The Social Network

Don't send your children to this if you don't want to send the message that it is ok to do drugs, have premarital sex or speak with a foul mouth!!!

I loved this movie. Don't get me wrong, many of the aspects like oral sex, drugs, drinking, and the whole "Rating Based on Hotness" thing were unnessesary (Pardon my horrible spelling) and at times frustrating to watch. Mark goes on a blog and calls his recent ex-girlfriend the word for a female dog, clearly hurting her feelings. Sean, the founder of Napster, is a class A jerk, manipulating Mark into giving his friend less of the money. But I do like the fact that even though Mark's friend is suing him, they still help each other throughout the movie and have a strained yet genuine friendship despite the division money has brought between them. The acting was PHENOMENAL and very realistic. Good to show 14+ year olds when talking about the heartbreak money can bring into your life if it becomes your god.

The Social Network is, first and foremost, a dramatised version of college life. This means occasional scenes of swearing, drug use, "questionable" teenage partying, as well as one or two instances of "Gossip Girl" sexuality. Given this fact, most teenagers and "tweens" for that matter, will be able to handle the content. Far more shocking acts have been depicted on any given night of TV. As an added relief for parents, there is absolutely no violence in this movie. No one gets killed, punched, slapped, kicked, or shot. And yet the plot is still effective as a thriller. I watched the movie with my parents and younger brother, and we didn't find any problems with the content. Interestingly enough, David Fincher has crafted a film that doesn't condone such reckless behavior, but instead attempts to explain why it happens. Billions of dollars and access to exclusive parties can't buy friendship, and the movie's message is what ultimately sells the price of admission. All that aside, the artistic quality of the film is excellent. The script zings, the actors (Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield in particular) give Oscar-worthy performances, and the direction by Mr. Fincher is simply astounding. The Social Network is one of the top three films of the year. It is by no means a movie that defines our time, but it is still a very, very, good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Social networking is something we always have taken for granted, but the stories that go into famous websites such as Myspace, YouTube, and (in this case) Facebook are filled with shady decisions, landmark lawsuits, and the hard work that goes into them. In The Social Network, David Fincher has concocted a film that takes a book describing Mark Zuckerberg'/Eduardo Saverin's founding of Facebook (called "The Accidental Billionaires") and turns it into a very twisty morality tale. Everything about this movie is fantastic. From the sharp-witted script penned by Aaron Sorkin, to the impeccable performances by...pretty much everybody, to Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame) and Atticus Ross' subdued but pounding score, to David Fincher's magnificent directing capabilities, but you knew that already, The Social Network is one of the best biopics in recent memory. Only the ignorant can diss "The Facebook Movie". It's funny (rare for a David Fincher film), poignant, and altogether unapologetic to its subject. The final line spoken in the film sums up the truth: "Mark. You're not an a**hole. You're just trying hard to be." All in all, an excellent film. However, the content is very gritty but realistic, making this film off-limits for young teens. When I first heard that this seemingly R-rated story had turned into a PG-13-rated film, I was stunned. But after seeing it, it seemed like The Social Network was quite close to receiving an R anyway. In other words, it didn't feel watered-down at all. There's sex, and lots of it. As the reviewer said, sex was a big part of the founding of Facebook, because the predecessor to it involved something similar to notorious website hotornot*, but with Harvard undergrads instead. Later, implied oral sex is seen in a bathroom stall. A man wakes up with a college student he doesn't know. Scenes in a bar and at a school club feature lots of suggestive dancing, women in ridiculously skimpy outfits and lingerie, and a game of strip poker (though there's no full-frontal nudity). Drug and alcohol use is also quite rampant, as one scene involves two people snorting cocaine off a woman's stomach, though most scenes simply involve pot smoking and beer/cocktail drinking by college undergrads; in other words, just like your average college film/experience. Language is raw, with two f-bombs and an incompletely said one, as well as frequent use of words like "b*tch", "sh*t", "godd*mn", and "a**hole". There is some commercialism, as can be expected from a film involving the creation of a multibillion-dollar website, and many colleges are mentioned. There are only two mildly violent incidents, but they're not worth noting. Overall, just see The Social Network if you're mature enough to. You'll be glad you did.