It’s intriguing that two of the most press shy entrepreneurs of the internet age – Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker – have suddenly participated in two dense magazine profiles this month. It’s almost as if there was a film depicting key moments in their lives set for imminent release and they want to set the record straight. Oh…
Really, though, I was struck reading this Vanity Fair profile of Parker that the character described is perhaps a bit more interesting than the more simplistic character Aaron Sorkin wrote in “The Social Network.” In the film, Parker is portrayed by Justin Timberlake as a paranoid, mean-spirited misfit. A misfit (and party animal) he may be, but Parker is lauded in the piece as a “higher being,” “generous” and “loyal,” and frankly comes off as something of a saint.
The writer does mention that Parker reached out to potential sources to smooth out his image, but even still, the accounts of generosity become a bit too consistent to ignore. Parker works well as an antagonistic figure in the film, mind you, but I think an instance of some of this would have added a nice layer of depth to the character. After all, Zuckerberg sure is dealt with in complex hues, and is all the more fascinating for it.
Parker’s own perspective on himself, however pretentious, struck me as particularly, oh, Joker-esque? To wit:
I think the best way to describe me is as an archetypal Loki character…like Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces. I’m like the prankster or Puck in mythology. He’s not trying to cause harm, but rather to pull back the veil that masks your conventional, collectively reinforced understanding of society. This renegade thing was very clear at Napster. The point was that the emperor—the content industry—had no clothes.
Meanwhile, there is the New Yorker profile of Zuckerberg I mentioned briefly in my reaction to the film yesterday. It’s a considerably longer piece that is hefty and feels complete, yet leaves Zuckerberg somehow as elusive as ever. The intriguing quote, for me, comes from Aaron Sorkin:
[Zuckerberg] spends the first one hour and fifty-five minutes as an antihero and the last five minutes as a tragic hero…I don’t want to be unfair to this young man whom I don’t know, who’s never done anything to me, who doesn’t deserve a punch in the face. I honestly believe that I have not done that.
As I said yesterday, I think the film comes off flattering for Zuckerberg in some way, mostly due to Sorkin’s vision of him as indicated in that first line. But when the “tragic hero” moment comes, it really is difficult to admire his shrewdness any longer and a strong sense of pity for the boy/man creeps in.
We’ll be chewing on this film for quite a while, I’m sure. But unfortunately there is an urge to go ahead and deem “The Social Network” the Oscar season’s frontrunner. While this may be an outlet given to prognostication, even I’m not so eager to toss out such a definitive assessment in September (not anymore, anyway).
I had a conversation this morning with an unaffiliated party who seemed to think this year’s Best Picture race could come down to the traditional strokes of “The King’s Speech” versus the Gen-Y, zeitgeist harnessing work of Fincher and company. It’s an attractive and valid argument and, given what I’ve seen, I’d be tempted to side with it.
However, we’ve yet to see how powerful David O. Russell’s “The Fighter” might be. And we’ve yet to see how striking the Coen brothers’ “True Grit” remake might be. But interestingly enough, those are the only two films really giving me pause at the moment. Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” swooping in and capturing the Academy’s heart for its life-affirming power is a tempting consideration, but I’d be a bit surprised. Though I’m still of the mind that the toys could shock us all.
In any case, just remember, the season is alive. This time last year “Up in the Air” was looking like the frontrunner. Then it was “Avatar.” And eventually, “The Hurt Locker.” It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so let’s make sure we’ve got endurance stallions on our hands first.
[Photo: Venture Beat]
Comments
22 responses to “Schemers trying to control their little worlds”
id be suprised if boyle could pull off best picture wins in consecutive films, something scorsesse, speilberg, etc havent pulled off. The kings speech vs the sociasl network right now makes sense, but i dont want the front runner curse to kill either before they get to take off with the public. something i dont think up in the air ever really got to do
Luckily The Social Network is releasing in just two weeks’ time, so it was smart to hold screenings and keep a muzzle on the buzz until just the right moment. Weinstein and company will have the three months between Telluride and a December release (the same frame Up in the Air had to navigate) to maintain that buzz. Then again, Harvey nurtured Inglourious Basterds into a threat many thought could actually win last year, so if anyone can keep the beast fed, it’s him.
Your second Joker line in less than a week, Kris.
I’ll expect a Cesar Romero line next week.
Parker sounds like a pretentious douchebag and a con-man who would make a good argument for abortion if it weren’t for the potentially interesting character that Sorkin has scribed.
As for Oscar’s I’m just gonna go with The King’s Speech right now. Then again, if we go with the release theory of a film fest fave loosing it’s bizz after a certain amount of time then we could conclude that if King’s Speech is this year’s Up in the Air then either Toy Story 3 or Winter’s Bone, the first two movies (aside from Kids Are Alright) really mentioned for serious awards consideration would be the presumed winners in early 2011. Also interesting to me, the break-out star that the latter film unleashed. Mainly cause it isn’t all that much different from Renner’s sudden breakthrough this time last year.
I guess the world is black and white for some…
Please, I don’t like to view things in the form of a procedural melodrama. Just stating that the guy, while maybe a good person, has made a few bad choices, that migth make me regret him as an offsrping.
Procedural melodrama? Lots of anger there.
Anyway…
Honestly, he sounds like the type of guy who talks his way into getting laid out of desperation. Sorry Kris, but I just don’t buy that line about him being Loki or some great unveiler for all of society.
Kris, that’s what most procedurals, summer blockbusters etc. are in essence, melodramas. Albeit with some occasional nuance to them.
I don’t really buy that line either. That’s beside the point. If you read the article, he’s painted as a rather generous fellow by a number of people and the journalist, paid to be discerning, seemed to buy it. He has his personality hang-ups. So what. Zuckerberg sure as hell does. But abortion? Silly. My point is that layering some of that extra stuff into the character might have made him more vibrant than a mere villain-esque figure.
I still don’t know what you’re getting at with the procedural melodrama thing.
this whole conversation seems off topic and lacking any real substance. Im excited for the film, and i had forgotten its as soon as 2 weeks kris. You didnt give it a star rating and i was curious where youd place it? also did you decide to bump up the kings speech to 4 or are you sticking to your guns?
Im curious how finchers next project will resemble his growths as a film maker of late
“this whole conversation seems off topic and lacking any real substance”
LOL. Indeed. Just trying to figure out what the guy means.
I’m not bothering with star ratings, outside of festival escapades, I guess (which was more a force of habit at Telluride this year). And increasingly, I just care less and less about them. Great movie. Simple as that. I doubt there’s anything a rating would say that my piece didn’t.
fair enough, i look forward to your top 10 of the year. it should be interesting to see how people react to the acting in this film, as finchers work tends to be so polished the performances are sometimes forgotten. douglas in the game, ruffalo or downey in zodiac. its interesting to hear you compare it earlier to black swan. the two directors are very similar while with finchers work it always seems like fincher is front and center but with aronofsky he gives so much to his actors they always take center stage.
Well, given the context and setting of Social Network, that characterization may have been closer to who he was at the time. I try, oh I do try to be a hopeful person, so maybe he has grown as an individual, or simply was caught up in his enormous success at the time to act without much clarity. Not doubting that everyone is flawed but there are some genuinley shittying things that people do that are unforgiveable.
What does interest me most about Social Network is how people like Zuckerberg, who, from what I understand at least, has such a difficult personality that he has a tough time making connections and friendships, yet his entire empire is built on a network that develops and friendships and connections. If you can feel comfortable calling them that.
As for the procedural (one-hour crime shows) melodrama, that was your reference about people, such as myself on occasion, seeing things in a very black and white, mustache twirller vs bow-tie wearer mentality. The same as a plain and simple good guy vs bad guy structure of a conventional melodrama that is used in almost every piece of film or television work for the last century. More so I think in the last ten years.
americanrequiem-He was able to help get two acting nominations out of Benjamin Button, which most Fincher fans seem to regard as their least favorite of his works. So it’s believeable to assume that at least one nod for Garfield or Eisenberg could happen.
true drew, im personally not a button hater like most these days, i thought it was an extremely well made beautiful meditation on life, but thats just my opinion. My favorite of his would probly be zodiac, bit im hoping if his actors are deserving they do get some credit
Agree with you completley on Button. It wasn’t a perfect film with an uneven and slightly self-indulgent sense of pace and a few narrative choices that I didn’t quite swallow, but still a gorgeous achievment. And I don’t think it’s deserved the level of fanboy hate that it’s endured a mere two years later.
It’ll be interesting to see how young the academy skews this year with it’s acting nominations.
“endurance stallions”
Secretariat allusion? A dark horse, ahem…
Off-Topic:
Off-Topic: Spain pre-selected movies:
Celda 211 (Cell 211, winner of the Goya last year)
Lope
Tambien la Lluvia (Even the Rain, with Gael García Bernal, directed by Icíar Bollaín from Take My Eyes)
I really hope we don’t hear too much of “The Social Network vs The King’s Speech” because The King’s Speech sounds like a wonderful film and it’s bound to become the bad guy here when the media plays the “old guard” card.
That said, I really hope The Social Network is as good as you say and I’ve been looking forward to it for a while.
And speaking of the Social Network Kris, I’d like to know your thoughts on how supporting actor is shaping up this year? It’s one of my favorite categories as more colorful actors usually get nominated.
Kris:
Didn’t know if your “world is black and white for some” comment was meant for me or the previous poster. My Joker comment was merely one Batfan acknowledging another- it wasn’t a shot at you or anything. Just to clarify.
For Drew, not you.