Media Meditation #4 - Genius or Jerk?

A few weeks ago, the movie that everyone's been talking about came out, "The Social Network." I of course went to see it the day it premiered. "The Social Network," in case you didn't know, is about the start of the social network which is dear to all of our hearts, Facebook. This movie documents how the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, created this social network. Interestingly enough, Mark Zuckerberg's idea stemmed off his first idea for a website called FaceMash, which was a website in which male Harvard students could log on to and rate the "hotness" of female Harvard students. Eventually he formed a new idea in which you put the whole college experience online; he called it The Facebook (later changed, obviously). I must say I was surprised after viewing the film. Not only do you see how this revolutionary social network began, but you also get to see the personal backstory of Mark Zuckerberg himself, and I must say it's not pretty.



Jesse Eisenberg plays the role of Mark Zuckerberg, and he does a phenomenal job. You will not be able to take your eyes off him the entire film. The way he talks and carries himself draws your attention to him. However, the way the script and Jesse Eisenberg portray Mark Zuckerberg is not in a positive light, in my opinion at least. In fact, they make him out to be a complete jerk. The way he treats his girlfriend in the beginning of the movie, the whole concept for his website FaceMash, AND his utter disregard to his friendships or anything else that would get in the way of his success with Facebook. Although I did enjoy this movie very much, I'm not sure it was very good publicity for Mark Zuckerberg. Whether it be on purpose or not, the creator of Facebook does not seem like a very nice guy.

(courtesy of cinema soldier)

So what do you think, Genius or Jerk? ...or perhaps both?