Facebook, the movie: the Facebook group
By Chris Gaylord | 08.28.08
Aaron Sorkin is doing a movie about Facebook. The whole thing seems fake at first.
The man behind “The West Wing,” “Studio 60,” and “A Few Good Men” has a history of unease with web culture – he even wrote a West Wing episode about it. So a bunch of bloggers scratched their heads when a seemingly legit Facebook group called “Aaron Sorkin & the Facebook Movie” popped up on the popular social network.
Welcome. I’m Aaron Sorkin. I understand there are a few other people using Facebook pages under my name–which I find more flattering than creepy–but this is me. I don’t know how I can prove that but feel free to test me.
This afternoon we found out that, yeah, it really is him – or at least his assistant. And, yes, he really is doing a movie about Facebook.
The news is baffling on several levels:
For one, the web is so flush with pranksters that we’ve all been trained to assume that anyone we meet online is actually a dog. AMC recently ordered Twitter to take down several microblogs from people pretending to be characters from the TV hit “Mad Men.” Yesterday, the cable network seemed to have changed its mind and the unofficial lives of Don Draper, Roger Sterling, and Peggy Olson returned. These spoofs have targeted real people as well. The now defunct The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs is a great example.
Second, it’s also hard to believe that any celebrity who’s uncomfortable with the web would dare trudge into an open forum like Facebook. Several years ago, Sorkin had a bruising experience with the Internet message board Television Without Pity. (A spat over a former West Wing writer turned ugly.) This time, Sorkin’s online audience seems to be playing nice. If he is working on a Facebook movie (Facebook isn’t participating at this point), then it’s good to see Sorkin diving into the subject. Too bad he missed the Scrabulous craze.
But this brings me to curiosity No. 3: Why Facebook? There must be a more interesting Silicon Valley start-up. Mark Zuckerberg goes to Harvard, does some coding for the ConnectU crew, decides to split off and start his own website, Facebook hits gold, he moves to California, gets sued by the ConnectU crew, settles the case, earns millions of dollars – roll credits. Let’s see if Sorkin can tease out a better story than the Apple/Microsoft feud film “Pirates of Silicon Valley” or the recent “August,” about a start-up on Wall Street. Neither was very well received.
On a silly note: If this movie ever materializes, I have casting suggestion for the lead role: Jacob Zachar, who was seemingly cast to play Mark Zuckerberg in the ABC Family frat dramedy “Greek.”
[Via LA Times]
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2. Chris Gaylord | 08.28.08
Sohrab, funny you should say that. I thought the same thing at first. But Sorkin’s Facebook page says: “I’ve just agreed to write a movie for Sony and producer Scott Rudin about how Facebook was invented.”
3. Heather | 08.28.08
Everyone keeps bringing up this “TWoP” trauma, like it’s an open-and-shut case. I personally am not sure Mr. Sorkin was in the wrong; and in fairness, message board bloggers tend to be a more rabid breed of fan than someone who simply observes from further away. Who knows what kind of WGA bi-laws and behind-the-scenes discussions informed the events leading to the strange emmy acceptance speech drama? Also, if you’ve watched Studio 60 at all, you’ll know that Mr. Sorkin has disdain at best for most bloggers and fan websites. And he’s not wrong. The internet is a dangerous tool, where people like Dilbert27 and the fascist fans of LemonLyman can speak authoritatively to massive crowds, no matter how uninformed their opinions may be. I’d like to see Mr. Sorkin make a movie about that- the incredible influence of the online movie reviewer or the “respected blogger” who tells people who to vote for and where to buy their groceries. Obviously, all the things I just said have been said before, many of them by Mr. Sorkin himself. My point wasn’t to try and make new observations about the internet. My point was to say that Aaron Sorkin finds stories in unlikely places. Maybe this “facebook movie” is going to be not nearly so on-the-nose, and much more of a commentary on society than we can even imagine at this point. At least, let’s hope so.
4. wow | 08.29.08
Wow, this is really stupid. Why don’t you make a movie about myspace, napster, apple, MS, flickr, youtube, etc.
This is obviously a marketing ploy involving several players
think about it
step 1. sony pays for movie
step 2. facebook owes them forever, must always put up sony ads and affliate ads and what not. “The greatest product placement movie ever” will be made so they can make…more product placement!
if you can’t see that then you’re sad. this is one movie that i vow to never watch, and this vow i will actually uphold. not like my Meet the spartans vow. hey if it’s watch or don’t hang out I guess i’m watching. but if it’s the same situation with this soon to be piece o’ sheet, then i’m outta there.
BTW facebook is just myspace for smug people. *bhlllpt* *smells own fart* “Ahhhhh.”
5. Heather | 08.29.08
Wow, I hate to break it to you, but if you watch television, go to basketball, football, baseball or hockey games, then you’re constantly witnessing product placement. The movie industry is just that, an industry, and while we can all look down our noses at their endless ploys for profit, we can’t avoid it. Refusing to see “The Mummy 70 1/3: Brendan Fraser is dead so we had to CGI him” is one thing. Refusing to see a movie by a great writer that COULD POSSIBLY BE INTERESTING OR WELL WRITTEN is another thing entirely. Feel free to disdain any social networking websites you want, Aaron Sorkin tells stories about PEOPLE, not websites, and I guarantee he’s going to find a way to dramatize this, or the project will be thrown out. He is a writer of great integrity and incredible skill.
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1. sohrab | 08.28.08
I think the movie will be about the culture of facebook and social media in our society. Not how facebook got started…