The Social Network: Where Genius Ends and Isolation Begins

 

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ASSIGNMENT 2

David Fincher’s “The Social Network” isn’t just a story about Facebook; it focuses on the writer’s filmmaking choices and how they shape our understanding of the characters. The story is a deep dive into the mind of the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. David Fincher uses every filmmaking tool to shape our minds to see how Mark thought; everything that was portrayed in the film has a meaning that the writer wants us to investigate and decipher because Mark is not a straightforward person. Everything he did in the film has a hidden meaning behind it. The editing and pacing in the film is relentless and fast, the movement is like that of a rush of adrenaline, with this the writer tries to plug us to Mark Zuckerberg’s brain, trying to show us how fast he is thinking and how intensely focused he is and how he tries to make everything to perfection the writer tries to show us the world as Mark experiences it.

In the film the writer uses mis-en-scene to emphasize Zuckerberg’s isolation, in the framing he is usually surrounded by space or usually in front of his computer in his gloomy room with poor lighting trying to keep himself working with beer and energy drinks, each time he is with his friends he would be thinking about new ways to make Facebook better even when he is at parties he is not usually enjoying himself, Mark is usually in his world and even when there are others around him he is still in his head. The lighting is frequently cold and sterile, the color palette leans towards cool orange and greys, creating a sense of detachment and emotional distance, even when he was supposed to be out with his girlfriend Erica on a date the light was still gloomy still signifying that Mark was still in his head and he wasn’t present all he was blabbing about to his girlfriend was the finals club that’s he was interested in getting in he didn’t talk about his girlfriend, this shows a sense of isolation in the sense that he believes only his thoughts matter.

In The Social Network, blocking is also used to isolate him even when he is surrounded by people, other characters are often positioned at a distance from him like when his is dorm other people are in the room but the camera is mostly always focused on him working on his computer, or the camera isolates him visually, suggesting his inability to connect with others on a deeper level. These choices create a world around Zuckerberg that he can only access on the surface. Even at parties, he feels detached because of his own ego and his views of the other people.

The actor who played Mark, Jesse Eisenberg, is a crucial part of the writer’s vision of the film, his physical features plays a huge part in his role as Mark, his posture and his eyes, the way he walks, the way he talks fast and articulate to create a sense of nervousness, social awkwardness and sharpness, he is displayed as someone that you cannot outsmart. The other film that Jesse has acted also impacted on the role that he played as Zuckerberg, he played a major role in the movie “Now you see me”, as a magician who does his tricks to perfection and the viewers love him this also adds to the wonderful selection that Fincher made to select him for the role of Mark Zuckerberg. The way he wears eyeliner and his vocal inflections are not a natural occurrence; it is used to emphasize the character. Comparing Zuckerberg to other characters reinforces this: Andrew Garfield's Eduardo Saverin is warm and expressive, representing genuine human connection, while Justin Timberlake's Sean Parker exudes charismatic confidence. Zuckerberg, in contrast, is an enigma, a cipher whose true motivations are always just out of reach. Eisenberg’s performance helps the audience connect with all these personalities, but he realizes that Zuckerberg is in a space of his own.

 This film argues that genius in the tech world often comes at a cost and if you aren’t ready to pay the price of success then moving forward will be hard, Zuckerberg's brilliance is inextricably linked to his inability to form meaningful relationships, his tendency to exploit others, and his alienation from traditional social norms. The film shows Zuckerberg as an outlier even among outcasts. Fincher is not telling people to be an extreme case, but he is simply showing that a lot of change comes at a high price, not just monetarily. "The Social Network" feels like a tech revolution because Fincher captures the disruptive energy, the fast pace of innovation, and the social upheaval that characterized the rise of social media. The fast-paced editing, techno-infused score, and depiction of relentless coding sessions create a sense of momentum and inevitability, as if Facebook was a force of nature that could not be stopped, at every point new idea popped into Mark Zuckerberg’s head and was implemented immediately like it was nothing also the inclusion of other apps.

The movie also uses references to apps to show how powerful networking is. The fast editing and music make everything feel urgent, like everyone's chasing growth and new ideas. But the movie also hints that we should be careful about blindly loving technology. It suggests we need to think about what could go wrong and what values should guide technology’s direction, because the ethical price of innovation can be lost. In The Social Network, we are left to think about the ethical problems that were created.

Even years later, "The Social Network" hits hard. It makes you wonder what we truly value and how far we'd go to succeed. The film changed the way we saw what makes people change their views, especially when that change comes at a high price. Now, it makes us ask: Is tech really connecting us, or just making us isolated and hungry for power? I believe it does bring good points. As tech develops, we can see the future play out, so we must be thankful for the film.