Kehoe-Social Network

The Social Network is a docudrama about Internet entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of his website, facebook. Although the film’s focus is the creation of the facebook website, the film is also a critique of the Internet as a whole, especially in terms of anonymity and privacy on the web. The film comments on this theme in many ways though most directly and effectively through its story structure. There are many points in the film where accusations are made against a character, such as when Zuckerberg’s lawyer brings up the charges of animal cruelty that Saverin was accused of while still at Harvard. Saverin’s lawyers immediately begin to question Saverin about the incident, and if he thinks that Zuckerberg planted the story in the Harvard newspaper in order to push Saverin out of the business more easily.
The next scene flashes back to the time of the incident, when the newspaper article was released. Here, Saverin immediately begins accusing the Winklevoss twins of planting the story in an attempt to damage the websites reputation. These scenes highlight the fact that on the Internet, anyone can write anything about anyone and be totally anonymous. No one ever finds out the source of the article or how much of the article is factually accurate, but it does not matter, Severin was accused of animal cruelty and, whether true or false, damaged his reputation. By switching back and forth between present and past the audience can contrast the two scenes and how this anonymity creates paranoia. Sean Parker, the creator of napster, personifies this paranoia; Parker is so paranoid that he warns Zuckerberg that his competition will start bugging his phone and spying on his everyday activities.
The use of lighting in the film is effective in communicating mood. Through out the film, the lighting is often dim and gloomy. This technique communicates the mood and environment of someone sitting alone in a dark room lit only by the glow of a computer screen.