David Fincher’s The Social Network seems quite prophetic considering how the 2010s turned out. With its focus on the digitization of social interaction as well as the need for social engagement and the advantages of sociopathy in powerful people combined with the power of public shaming, The Social Network explores the contradictions that animated the culture of this decade.
Written by Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network was critically acclaimed and nominated for eight Academy Awards and winning three, including the Best Screenplay Oscar for Sorkin. It follows the creation of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg’s (Jesse Eisenberg) subsequent legal troubles. More a metaphor than a straight biopic (the film has been criticized for its factual inaccuracies), the specific plot events are less important than how it portrays Facebook’s founding and the characters’ attitudes about the world’s most widely-used social network’s creation and potential.
But beyond unraveling the beginning of Facebook's dominance in the social media sphere, several elements from the movie, which released in 2010, seems to have accurately predicted society throughout the 2010s.
Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), whose most important contribution to the company according to one of the film’s characters was “Drop the ‘The.’ Just ‘Facebook.’ It’s cleaner,” also predicts, "We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're going to live on the internet." This occurs in a scene where he pitches a social network eerily similar to Instagram, which was released in October 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012. He says, “You don’t just go to a party anymore. You go to a party with a digital camera and then your friends relive the party online.” Parker’s point is central to social media’s integration in our lived experience. In an age when “pics or it didn’t happen” and the sharing of the most quotidian experiences is ubiquitous, the public performances of social interactions are often more important than actually experiencing them.
“Just for the lols” and “just for the likes” are common expressions of social media exposure, and in a social marketplace where one’s social media accounts are tantamount to a brand identity, Parker’s prediction in The Social Network takes on a surreal importance. In the 2010s, “living on the internet” took on an almost-universal importance, and if you weren’t online, you didn’t exist. This is one end of the spectrum – the profound importance of the online portrayal of social interaction – but the other end of the spectrum – the profound importance of a real, face-to-face relationship – is also dramatized in the film’s action.
The Social Network opens with Zuckerberg discussing his need to join a final club. He says, “How do you distinguish yourself in a population of people who all got 1600 on their SATs?” For him, social interaction is primarily about social advancement. Being part of the right group leads to a better life. But his character arc is about realizing the importance of his friendship with Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). A moment at the film’s outset when Eduardo expresses his willingness to comfort Mark during a break-up – “I’m here for you” – and Mark rejects that outreach – “No, I need the algorithm you used to rank chess players” – is juxtaposed with Mark’s regretful expression when Eduardo says, “I was your only friend,” near the film’s conclusion. Combined with Mark’s constant refresh on Erica’s (Rooney Mara) Facebook profile at the end, these scenes reveal that Zuckerberg craves human contact but finds himself unable to engage. His ingratiating smile when he’s on his way to prank a potential investor at Parker’s behest indicates his all-too-eager-to-please attitude toward the people around him.
How does this reflect on the 2010s? According to a 2018 survey by Cigna, loneliness in the United States reached an all-time high. This year, the American Psychological Association warned that “social isolation […] could kill you.” At a time when social media use has never been higher – when we’ve never been more connected as a species – it seems that ironically we feel more alone and separated. This is the contradiction demonstrated in the film: Mark craves social interaction, develops the ideal means to connect, and yet fails to achieve – or even outright rejects – a real, lasting relationship.
Two seemingly contradictory events in macro-level social change occurred in the United States during the 2010s, both of which have parallels to events in The Social Network. The election of Donald Trump and the prevalence of the #MeToo movement demonstrated the limits and power of public shame.
Zuckerberg and Parker, the film’s two most ruthless businessmen, conduct themselves with careless abandon. Zuckerberg steals the idea for Facebook from the Winklevoss Twins (Armie Hammer) and flaunts his theft: “You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing.” Parker brushes off his past business failures: “Napster wasn't a failure. I changed the music industry for better and for always. It may not have been good business, but it pissed a lot of people off.” Both are shameless in their conduct, treating embarrassing situations with aplomb.
Some may identify the same characteristics in the current U.S. President, who brushed off the revelations from the notorious Access Hollywood tape as “just words, folks.” Even Trump’s supporters regale his brazenness, calling him “fearless.” All of this is not to mention the real Zuckerberg’s own travails after his controversial decision to allow political disinformation on Facebook. Correspondingly, The Social Network’s portrayal of women parallels the 2010s’ social changes. The film’s visuals are occasionally exploitative with half-naked undergrads dancing at Harvard parties, but Erica gives voice to how women are treated online in society:
“The Internet's not written in pencil, Mark; it's written in ink. And you published that Erica Albright was a b-tch, right before you made some ignorant crack about my family's name, my bra size, and then rated women based on their hotness. […] You write your snide bulls--t from a dark room because that's what the angry do nowadays.”
Of course, in trying to shame the shameless, she finds limited success, but her words parallel those of Rose McGowan, Patricia Arquette, and countless other women who objected to society’s treatment of women. Leaders of the #MeToo movement used public shame to bring down powerful men like Harvey Weinstein, Brett Ratner, and others. Disagreements about whether these men have actually had their lives ruined are valid, but nevertheless, it cannot be denied that #MeToo was an animating sea change in the American social fabric during the 2010s. On both a micro and macro scale – in how we relate to each other personally and how we conduct ourselves politically – The Social Network proves to be one of the most prophetic films of the 2010s. For a film that was met with skepticism when it was announced – “They’re really making a Facebook movie?” – its profound messages continue to resonate even as we turn the page to 2020 and anticipate what the 2020s has in store.
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