'Social Network' New Media Backlash: Hollywood Still Doesn't Get It

The Wrap:

The divide between Hollywood and Silicon Valley grew even wider this weekend with a backlash online and in new media circles against Sony's critically beloved and thus far successful drama about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, "The Social Network.

In a lead story on the tech blog Venturebeat, the headline told the story: "Hollywood Gets It Wrong," it read, over a still from the movie.

Read the whole story: The Wrap

Comments

[gourmand]

04:25 PM on 10/04/2010

They "still" don't get it? Were people expecting the movie to be pulled because it's not 100% accurate? I don't know what all these people lambasting the movie expect...an apology? And do people REALLY think this will affect Facebook in any way?

And it got people to the box office...so evidently America still doesn't get it. Or maybe the people who don't get it are the ones complaining that this didn't truly represent Facebook. If you want something that treats Facebook as "the revolution in human communication that it is," make a documentary, because a movie about the invention of the telephone probably wouldn't be interesting, either.

[interlude]

04:59 PM on 10/04/2010

Next, people are going to suggest that Forest Gump wasn't factual. Then Santa Claus will be called into question. They must be having conniption fits over Jebus.

[sandyhh]

04:06 PM on 10/04/2010

A generational gap? I'd say so. Ghandi was the hero of my generation. Why do I get a feeling that Macbeth might be seeing a revival on Broadway soon?

[jerrydenim]

02:47 PM on 10/04/2010

News flash to all of you self-important Millennial kids out there who think tweeting the excruciating minutiae of your banal existence is revolutionary:

Hollywood doesn't give a f#*k about the truth, reality or getting a story "right". Hollywood cares about two things; money and crafting a good, if albeit false story if that is what it takes to sell tickets. See point number one again.
Hollywood is in the business of fantasy and escapism. People don't shell out fourteen dollars a ticket and give up two or three hours of their lives to sit and watch an accurate and realistic movie about a 25 year old that 99% of Americans had never heard of before this movie. Mark Zuckerburg isn't that important, Facebook isn't that revolutionary, ( MySpace or Friendster anyone?) and Facebook is probably entering the final five minute phase of its fifteen minutes.

Grow up. In the eyes of Hollywood the Facebook-Zuckerburg movie was a home-run and they could care less what a tiny handful of nerds think about their critically successful high-grossing film. Your self-absorbed idealism is pathetic. What did you really expect from a major studio film? The truth? Accuracy? Seriously?

[Rubyfoo]

02:47 PM on 10/04/2010

Aaron Sorkin is from LA, and I don't think he reallys grok the beauty, excitement, and creativity of the Silicon Valley culture. He a made a great movie by conventional standards, but clearly missed out not only on the meaning and significance of FaceBook (love it or not), but also on the real Silicon Valley vibe. Most of these guys, like Mark, are way too busy manifesting their dream to party very much.

[Suidae]

02:21 PM on 10/04/2010

Okay now that Jessie Eisenburg is finished with this movie please get back to working on Zombieland 2!!!

[Skeansmith]

01:48 PM on 10/04/2010

I have no problem with the movie with regards to how it not about FB itself or the social network revolution that it has supposed to have brought about but:
1. Why call the movie "The Social Network" when it is not about that. How bout "The Making of Facebook. Or something like that.
2. I think if the facts of the making of Facebook are compelling enough without turning it into fiction it should have been made so. I think most people who go to see this movie believe what they are seeing is indeed a factual account of the people and events and this is simply not true.

[Sam Engwall]

01:35 PM on 10/04/2010

I thought The Social Network was easily one of the best films I have seen all year.

One important thing to note though is that the movie is not a documentary. It is loosely based on some real life events and people, but it stops there.

Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network is not an accurate portrayal of the real person- but rather a portrayal of an entire generation that has desperately grasped on to technology in an attempt to try and feel like a part of something, and show the lengths we will go to make that happen. We dive into an online environment, seek out exclusivity, revel in the number of online "friends" we have, write things we would never say in public, and hurt the people that actually care about us.

***Could be a spoiler to read further, but I honestly don't think it will wreck the film for you***

The film is an ironic parable: By the end of the film Mark is extremely wealthy, and has created one of the most popular websites on the planet. But, along the way, he lost his only real friend, and only alienated himself further from the people around him.

[interlude]

03:06 PM on 10/04/2010

Uh oh. A reasonable review is going to get you declared as a traitor to fb.

[elkhawk]

01:02 PM on 10/04/2010

Who cares if it doesn't tell the 'story' of Facebook. How do you tell that 'story'? Who wants to sit and watch two hours of people programming code and discussing whether to put like and dislike or just like? A well made drama is what Hollywood needs. Movies are so disappointing to so many nowadays, so Hollywood coming out with a 'good' movie should have Hollywood jumping for joy.

[DMohr]

12:29 PM on 10/04/2010

I agree in both aspects. I think 'TSN' is a terrific movie (IMO, so far the best of the year except for 'The Ghost Writer' with Ewan McGregor), with very sharp writing, acting and directing. However, I also think it could've benefited from really going into more depth about the social change that Facebook brought about, in terms of people who haven't seen each other for years or even decades meeting up again - it would've definitely brought more resonance to the movie's storyline. All we hear otherwise in the movie is that this new website is groundbreaking and will make billions of dollars, but we never REALLY get a sense of just what a game-changer re: everyday life the invention of Facebook was. So IMO, the movie is excellent, but not perfect.

[Curtis inSF]

12:13 PM on 10/04/2010

Seriously the only people getting it wrong are New Media dolts who don't understand the purpose of drama. "The Social Media" is not a documentary.

[BryanTheRegOps]

11:36 AM on 10/04/2010

As great as this movie is it won't deter people from using Facebook. Facebook is a great way to keep in contact with friends and discover friends you've lost contact with. Social Network will never replace face to face communication which is what all these old hags that don't get Facebook/Twitter are afraid of. Social Network is here to stay.

[Curtis inSF]

12:15 PM on 10/04/2010

I don't think the movie is attempting to deter anyone from using Facebook. If that was the message you got, I think you missed the point.

[interlude]

03:24 PM on 10/04/2010

Interesting that some think fb is so fragile that a movie is going to cause mass defections. As far-fetched as this seems, fb money people must think this in view of the defense being mounted. The only thing it's doing for me is removing any credibility these defenders might have had.

[Deaninphilly]

01:46 PM on 10/04/2010

I don't think this movie was deter anyone from using/wasting their time on facebook, it is a movie made for entertainment.

Speaking has an old hag (btw I do use facebook) it is not that we "don't get it", we do get it more than you know. It's just that we are old enough to know it is useless nonsense that creates social misfits. Hate to break it to you, but every generation thinks the new fad is here to stay, I'm sure they thought bell bottoms were here to stay as well.

[davesf]

03:07 PM on 10/04/2010

Well, bell bottoms are back, but I agree with you, and I think that if you're old enough for a fad to come around again, you should probably not do it the next time! (Hence, I won't be wearing them).

[MikeDu]

11:12 AM on 10/04/2010

This article is hillarious. "Big Bang Theory" personality types around the country  are united in their outrage that the film didn't accurately depict Facebook. Facebook the movie? Who would want to sit for two hours through Facebook the movie?

[JimR]

11:31 AM on 10/04/2010

Exactly.

[Deaninphilly]

01:47 PM on 10/04/2010

LOL, that was funny

[MamaBird62]

11:07 AM on 10/04/2010

It's a great movie. Go see it.

[John Horner]

11:04 AM on 10/04/2010

The funny thing about Facebook Groupies is that they often don't even recognize that Myspace got their before Facebook. It is as if Windows afficianados were to discount the original Apple Macintosh, or if Apple Groupies were to ignore the seminal work done at Xerox PARC which led to the Lisa/Mac, Ethernet and Adobe. Oh wait, most Apple Groupies know nothing about Xeroc PARC :).

[3 magi]

11:13 AM on 10/04/2010

` Groupies `...exactly.

[dulceburro]

11:44 AM on 10/04/2010

But why does it matter? I don't think i need to know the entire history of everything social networking related (friendster had it before myspace), and everything that led to the final product to get there. How about all the users that made it possible? Did you know that when they came out with the wall you could delete someone's entire wall? And you would have to leave your name at the bottom. It was not until some time later they attributed it to the person who wrote it?

[gle helle]

10:59 AM on 10/04/2010

This movie was excellent. It's about the people involved, not about Facebook.

Who would want to see a movie about how Farmville is changing the world anyway?