A Beautiful Concoction

First of all it's statistically impossible for there to be more geniuses in China than there are people in the United States. Statistically 1 in 50 people is a genius - at least as it's defined by Mensa, and that's probably generous. Thus China would need 50 times as many people as the United States to have their geniuses exceed our population. Alas, they only have four times as many.


It is this sort of blatant disregard for facts and basic science that makes The Social Network such a great story, because - so much of it is concocted.


Its creator even says so with this marvelous nugget that comes straight out of wikipedia: "Screenwriter Sorkin has been candid about his objective: to tell a compelling story, rather than slavishly following facts. "I don’t want my fidelity to be to the truth; I want it to be to storytelling," Sorkin told New York magazine. "What is the big deal about accuracy purely for accuracy’s sake, and can we not have the true be the enemy of the good?""


Then there are lots of reviews that talk about Zuckerberg's character. Here is the best "It is the code of platitudes and white lies that allow most people to move through society without continually upsetting everyone they meet. Zuckerberg, as portrayed, does not speak that language, and by giving voice to his unfiltered thoughts, continually upsets almost everyone he meets."


Someone told me that Zuckerberg's character was an asshole, but he is actually a very special kind of asshole. Of course he was an intelligence snob and creativity snob, thinking he was better and more important than others around him - including his girlfriend, and not hiding that disdain. Of course, he was also entirely selfish, not caring about invading others privacy to steal their pictures, and not caring about objectifying women - creating a site where the attractiveness of Harvard women could be distilled down to a single number using a chess ranking algorithm - - he didn't care about offending women or stealing their intellectual property - he simply wanted to make a name for himself. So we have a selfish guy, who's out for himself who will do what it takes to advance.


[spoilers below]


He gets this idea for a Harvard dating site - exclusive to Harvard students - from the Winklevoss twins, and like the seflish, self-promotional guy that he is, steals their idea and improves it, but gives them no credit and deceives them into thinking he's working for them, and this idea eventually morphs into Facebook.


He solicits investment from his best friend, and when his best friend gets jealous because he forges business ties with the charismatic Napster founder, Sean Parker and wants to push the company in a different direction, he stops funding the company. Mark is so annoyed that he does something highly unethical, attempting to totally cut his friend out of the business - again - not the hallmark of the nicest person in the world.


The movie closes with Zuckerberg on top of the world, appearing likely to settle lawsuits with the twins and his former best friend, but alone, with his computer, connected to everyone, yet unable to connect.


It's completely worth seeing because of the rich, beautiful portrayal of the Zuckerberg character, and the amazing life that the script has.... Highly recommended...

I should add of course that the Zuckerberg character may be totally different from Mark in real life. In the movie the character is constantly bombarded by thoughts and his mind is filled with activity, and he's so absorbed in his own thought that he fails to connect with those around him. He's also awkward in general - not as effective at presenting himself as he could be, and that's part of the magic of this portrayal.