Mark Zuckerberg finally gave his review of The Social Network and it was a thumbs down for Hollywood’s understanding about Silicon Valley.
The Facebook founder laughed about some of the small details which he said the film captured correctly, while criticizing the film’s portrayal of his initial creation of the website.
“There’s all this stuff that they got wrong and a bunch of random details they got right,” he laughed when asked about the differences between the film and reality during a “startup school” session at Stanford University. “Where do you start?”
On the confirmed side was his movie character’s apparel. “Every single shirt and fleece I had in that movie is actually a shirt or fleece that I own,” Zuckerberg laughed.
“It’s interesting what stuff they focused on getting right.”
But he made a passionate appeal that his reasons for starting Facebook did not stem from anger over being dumped by a woman or a desire to get into a Harvard social club — clear themes in the movie.
Zuckerberg pointed out that he has been dumped “in real-life, a lot,” but added that he’s had the same girlfriend since before he started Facebook.
“That’s not part of it,” he said. “They frame it as if the whole reason why I made Facebook and was building something was because I wanted to get girls, or wanted to get into some social institution.”
This is movie-makers not understanding the thought process in Silicon Valley.
“They just can’t wrap their head around the idea someone might build something because they like building things,” he said, to a rousing ovation.
