Watch Facebook's Beginning in The Social Network

In the few years since its creation, Facebook has really exploded in popularity. Most of my friends and relatives use it, and I find myself on the site often. I love the sense of connectedness. So I found it fascinating to see this website’s beginnings in David Fincher’s The Social Network.

Written by Aaron Sorkin and based on the book by Ben Mezrich, The Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and now one of the richest men in the world. In the movie, he comes across as jittery and surly, either talking a mile a minute or slumping in stony silence. When it’s the former, he’s exhausting, while the latter just comes across as disagreeable. We get the sense that he’s a genius when it comes to website design but a disaster in the realm of social interaction. Mostly, he seems oblivious rather than malicious; nonetheless, if this portrayal is anything close to reality, it’s not a very flattering portrait.

Eisenberg disappears into the role, and just as impressive is Armie Hammer, who plays buff, WASPish twins Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss, who proposed an idea to Zuckerberg for a website with striking similarities to proto-Facebook. Hammer makes each twin distinct while still often in sync with each other; there’s humor in the united front they present, tension in the disagreements that arise over what to do about their Zuckerberg problem. They generally come across as likable, albeit rather cocky.

Probably the most outright obnoxious character is Justin Timberlake’s Sean Parker, a hard-living entrepreneur who helps take Facebook to the next level. Meanwhile, the most sympathetic character is Zuckerberg’s best friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). He’s the one who put down the initial money to create Facebook, and he stood by his friend and helped promote the company in its early stages, only to be left out of the loop later. He seems like a decent, normal guy who’s a bit on the timid side and who really gets taken advantage of.

The movie cuts back and forth between the early days of Facebook and the trial during which the Winkelvosses and Eduardo are separately suing Zuckerberg. This technique means that we generally have a pretty good idea of what’s about to happen in the 2003/2004 portion of the film, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the movie. Additionally, though I didn’t really notice it, my brother loved the score so much he bought the soundtrack as soon as we got home from the theater.

I think the immense popularity and relevance of Facebook has a lot to do with the film’s appeal, but I suspect it stands as a well-executed story whether or not Facebook is a part of your life. If it is, though, check out The Social Network for sure and see the strange journey that led to a social paradigm shift.