The Social Network

The Social Network attempts to paint a dramatic picture of the birth of Facebook.

That aside, what kept hitting me throughout the film was relentless aggression in various forms. The story seems to suggest that, regardless of IQ and SAT scores, sexual desire, catalysed by ego, results in extreme aggression, which sometimes lead to great inventions in the internet world. (Refer to creation of Napster and Facebook as told in the film.)

You don't hear about guys inventing a cure for cancer to impress that special chick. Although that would be most romantic.

Personally, I like Facemash. It's like this 'A' or 'B' game I like to play with people during drinking sessions, as conversation topics dried up quickly. Coz regardless of context, culture, age etc, people enjoy that simple game. It's accessible and most importantly, it's rude.

What I didn't understand was that if Mark Zuckerberg's background was definitely upper-middle class (folks are psychiatrist and dentist), why didn't he come up with the first $1,000 to fund Facebook?

Those 'Harvard Gentlemen' who sued Mark Zuckerberg for 'stealing' their Facebook idea? The Winklevoss twins? Their antics remind me much of what I had observed during the Cambridge MBA. This "Smart-Stud" syndrome is outstanding. While I thought it's a largely undergraduate thing, I remember quite a few of my MBA classmates attempting to get on their college rowing team. One even came to class with a serious nosebleed coz he had been rowing too hard in the cold. No blood, no glory. Ooh Gaa Ooh Gaa! Oozing Aggression. And chicks are supposed to dig that?! Different strokes for different folks. O_o

By the way, the Winklevoss twins eventually headed for Oxford, and read the MBA at Said Business School in 2009 (after their 6th in the world rowing ranking at Beijing Olympics), while rowing for the ultra powerful Christ Church (aka where Harry Potter was filmed). And yes, the twins have Facebook accounts, with Tyler Winklevoss having more than 2,000 Facebook friends.

Back in Singapore...

I had the good fortune of catching the Social Network alone at the Grand Cathay on a Tuesday afternoon at all but the price of S$6. The theatre was half-filled with groups of young adults in their early 20s and late teens. Some of them were taking pics before the film started. I used to do that before the age of the digicam. Some used to comment that I was trying so hard, and now it's a norm?!

Anyway, I was flanked by a group with a chick on my left and a pair of boys on my right.

During the scene where Erica Albright was trying to break up with Mark Zuckerberg, he told her that he had a perfect SAT score of 1600, and that she didn't have to leave him that night to go study for her SAT coz she was gonna end up in Boston University anyway (i.e. not good enough for Harvard). The scene was meant to demonstrate the assholic side of Zuckerberg.

Just then, the chick on my left whispered loudly to her friends,

"But Boston U is better than NUS, RIGHT??"

I was like... WTFBBQ?! I laughed very hard and loudly.

After the film, the pair of boys on my right started to move in their seats after being relatively silent for the past 121 minutes, except for some delayed laughing moments during the film.

Boy (away from BM): *stretching* So... What you think of the film?
Boy (next to BM with huge yuppie watch): ... Yeah... It's... errr... good.
Boy (away from BM): *mumbles something*
Boy (with yuppie watch): Yeah... So he's not the bad guy, rrrriiiight?!

O_o

Do catch the Social Network, especially at the Grand Cathay on a Tuesday afternoon.