THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Director: David Fincher

Writers: Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Ben Mezrich (book)

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg (30 Minutes or Less), Andrew Garfield (Spiderman), Justin Timberlake (Friends With Benefits), Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)

Length: 120 min

In theatres: October 1, 2010

It’s hard to go into a “college movie” and not expect the main focus to be drinking and having fun.  As a college student, I can tell you that the experience is much more than that.  I admit I was skeptical before first watching The Social Network, but I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised. 

This is the story of Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), and how he created the social networking site known as Facebook.  The plot follows two legal battles that he faces, one with his best friend, Edwardo, the company’s chief financial officer (Andrew Garfield), and the other against the Winklevoss twins who claim that Zuckerberg stole the idea from them.  There are a few scenes with partying, including one where Edwardo goes to an exclusive party of the final club, Phoenix, and others after they move the company to California for the summer.  I think that the audience for this movie is mainly people who use Facebook, so that would be mostly teenagers and young adults.

The movie dives back and forth in time, starting with the creation of Facebook and darting back to the court cases every few scenes.  As the story progresses, the court cases begin to make more sense and you begin to wonder who’s side you’re really on.

I would rate this as a pretty good representation of college.  A great college movie typically includes epic parties, drama with friends, and some schoolwork here and there.  It’s Harvard, so clearly there are a lot of smart people around, and there are a few scenes with classes and studying involved.  There are also a lot of partying scenes, which shows the crazy side to college life.  The parties depicted in the movie were very extreme; the one shown while the company was in California includes drug use and a shut down by the police.  Social media is also a HUGE part of a college student’s daily life, and since this movie is about the founding of one of the most popular social websites, it does a good job representing that aspect too. It was really interesting how the movie compared life before and after Facebook, and being able to relate to the addiction to social media.

The Social Network has everything: drama, conflict, and even some comedic relief here and there with some quality one liners.  Although I did not expect much out of this movie, I was captivated from the first seen.  For Facebook users, or anyone living in the 21^st century, this is definitely a must-see. 

Arts/Cultural Response: Jack Johnson at PSU

A couple of weeks ago Jack Johnson came to Penn State to do a free concert for Rock The Vote accompanied by G. Love and ALO.  All day there were Rock The Vote tents set up outside Eisenhower Auditorium and volunteers running around trying to persuade people to register to vote.  Their incentive: getting to go to a free concert!  The second I heard about this I was in.  I’m not going to lie to you and say that I’m Jack Johnson’s number one fan, but I’ve always enjoyed chilling out listening to some of his smooth, mellow tunes.  I was definitely expecting an amazing concert, but the experience I had was so much more.  Jack played for two hours straight, which is INSANE!  I’ve been to a lot of concerts in my day and never have I been to one with such a long set list, AND IT WAS FREE!  Even the opening acts were incredible.  Before last Wednesday, I had never heard of G. Love or ALO, but they both killed it on stage.  The audience was going crazy, and the lead singer of ALO even got a WE ARE PENN STATE chant going.  (G. Love later followed me on twitter, nbd).  Jack opened with Where’d All The Good People Go, and everyone was on their feet, dancing and singing along.  It was an incredible atmosphere.  After only being in college for a few weeks at that point, it was cool to feel connected to so many of my peers through something as powerful as music.  For the last few songs he performed, he invited G. Love and ALO back on stage to perform with him.  The energy was phenomenal.  They all connected and performed together so well you would think that they had been touring together for years.

The cause was awesome as well.  I am a huge believer that everyone who can vote should vote.  So many people think that their voice doesn’t matter.  One vote may not seem like much, but if it gets to being hundreds or thousands of people who think that way, that does matter.  It’s always inspiring when people as busy and famous as Jack Johnson take the time to support something as important as this.

By the end of the night, I was in love with this man.  He had such an incredible stage personality, telling us stories about how he met his wife and interesting tidbits about why he wrote some of his songs.  Every time someone from the crowd would scream out “I LOVE YOU” he would laugh and respond, “I love you too man!”  There was definitely a strong connection between the stage and the audience.  I’m thrilled that I had this experience; this is a night I will remember for a very long time.