With an October 1
release, a film based on the way FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg 'jilted' early
associates, has the Internet community abuzz. Is the 26 year-old the
selfish monster he is made out to be, with a little help from Justin
Timberlake?
A millionaire at 26, the founder of one of this generation's biggest Internet phenomena and worldwide fame -- is there anything Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg doesn't have? Loyalty, apparently. The Social Network -- a film directed by David Fincher -- supposedly based on his rise to fame -- will have you believe that.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has labelled the film a work of 'fiction'.
It tells the story of how he 'jilted' early associates and founders of the
social networking giant. PIC/ AFP
Based on Ben Mezrich's 2009 book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, the film is set for an October 1 release and is already causing ripples at both, the FB office and on the web. Mezrich's account of the founding of the social networking site is told from the perspective of three early influences on Facebook who were allegedly diluted out of the company and the millions that followed. Understandably, Zuckerberg is not impressed.
Mark 'monster' Zuckerberg
The book itself is less a biopic and more a collation of depositions made in court by former associates -- Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (brothers who hired Zuckerberg to build a site similar to FB before he bailed), Eduardo Saverin (Zuckerberg's friend from Harvard who helped out with funding in the early days, and was later dumped), and Sean Parker (who was kicked out of the company after a party involving drugs and an underage FB employee).
Believe all that, and Zuckerbeg sounds more like a selfish monster than the intelligent bloke he is made out to be. Probably why he has been pretty dismissive about the film. In an interview, he called it a work of 'fiction'. "The real story of Facebook is that we've worked hard. The real story is actually probably pretty boring. We just sat at our computers for six years and coded," he said.
Meat for a scandal
Nevertheless, Hollywood loves a good scandal, and the inside story of this Silicon Valley giant and his 'dastardly' acts is bound to create some enthusiasm among disgruntled FB users who despair over the site's repeated flip-flops on privacy settings.
With a cast that includes Justin Timberlake and Andre Garfield -- the man who will be the next Spiderman -- there's little wonder that the film has already garnered such a buzz.
The official website of the film has a compelling visual of actor Jesse Eisenberg (who plays Zuckerberg) with the line "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies" on the poster -- a reference to the site crossing 500 million users earlier this year. But not everyone is as excited. Blog entries and portals are awash with questions over the authenticity of Mezrich's book itself, which we think is a pretty valid concern, considering Zuckerberg himself was never spoken to.
Scenes of extravagant parties, and one particular scene involving Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder who was involved with FB's early history, at a party where naked teenage girls offered partygoers cocaine lines, have also not endeared the movie to FB fans.
Will we get the real picture?
Given the site's popularity, there's no doubt theatres will swell, come October. Sadly, it looks like we'll have to settle for a tale of sex, lies, betrayal and friendship instead of a far more compelling subject -- an explanation for this Internet behemoth's growth from a few hundred users in 2004 to over 500 million today.
A millionaire at 26, the founder of one of this generation's biggest Internet phenomena and worldwide fame -- is there anything Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg doesn't have? Loyalty, apparently. The Social Network -- a film directed by David Fincher -- supposedly based on his rise to fame -- will have you believe that.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has labelled the film a work of 'fiction'.
It tells the story of how he 'jilted' early associates and founders of the
social networking giant. PIC/ AFP
Based on Ben Mezrich's 2009 book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, the film is set for an October 1 release and is already causing ripples at both, the FB office and on the web. Mezrich's account of the founding of the social networking site is told from the perspective of three early influences on Facebook who were allegedly diluted out of the company and the millions that followed. Understandably, Zuckerberg is not impressed.
Mark 'monster' Zuckerberg
The book itself is less a biopic and more a collation of depositions made in court by former associates -- Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (brothers who hired Zuckerberg to build a site similar to FB before he bailed), Eduardo Saverin (Zuckerberg's friend from Harvard who helped out with funding in the early days, and was later dumped), and Sean Parker (who was kicked out of the company after a party involving drugs and an underage FB employee).
Believe all that, and Zuckerbeg sounds more like a selfish monster than the intelligent bloke he is made out to be. Probably why he has been pretty dismissive about the film. In an interview, he called it a work of 'fiction'. "The real story of Facebook is that we've worked hard. The real story is actually probably pretty boring. We just sat at our computers for six years and coded," he said.
Meat for a scandal
Nevertheless, Hollywood loves a good scandal, and the inside story of this Silicon Valley giant and his 'dastardly' acts is bound to create some enthusiasm among disgruntled FB users who despair over the site's repeated flip-flops on privacy settings.
With a cast that includes Justin Timberlake and Andre Garfield -- the man who will be the next Spiderman -- there's little wonder that the film has already garnered such a buzz.
The official website of the film has a compelling visual of actor Jesse Eisenberg (who plays Zuckerberg) with the line "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies" on the poster -- a reference to the site crossing 500 million users earlier this year. But not everyone is as excited. Blog entries and portals are awash with questions over the authenticity of Mezrich's book itself, which we think is a pretty valid concern, considering Zuckerberg himself was never spoken to.
Scenes of extravagant parties, and one particular scene involving Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder who was involved with FB's early history, at a party where naked teenage girls offered partygoers cocaine lines, have also not endeared the movie to FB fans.
Will we get the real picture?
Given the site's popularity, there's no doubt theatres will swell, come October. Sadly, it looks like we'll have to settle for a tale of sex, lies, betrayal and friendship instead of a far more compelling subject -- an explanation for this Internet behemoth's growth from a few hundred users in 2004 to over 500 million today.
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