So, I went to see ‘The Social Network‘ last night…
It was the first time I had been to the cinema in years. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the whole experience. I have gotten so used to watching films on the internet (for free!!! Sorry!) that it almost felt alien to me driving half an hour to pay 8 Euros for a ticket and 8.65 Euros for some Tacos and a 1 litre fizzy heart-attack. Nonetheless, when I walked in the foyer, it all came rushing back to me why I liked it so much.
An irrelevant name-dropping point: Waiting behind me in the queue for some popcorn was none other than Torsten Frings – the Werder Bremen footballer and ex-Germany international.
Anyway. Watched the film and was glued to my seat as it was truly a story that I wanted to hear about, as I am sure that most of the modern world population also feel the same way. Learning how a nerdy Harvard programmer became the world’s youngest billionaire from a product that I use daily, somehow makes watching the film more interesting to me. It is strange though. There are many things I use on a regular basis that do not interest me in the slightest. For example: If Steven Spielberg announced that he was going to do the life story of James Dyson… It would not be a film that I would rush to go and see. Now, I don’t mind hoovering / vacuuming. However, that’s where my emotions end on the subject of carpet cleaning!
I guess what I’m trying to say is that Facebook, no matter how many people slag it off, is a very cool product, and if any one of us had the brains, know-how and balls that he had, we too would have loved to create it. Money aside ( and I know that’s a hard thing to forget when you take into account that he’s worth $25 Billion)… However, it was probably one of the defining inventions of our era. I doubt that we in our lifetimes will ever witness such an immense revolution again.
Love it or hate it, Facebook is here to stay.
What was interesting about the movie was that it was completely different to the story I had read in The Times newspaper years ago, detailing how and why Mark Zuckerberg had created ‘The Facebook’ as it was called at the time. Yes, he dropped the word ‘The’ on the advice of Sean Parker (creator of Napster) played by Justin Timberlake. NB: JT was very good, purely because he was playing an a$%hole…. a role which I believe he probably plays every day of his normal life!
So, I had read that he really needed money and wanted to go on a round-the-world trip with his friends one summer. So he created a small programme which he hoped would generate some cash. This was obviously complete BS! Shame on you Times newspaper! I will stick to The Sun from now on! Lol
On with the story… Without detailing it so as not to ruin it for you… It was the same old story of friendship and betrayal etc… and envy and greed. What I did find amusing was the starting point: a break-up with his girlfriend. He immediately started blogging about it, pointing out her downsides and from that point on things spiralled out of control until he actually developed a type of Hot Chick Comparison programme for all the girls on his campus. He got into trouble but was so smart that his arrogance and intellect were a match for anything and anybody.
The rivalry between him and the Winklevoss brothers was great. If you search them on wiki it tells you the whole story but just imagine a pair of identical twins who just embody everything that is wrong about America and times it by a thousand. They were annoyingly good fun to watch. Reminded me of a couple of twins we had at my school. In the end it all came down to money and lawsuits and although there was a settlement of around $65 million …the lawsuit is still going on today as the two greedy cretins say that the settlement had been diluted due to a lower stock valuation. They are now looking to get over $400 million… The case continues…
Its a sad and poignant story mixed with admiration for this unrivalled genius. A real motivation to get your laptop out and start creating something online…right?
Well…. whatever you do… go and watch it. I give it 8 out of 10.
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