By Jen Connors

It’s one of the most influential aspects of our lives, something that makes or breaks relationships, something that can stop you from getting your dream job, something you probably check upwards of five times a day: Facebook. Founded in 2004 in a Harvard dorm room, the social networking site has become something that most of our generation has forgotten how to function without. Its founding was recently chronicled in The Social Network, a recent release that is already receiving Oscar buzz for performances by Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg.


Going in, I knew that the film was generating a lot of positive buzz that had been building for several weeks, but I was still skeptical. I’ve gone into a lot of buzzed-about movies with high expectations and left the theater slightly disappointed when it didn’t live up to the hype. The Social Network completely destroyed my expectations in the best way possible. Eisenberg portrays Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, with such ruthlessness and ferocity that one can only wonder how accurate the portrayal is. Garfield, as business head Eduardo Saverin, shows increasing frustration at Eisenberg’s character’s refusal to go about the traditional business route in order to make money off of the website. Timberlake has perhaps the easiest role in the film, or at least the one closest to his actual lifestyle: Sean Parker, founder of Napster, living the rock star life. Parker was not an original part of the Facebook team, but after a business meeting with Saverin, Zuckerberg and Saverin’s girlfriend, he became a mentor to Zuckerberg. His key contribution to the site? Changing the name from “Thefacebook” to merely “Facebook.” Armie Hammer portrays the Winklevoss twins, founders of HavardConnection and former collegues of Zuckerberg. They later sued him for stealing the idea for an online Facebook.


Like all things, the film has its flaws. The two key female characters, Erika Albright (Rooney Mara, soon to be seen in the film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and Christy Lee (Brenda Song, in her first major post-Disney role) are portrayed in different, yet negative ways. Albright, a student at Boston University, is first seen breaking up with Zuckerberg over drinks at the beginning of the film, saying that his condescending demeanor is the reason why he will always be lonely, no matter how successful he becomes after graduation. After drunkenly blogging derogatory things about her on his LiveJournal, he hacks residence hall databases to create FaceMash, a “Hot-or-Not” type of site for the Harvard crowd rating the women of the school. A blog entry prior to the launch contemplated comparing the girls to farm animals. The best light that she is shown in during the course of the film near the end. Lee, however, is shown as being a jealous, psychotic girlfriend. From her introduction at a lecture to a bathroom encounter with Saverin, her character’s peak is lighting an Hermes scarf on fire in Saverin’s apartment. Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter, has been on the record as saying, “These aren’t the cuddly nerds we made movies about in the 80s. They’re very angry that the cheerleader still wants to go out with the quarterback instead of the men (boys) who are running the universe right now.” The misogynistic undertones is the film’s major issue.


The Social Network is playing in theaters everywhere and is rated PG13.