It shows Zuckerberg as not-an-asshole: surprising us with acts of loyalty to his best friend and defending his best friend to the character portrayed as “definitely an asshole.” The definitely-an-asshole character is Napster founder Shawn Fanning. The Social Network riffs on this theme consistently. But this time it’s a different young, attractive, respectable female telling the Zuckerberg character that she doesn’t think he’s an asshole, but that he’s only trying to be one. The sequence is repeated in the film’s final scene. Not because he’s a nerd, but because he’s an asshole. In its opening scene, we see a young, attractive, angry ex-girlfriend tell the Zuckerberg character that, as he gets older, women will reject him. And so, discussion about The Social Network will mostly regard whether or not Mark Zuckerberg is an asshole.Īnd this is exactly what The Social Network is about. The film’s success rests on the spectacle of controversy and the innate human compulsion to seek and find in powerful figures grave faults in an effort to mitigate our own feelings of inferiority. Perhaps the only somewhat unique tool for driving the film’s plot forward is that characters talk really fast, which, combined with quick-cut scenes and transitions that take a second to understand, effectively drives us through the experience. The ‘mainstream’ tactics it uses are “mainstream” for a reason, and director David Fincher uses them effectively, maybe in an effort to expand the film’s demographic beyond the enormous number of people who have Facebook accounts. It sticks with, among other tricks, dark electronic techno music scored entirely by Trent Reznor, college girls in bras playing strip poker and “grinding” in slow motion at fraternity parties, and flippant “look-at-this-fucking-college-kid” joke inserts.īut the film is well-made. The Social Network employs no new gimmicks to establish interest and compel the viewer. It was at least in part meant for the blogospherian demographic, and as such the overall response may sound something like “meh.” Send us feedback.The Social Network is average, but compelling. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gawk.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Jonathan Olivier, Outside Online, 10 Oct. 2023 Although this is only a two-mile round-trip, the trail leading to Grand View Point isn’t short on views-you’ll gawk at the maze of basins, dozens of canyons, and the La Sal Mountains in the distance. 2021 Bystanders gawk and record from outside the enormous window. 2022 Piled on top is the humiliation Naina suffers from the moment she’s interviewed in a hospital waiting room while onlookers gawk and listen. 2022 Michael would take him into the back to gawk at the inventory. 2022 As a Phoenix Suns rookie with Steve Nash in 1997, Milic often had to remind himself during practices to not gawk at the team’s leading point guard, Jason Kidd, who defied the traditional pass-heavy point guard mold. Goldman and Goldman himself come away with a general sense of complicity in a fundamentally voyeuristic endeavor? - Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Dec. 2023 And should viewers who gape and gawk at Paul T. 2023 There, car collectors and enthusiasts gawk at and bid on some of the world's rarest automobiles. Jonah Valdez, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. Verb Others simply gawk at the washing machines and dryers, attempting to relive shots from the movie. 2020 Even in the drowsy predawn morning, onlookers stopped to gawk. 2021 The reader doesn’t gawk at her tragedy and resilience. 2021 This is pretty typical of my Chicago unrealistic gawk-searching. 2021 People take deep breaths to inhale fresh air, gawk at the wildlife and rock climb. Tribune News Service, cleveland, 30 Oct. 2022 With its cool look and flashy two-tone color schemes, folks will take gawk at the RAV4 Prime at the stoplight. 2022 People in the tavern gawk as Jamie interrogates his aunt, accusing her of purchasing a shop for Fergus to print propaganda. Julian Barnes, The New York Review of Books, 27 Apr. John Phillips, Car and Driver, 18 June 2020 The badaud, by contrast, is always liable to form a group or crowd, either for a mass gawk or some communal response. Noun The Esprit's shape, arguably more avant-garde despite its age, consistently pegs the gawk meter.
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