In the movie The Social Network the director of the film uses many different filmmaking techniques to create the film and to express the filmmaker’s ideas. A technique that is apparent throughout the movie the consistent use of ideology. Ideology in film-making terms can be seen as a set of values and priorities and a body of ideas reflecting the social needs and aspirations of an individual, group, class, or culture. In The Social Network there is implicit ideology, there is a clear distinction between the positively and negatively drawn characters. Also the ideology of relative versus absolute is apparent along with future versus past and outsiders versus insiders. In the movie The Social Network the director, David Fincher, uses ideology throughout the movie to reflect the creator of Facebook’s beliefs, and ideal ways of behaving.
In the Social Network there is implicit ideology. The main character, Mark Zuckerberg is the clear protagonist of the story. While Zuckerberg is the protagonist the story is filled with numerous antagonists. These antagonists include Erica Albright, the girl who originally told him off on a date, his co-founder who is constantly questioning Mark’s ideas of expansion for Facebook. The Winklevoss twins are also antagonists to Mark, claiming that Facebook was their idea, the final antagonist is Sean Parker. Parker at first is on Zuckerberg’s side but as the story goes on Parker becomes a bad influence on Zuckerberg. The reason for the director to put in all these antagonists against Zuckerberg is to show all the odds that the creator of Facebook had to overcome. With nearly everyone against him Zuckerberg defied the odds and, his vision of Facebook was ultimately successful. The ideology is implicit, because it is not spelled out to the audience what the message of the story is, but it can be insinuated that it is just a story of an underdog defying the odds and making it big.
The ideology of relative versus absolute is apparent throughout The Social Network. The Social Network is by far on the left end being more relative than absolute. The movie falls on the left end, because rightists believe that the youth should be disciplined, respectful, and obedient to their elders. Mark Zuckerberg’s character is anything but that in The Social Network. Whenever he is being interviewed by lawyers and other officials, Zuckerberg shows no respect and talks down to people constantly. He is the ultimate smart ass. He also shows a lack of respect for rules when he wears sandals, shorts, and a sweatshirt to court hearings, rather than the expected suit and tie. The Social Network is clearly far on the left side of being relative, because the main character uses self-expression by the way he dresses and talks to authority. Mark Zuckerberg’s characters constant lack of respect for authority lands this movies ideology far to the left side of being relative.
The most important ideology expressed in The Social Network is the relationship or future versus past. Leftists often view the past with distain, because they argue that it is dominated by ignorance, and exploitation of the weak. However leftists see much more in the future over the past. The future is seen as hopeful with promise of improvement. The director of The Social Network was on the far left side, because the idea of Facebook in itself is a futuristic idea. In the movie the idea is seen as more for fellow left wingers, because the adults or older generations are more often rightists and don’t like to accept new ideas, and new ways of doing things. The reason the Social Network is so clearly leftists is because Facebook changed society, for better or worse, Facebook was the future. Facebook allows people to interact with each other by means that they would never have been able to before. Facebook was a futuristic idea and it is now the future. Nearly every new technology device there is a special button designated for faster access to Facebook. The director defiantly shows that he is far to the left and more futuristic in his ideologies.
The final aspect of ideology that is used in The Social Network is the idea of outsiders versus insiders. Leftists tend to feature characters that are protagonists who are ordinary people. While rightists feature characters that emphasize the importance of leadership, establishment, and power. In The Social Network Mark Zuckerberg’s character doesn’t have any power, he is without a doubt an outsider. He was just an ordinary college student that got told off by a girl, and that sparked him bashing her online and creating the idea of Facebook. Again the director is leftist in his ideological views because Zuckerberg wasn’t set up for success; he was an underdog that created his own wealth and success.
The ideology in The Social Network is clear. Both the director, David Fincher, and the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, are both left wingers, because with every aspect of ideology they tend to side with their own way of doing things rather than the acceptable means.
For more information on The Social Network visit the following links:
http://reviewsindepth.com/2010/11/the-social-network-the-end-of-intimacy-and-the-birth-of-hacker-sensibility/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjDG4NpQ2dM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzN6XWDEmXI&feature=related
