really gave the face of Facebook a face (too much?). Another great thing about this movie is Zuckerberg's insistence on keeping advertising away from the site while the entire film was filled with product placement. It's the subtle things my friends.

To recap: Not a movie that "defines my generation." But a good movie. Worth seeing. At least Red Boxing. And if you have some time, give it a "Like" on Facebook.