This turned out to be a more interesting film than expected. What IS disappointing is the film being viewed independently of what has happened since the founding of Facebook.
Start with knowing that the film is a jumble of fact and fiction. (It seems to be a dogma among directors that the only way to tell a good story is to embellish it with lies.) So when you see it, take away the larger points of the film:
- Mark lacks social skill, and tends to think of himself first
- Facebook was founded in controversy
The first point is almost a given for college age “computer nerds,” isn’t it? Social skills are precisely that -skills. Since Mark was more focused on programming than socialising, it makes sense for the social skills to lag in development.
That Facebook was founded in controversy is a little more character revealing.
One thrust of the film is that Mark “led his business partners on” for several weeks. They had an idea fleshed out and needed a programmer. Mark was a programmer with a nascent idea. It seemed a perfect match.
It’s unlikely that anyone – not even the principals involved – knows precisely what happened anymore. Just as time heals all wounds, it also blurs recollection. The only thing that seems fairly clear is Continue reading