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During its opening weekend, The Social Network grabbed the No. 1 spot and raked in $23 million. As you're undoubtedly aware, The Social Network is a dramatization about the founders of Facebook and how the site came into existence. Mark Zuckerberg's character, as portrayed by a brilliant performance from actor Jesse Eisenburg, wasn't exactly cast in a 'good guy' light. So how accurate is the movie?
"It's interesting what stuff they focused on getting right," Mark Zuckerberg said during a candid interview at the Y-combinator event over the weekend. "Like, every single shirt and fleece that I had in that movie is actually a shirt or fleece that I own."
His comment drew laughter from the crowd, but it wasn't all jokes. Zuckerberg said there was quite a bit the movie makers got wrong and "a bunch of random details that they got right." But one of the things that appeared to perturb Zuckerberg the most was the portrayal of a girlfriend at the beginning of the movie who ends up dumping him within the first few minutes of the flick. According to Zuckerberg, she doesn't exist, though he has been dumped before "in real life, a lot."
Zuckerberg also disputed the framing that he started Facebook to meet girls.
"[Movie makers] just can't wrap their heads around the idea that someone might build something because they like building things," Zuckerberg explains.
Catch a short version of the interview below.
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carage
October 19, 2010 at 3:35pm
I saw the movie awhile ago, and aside of possible defamation/libel suits, I got the following impressions from the movie, if accurately portrayed.
1. Mr. Zuckerberg is a total jerk.
2. Sean Parker from Napster is an even bigger jerk. They might be really smart, but they fail at moral values.
3. Harvard is run by a bunch of inept bureacrats.
Seriously, 6 months academic probation, what's that?
4. Justin Timberlake CAN act!! I never noticed that, or is he just being himself? The portrayal of Sean Parker does appear more like a rockstar rather than some almost bankrupt entrepeneur.
5. It seems most people were only sympathetic to one character, and apparently he provided the story but hushed up after the settlement.
ShadowDragoonFTW
October 20, 2010 at 3:26am
Yeah, Timberlake just kinda comes outta nowhere, huh? I've seen him in a couple of movies (and playing a few voice roles in video games), and he actually does a darn good job...
someuid
October 19, 2010 at 1:31pm
I've not seen the movie and for some reason, don't feel like it. Maybe it is too small of a development in computers in general (compared the founding days of Apple and Microsoft)? Maybe it has to do with the obscene amounts of money generated and knowing that people of less that noble intentions did their best to get invovled? For some reason I'm just not interested.
Maybe its because I suspect a lot of it is a shade of the truth as Mark is saying above?
I dunno. Guess I need escapism, not a reminder of how small of a fish I am in other people's billion dollar businesses.
Eoraptor
October 19, 2010 at 7:51am
"[Movie makers] just can't wrap their heads around the idea that someone might build something because they like building things,"
That's a very true statement. The last tech movie I can remember that got the idea of doing something because you can, rather than for romance, was "Hackers," which had Johnny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie pre-boobs and... man that was in 1995...
I haven't seen the movie, and don't use Facebook, so I can't otherwise comment, but I found the quote pretty telling.
