The Best Films of the Decade: #12. The Social Network (2010)

The decade closes tomorrow and so for movie lovers like me it is an opportunity to look over the decade of movies that are left behind. With that, I’m counting down the best films of the past 10 years from #40 to #1. My choices are personal choices swayed by nothing but the love I have for this medium. These are all great movies. These films all achieved something great. All reached for something special. They are the best of the decade . . .

When I saw The Social Network back in 2010, I persisted in the comment that this was a film that future generations would look at as an example of how we lived in the early years of the 21^st century.  In a lot of ways, that’s a shameful commentary.  Not that the movie is shameful, but what it reveals about our current state of mind and how to interact with one another – at least according to this film – is really very troubling.

David Fincher’s film is not really about the foundation of Facebook but rather about the differing motivations and human disconnection that would ironically knit the social community together like never before.  The sad commentary is that it sheds light on people who can create algorithms to connect people but who were so socially awkward that they found it impossible to build a functioning human relationship.

Mark Zuckerberg made billions from the invention but he’s less of a visionary and more of a chess player.  He doesn’t do it because he wants to knit the social community together but because he can dominate a complicated and nearly impossibly concept.  It’s interesting that he made millions revolutionizing social media but he basically had to screw over the Winkelvoss twins to get there, taking their basic concept and running with it and making a name for himself.

What arises from the film is a very interesting insight into Zuckerberg’s mindset.  Here was a man who could overpower an impossible concept of social connectivity but couldn’t function in a flesh and blood relationship to save his soul.  In many ways his personality mirrors the kind of connected-disconnect that social media has become.  A place where relationships are connected but distant, where antisocial behaviors are not only given a safe space but in a strange way are celebrated.

About the Author: Jerry Roberts

Jerry Roberts is a film critic and operator of two websites, Armchair Cinema and Armchair Oscars.