social network: delayed thoughts
So I've seen Social Network twice now. It is currently my favorite thing. As far as a quality film goes, this movie is almost perfect. Great script, great acting (if jesse doesn't get an oscar nod, I'll eat my foot), emotional, funny, controversial, relevant, etc etc. There were a couple scenes I wasn't a fan of, but these are minor complaints. I loved the film.
Of course, a movie like this..based on a book that is [loosely] based on a true story virtually demands that you research the real story when you get home. And I've done a bit of that in the past week or two. And the more I learn about the truth, the more I wonder why Aaron Sorkin didn't stick to it. Maybe I'm alone here, but I find the truth to be just as captivating as the script (if not more so). Let's take a look.
(SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!)
Edwardo Savarin
In the movie: Edwardo is victim of a terrible betrayal by his best friend, side-swiped out of the company in a dramatic computer-bashing, lawyer-threatening scene. He is loyal, moral, sensitive, and Mark's only real friend. His only apparent character flaw is his inability to understand how to best promote a company like facebook in the information age. By all accounts, a character that the audience is meant to sympathize with.
In real life: While Edwardo and Mark were certainly friends, I haven't found a single bit of evidence to indicate they are THE BEST OF FRIENDS OMG. And while Edwardo was the first investor of facebook and did get forced out of the company, he's not exactly a total innocent. Edwardo was rumored to be connected to the Brasilian mafia. In fact, Mark shows some amount of fear of Edwardo because of this, saying that he is worried about "getting beat by brazilian thugs". Edwardo made thousands of dollars investing in oil futures because, in Mark's words, "apparently insider trading isn't illegal in brazil" (Side note: this isn't true. Insider trading has been illegal in Brazil since 2001, 3 years prior to facebook's founding). And the advertisement argument? Edwardo actually ran unauthorized ads on facebook against Mark's wishes and approval. Not only that, but the ads were for an internet job-finding company that Edwardo had been working on on his own, as a side project. This pissed Mark off and he started scheming how he could use "dirty tricks" to "get rid of him". And as awesome as the computer-smashing scene is, it doesn't look like it ever happened. Apparently Edwardo didn't find out he got royally fucked out of fb until months later when he received a letter for a shareholder's meeting.
Motivation
In the movie:Mark creates fb due to some combination of a desire for popularity, to impress girls, to win over an ex, to be more socially comfortable~, to get the attention of prestigious final clubs, etc etc.
In real life:From the very beginning, in private (not so much anymore!! lulz) IMs to friends, Mark stated he would be "content to make something cool". 7 years later, post-Social Network, Mark still maintains this idea, saying of the movie, "they just can't wrap their heads around the fact that someone might like building things for the sake of building things."
----
There are other deviations from real life, but whatever, it's a movie. I get it.
Still, I think it would've been just as cool to see the story of a Harvard genius who built one of the fastest-growing companies ever for the simple reason that he was a genius and he wanted to. I mean, most people are motivated by power, fame, money, and sex. And here's a guy who basically said, "I can do this and it will be cool so Imma do it". That's a much more unique mentality, imo. And it would have been cool to have Andrew Garfield be this scary HBIC mofo who scared the shit out of people by pretending to be in the BRAZILIAN FUCKING MAFIA. (Does that even existttttt?!).
The computer-bashing scene can stay tho, idgaf.
Sources: business insider #1, business insider #2, wiki
Of course, a movie like this..based on a book that is [loosely] based on a true story virtually demands that you research the real story when you get home. And I've done a bit of that in the past week or two. And the more I learn about the truth, the more I wonder why Aaron Sorkin didn't stick to it. Maybe I'm alone here, but I find the truth to be just as captivating as the script (if not more so). Let's take a look.
(SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!)
Edwardo Savarin
In the movie: Edwardo is victim of a terrible betrayal by his best friend, side-swiped out of the company in a dramatic computer-bashing, lawyer-threatening scene. He is loyal, moral, sensitive, and Mark's only real friend. His only apparent character flaw is his inability to understand how to best promote a company like facebook in the information age. By all accounts, a character that the audience is meant to sympathize with.
In real life: While Edwardo and Mark were certainly friends, I haven't found a single bit of evidence to indicate they are THE BEST OF FRIENDS OMG. And while Edwardo was the first investor of facebook and did get forced out of the company, he's not exactly a total innocent. Edwardo was rumored to be connected to the Brasilian mafia. In fact, Mark shows some amount of fear of Edwardo because of this, saying that he is worried about "getting beat by brazilian thugs". Edwardo made thousands of dollars investing in oil futures because, in Mark's words, "apparently insider trading isn't illegal in brazil" (Side note: this isn't true. Insider trading has been illegal in Brazil since 2001, 3 years prior to facebook's founding). And the advertisement argument? Edwardo actually ran unauthorized ads on facebook against Mark's wishes and approval. Not only that, but the ads were for an internet job-finding company that Edwardo had been working on on his own, as a side project. This pissed Mark off and he started scheming how he could use "dirty tricks" to "get rid of him". And as awesome as the computer-smashing scene is, it doesn't look like it ever happened. Apparently Edwardo didn't find out he got royally fucked out of fb until months later when he received a letter for a shareholder's meeting.
Motivation
In the movie:Mark creates fb due to some combination of a desire for popularity, to impress girls, to win over an ex, to be more socially comfortable~, to get the attention of prestigious final clubs, etc etc.
In real life:From the very beginning, in private (not so much anymore!! lulz) IMs to friends, Mark stated he would be "content to make something cool". 7 years later, post-Social Network, Mark still maintains this idea, saying of the movie, "they just can't wrap their heads around the fact that someone might like building things for the sake of building things."
----
There are other deviations from real life, but whatever, it's a movie. I get it.
Still, I think it would've been just as cool to see the story of a Harvard genius who built one of the fastest-growing companies ever for the simple reason that he was a genius and he wanted to. I mean, most people are motivated by power, fame, money, and sex. And here's a guy who basically said, "I can do this and it will be cool so Imma do it". That's a much more unique mentality, imo. And it would have been cool to have Andrew Garfield be this scary HBIC mofo who scared the shit out of people by pretending to be in the BRAZILIAN FUCKING MAFIA. (Does that even existttttt?!).
The computer-bashing scene can stay tho, idgaf.
Sources: business insider #1, business insider #2, wiki