The Distancer: Wednesday, April 1, 2020
DAY 20: The Social Network
Happy hump day, friends! No foolery here.
Quarantine day who even knows? mood
With today being the first of the month, I've seen a lot of people sharing information over Instagram Stories suggesting that people avoid grocery shopping either today or the next three days to let those on food stamps go. I hadn't seen it verified by any major media outlets at the time, so I did some research of my own. It appears that most states stagger food stamps and other benefits to avoid this kind of a pile up, per Mother Jones (I'm aware that this is not a purely "objective" or "non-partisan" outlet, yes).
All that said ... I would never be the "well, actually" reply guy on those posts because the sentiment is entirely noble and correct! I applaud everyone who's seeking to use their platform to benefit those who might be experiencing food instability. That said, maybe the best way to achieve that right now isn't to delay your own grocery purchases but to donate to a food bank? New York could really use your help.
Also, though it might seem NYC specific, "Pizza vs. Pandemic" has launched to both support small businesses AND provide meals to healthcare workers! If you care about both, why not check out their site and see where you can plug in?!
Something quick and fun today ... need to keep some kids entertained and educated? Of course, Sesame Street has come to the rescue.
Now, what you came for...
(Past suggestions archived on Letterboxd)
DAY 20: The Social Network (available on Netflix)
This is mostly just a PSA that Netflix re-added The Social Network to their streaming library. I wouldn't exactly call it the most optimistic movie to watch, but if you're a fan of pure cinema, let me just say -- there are few things more pleasurable than watching a practically perfect movie, which this is. Nothing against comfort food entertainment, obviously, but there's something to be said for getting lost inside of artistic brilliance.
The nature of Facebook and the Internet is to change so rapidly that every time you watch The Social Network, the world will be different enough to give you a new outlook on the movie. Have you watched it since Zuckerberg's latest defiant stance to go totally hands-off on any political advertising? Have you watched it since the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Have you watched it since the election? Each of these casts such an interesting shadow over the film that I don't think director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin could ever have predicted. (Little did I know when I first saw it as a senior in high school how much of my income would depend on Zuck and his "video-game," as ex-flame Erica Albright memorably derides Facebook.)
I've been thinking a lot this week about one specific line in the film, especially given the recent extension of social distancing until at least April 30 but likely longer. It's almost a throwaway piece of dialogue since comes at such a heated moment in the film right as the cops bust up a party, and Sean Parker - under the influence of controlled substances - makes the kind of grand statement you always hear from "That Guy" when it gets late enough in the evening: "We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're going to live on the internet!"
It seems to me like coronavirus might be the inciting incident that solidifies the next great social migration. If the world was agrarian in the 19th century, urban in the 20th century, it now feels all but inevitable that the town center will move online in the 21st. The chief irony of The Social Network, as is hardly lost on anyone, is how the architecture for our future social lives is built by a man (ok, character, but something something "print the legend") who either hates people or has no idea how to actually connect with them.
It feels absurd to pity Mark Zuckerberg, especially after the last few years where he's amassed the power of a nation-state leader while accepting virtually none of the responsibility. But I think that's what makes the movie so fascinating to watch and rewatch, and it speaks to something larger that cinema is capable of doing. It can plunge us so deep into one man's headspace while also maintaining distance so we can experience his struggles with some measure of objectivity and maybe even empathy. The more I watch The Social Network, the more I see how much the people around Mark Zuckerberg give him chances for redemption he doesn't always deserve ... and get frustrated at Mark's inability to get out of his own way to accept their gracious gestures.
I don't think it's a pessimistic movie, in spite of how it sometimes lingers in my mind. Fincher and Sorkin provide an honest (if not wholly truthful) psychological portrait of a generation-defining figure and ask us as audience members if we want the same for ourselves. You don't have to feel sorry for Zuck, and I don't think the movie necessarily does. But it does ask you to feel something while acknowledging its subject's inability to do the same, a remarkably difficult task to pull off.
I could literally write about The Social Network until my fingers fell off, but I'll just leave it there and just let you find whatever you want in the movie should you choose to indulge in its pleasures. It's a rich text, and the odds that the most resonant element to you has absolutely nothing to do with what I've written here is high.
Be good to yourselves and to each other,
Marshall
P.S. — If for some reason you want a crazy deep-dive into how The Social Network trailer completely changed movie marketing, I'm your guy.