The Social Network & Mark Zuckerberg's Response to his Portrayal

I think the line spoken by one of the lawyers, Marylin Delpy (Rashida Jones) in the film, The Social Network that goes something like this: “You try so hard to be an asshole but you’re not,” sums up the way Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is portrayed in the film. Zuckerberg is our protagonist and in order for a film to work, the audience has to like and/or relate with the protagonist in some way. He does some “asshole-ish” things but he’s likeable. He’s portrayed as a smart kid with a great idea who just wants to be cool and get girls. It’s true, the character does make some mistakes but in my opinion, the film portrays him ultimately as a good person. He makes jokes, he’s smart, he’s relatable and when he makes mistakes, often it’s Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) that’s influenced him. I think Parker is portrayed in a much worse light than Zuckerberg.


Facebook is extremely popular. I’m not sure that the film has made it more popular – I don’t think it has made it less popular either. Regardless of the way the film portrays the people involved in the making of Facebook, people love it and they use it and the film won’t have an impact on that. I would think that most people who are going to see the film already have an account and if they don’t, I don’t think this film would have changed their minds. I don’t think anyone refused to use Facebook because they had negative feelings about Zuckerberg or anyone else involved in its creation. It’s probably because they just don’t like the concept and this film doesn’t change what Facebook actually is. I think Facebook will only be on its way out when something newer and better comes out to replace it, just like what happened to MySpace when Facebook started.

When it comes to the question of Mark Zuckerberg’s PR response, my perception is simple: it doesn’t matter what he says or does (to an extent), Facebook is so powerful that it trumps whatever the negative image people may get from seeing the film. This is especially true because Facebook is FREE. People are not paying any money to use Facebook and therefore, its founder has little impact on their use of the site.

According to The PR Post blog he uses “Blowing-It-Off” and “Little League” PR strategies in response to the film.

Zuckerberg’s “Blowing-It-Off” response I think, is very effective. Mostly because the things he says when he’s “blowing it off” are true. The Social Network is a movie and moviemakers have to make it entertaining or no one will want to watch it. It’s as simple as that. He is quick to say that his life isn’t that dramatic and I think that’s the case with most films that are based on true stories. Films can never be 100% real life; even documentaries are cut and edited so that they’re entertaining.

Here’s an example of Zuckerberg “blowing it off” from CBS News.com:

Reviewing the film thematically, Zuckerberg said it featured a girl who was not part of his real life and dumps him, which he joked happened a lot to him in real life. "They framed it as if I wanted to get girls or into some social institution," Zuckerberg said. "I've been dating the same girl since before Facebook."

He concluded that the film makers "can't wrap their head around the idea that someone might build something because they like building things."

As for the “Little League” response, I think it was unnecessary. As Tiffany Gallicano states in her blog post, it was a little insulting to audiences that Zuckerberg would choose to donate money to a cause on the day the film opened. He could have done that on any other day and it would have seemed more sincere. It paints the picture that he doesn’t really care about the cause; he’s just trying to make himself look like a good guy as the film comes out.

Here’s the video clip of the quotes above: