Blog Post #7: "The Social Network"

In the movie, The Social Network, it is interesting to look at Mark's motives for even starting Facebook. It all starts with Erica. Erica Albright was Mark's girlfriend, but broke up with him in the very beginning of the movie. After he gets home, he starts blogging while under the influence of alcohal. He is bothered by the fact that Erica broke up with him and starts to bash her on the internet. He proceeds to come up with an idea to make a site called facemash where mostly the women at Harvard were compared to eachother.

After this Mark has finally been led to making Facebook. Evidence that his ex girlfriend is what originally fueled him to do this comes later on in the movie. He encounters her and starts babbling and then mentions Facebook. She blows it off and blows him off and won't go with him to talk somewhere. He walks away upset and all he says is "We need to expand." Even in the middle of the movie, Mark's new friend Sean Parker admits that the reason he started Napster was originally because of a girl. This is something the two share in common.

At the end of the movie, it is brought full circle to conclude that Erica is the stem of Mark's ambitions for Facebook. After meeting with lawyers and such for the lawsuit, he stays after alone. He goes on to Facebook and looks up Erica Albright. He requests her as a friend and continues to stare at her page and refresh it. I thought it was a good way to end the movie because it all started with her, and then it ended with her as well.

Another interesting aspect of The Social Network is how women are portrayed in the film. From beginning to end it is made to look like women are inferior to men. In the beginning of the film when Mark's facemash goes online, the guys are all into it because it is bashing mostly the women. When you look at all the females reactions they are rolling their eyes and just annoyed and offended. The whole facemash idea is degrading to women and people in general. Their faces were shown more than men's faces.

More evidence to show that women were portrayed inferior in the film is more toward the middle when Facebook was still in the making. Both Mark and his friend Eduardo went out with two girls and later on came back to their apartment. They were all talking about facebook. Then Mark started telling all the guys what needed to be done and what they need to do. The girls asked "Well what can we do?" And Mark replied, "oh nothing, nothing." He blew them off because they were women and didn't need to be in business with the big guys.