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Margaret Rose
Dr. Dietel-McLaughlin
WR 13300
13 October 2014
The Consequences of Playing the Dangerous Game of Success
The Social Network, directed by David Fincher, was released by Columbia Pictures on
October 1, 2010. The idea for this film came from a book written in 2009 by Ben Mezrich, titled
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and
Betrayal. The storyline of this movie is meant to mimic the actual events before and after the
founding of the popular social networking site. Since its founding, Facbooks status has been
increasingly thriving, but every successful website has to start somewhere. This film tells this
tale, beginning in a Harvard dorm room with its creator Mark Zuckerburg. Zuckerburg is now
worth a staggeringly large amount of 32.8 billion dollars ("Mark Zuckerburg"), but as a poster
promoting this film stated, You dont get to 500 million friends without making a few
enemies. The Social Network uses effective rhetorical approaches to offer a cautionary tale
warning viewers about the consequences that come with an extremely successful business.
Fincher uses the main character, Mark, to show the audience that the achievement of success
without values and ethics does not come without drawbacks.
George Kennedy, an academic focused on the history of rhetoric, defines the term as the
energy inherent in emotion and thought transmitted through a system of signs, including
language, to others to influence their decisions or actions (Herrick 5). In simpler terms, rhetoric
is the expression used to persuade an audience. In the specific case of The Social Network, this

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film was written and produced to induce a certain response from its viewers. In order to elicit this
response Fincher appealed to both the viewers sense of character, appealing to viewers sense of
ethos, is a tool that is used to make a credible character. Herrick emphasizes that appeals are
utilized to engage the audiences loyalties or commitments (13). This helps with persuasion
because when an audience sees a character as legitimate they are more likely to accept that this
person could possibly exist outside of the realm of the film. By accepting the character, the
audience is able to make the crucial decision of whether or not they like a character and their
actions; a decision that Fincher relies on to make his claim.
The Social Network appeals to its viewers sense of ethos in order to gain their trust and
leave a lasting impression with this cautionary argument. This appeal is achieved both through
the credibility of the film and of Mark. Marks credibility is obtained using characterization of
focal characters. Mark Zuckerburg is portrayed as a socially-inept college age student who does
not interact well with others. His personality is evident through his mannerisms and speech. In
the first scene of the legal debates over Mark being sued, he does not act like one would predict
someone in his position to act. While the lawyers are discussing the case he is doodling on a pad
of paper in front of him, and is looking around aimlessly, appearing uninterested in the
conversation. He becomes agitated and defensive, snapping out at random points to add his
insight into why he should not be sued. Marks inability to function socially leads other
characters to dislike him, especially in the case of his ex-girlfriend Erica. In the opening scene
they are shown having drinks in a bar. During a conversation about Final Clubs Mark makes a
comment that Erica should be nice to him because he would take her to events where she would
be meeting a lot of people she wouldnt normally get to meet. Erica rightfully dumps his on the
spot, leaving and calling him an asshole. Characterization is important because it makes Mark

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the right person for Fincher to use to make his point. Throughout the progression of the film
Mark makes questionable ethical and moral decisions. Fincher needs his audience to think of
Mark as a credible character whose actions deserved the consequences they received. If he was
portrayed in a different way, for example if he was given the persona of being the perfect
gentleman, viewers would never believe this tale of the creation of Facebook.
The appeal to the ethos of Marks character would not be effective if it was not for the
way that film itself crafts its believability. The film is based off of actual events that led to an
actual networking site that is extremely popular. This makes the audience to believe that these
events might have realistically taken place. Once the film has drawn the audience in on that
level, they persuade them even more by making them feel like they are present in the movie. The
viewers are put at eye level with the characters, and even put in Marks head to hear his thoughts.
The Social Network as a film presents the story of the creation of Facebook and makes sure the
audience is included at every step of the way. This feeling of inclusion is what makes the appeal
of Marks character more persuasive. The audience feels so included that they are able to see
themselves right along side Mark, making his character believable. Fincher wants to warn people
that success can be a lonely game if one does not play it right, and uses the believable character
of Mark Zuckerburg to prove this point.
The Social Network utilizes the rhetoric approach of framing to arrange the actions of
Mark Zuckerburg in such a way that an emotional response is stimulated from the audience
regarding success and morals. Arrangement refers to the planned ordering of a message to
achieve the greatest effect, whether of persuasion, clarity, or beauty as claimed by Herrick (14).
The arrangement of this film sets the contrast for Mark before and after his success, and then
proceeds to explain how this change came about. It is made evident early that Mark wanted to

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make Facebook in order to win back Erica who had dumped him not long before the creation of
the site. As Facebook became more popular, the character Sean Parker became the driving force
behind Marks decisions that would inevitably turn him against his best friend and business
partner, Eduardo Saverin. Sean Parker is the epitome of what Mark wants to be. Sean has a
successful website and everyone knows who he is, which is what Mark thought he needed in
order to win back Erica. Mark did everything that Sean told him to do, including moving out to
California without Eduardo.
Flashbacks are used as a specific form of framing to further the films argument by
highlighting the contrast between Mark Zuckerburg before and after his success. A film has total
control over their audience and through their content selection, shot composition, camera work,
and editing, filmmakers guide what is seen, for how long, and in what order (Lancioni 109).
Fincher sets present day in the storyline as the aftermath of Facebook, and uses flashbacks to
recount the events of how this point was reached. To address this point one must evaluate Marks
means of obtaining his success and his disposition after it is all said and done. The audience is
shown that at some point after the creation of Facebook, Mark is being sued by multiple parties,
one of them, Eduardo Saverin, is his best friend in the beginning of the flashbacks. Viewers are
left wondering what happened to their friendship that could have led to a lawsuit. Fincher wants
to put a spotlight on Marks actions and make sure that they are under scrutiny by the viewers.
Depicting Mark as the antagonist in the end, but the protagonist in the beginning challenges the
audience to pay close attention to where things went wrong. The argument the film is making is
developed through the contrast of Mark before and after the success of Facebook. This is the
reason Fincher chose to use flashbacks in order to frame this development.

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Finchers uses a different kind of appeals, this time playing towards the emotional values
of his audience. Appeals of pathos are important because effective rhetorical approaches are able
to appeal to what makes an audience want to think a certain way or take action (Herrick 10).
Fincher emphasizes his warning to his audience by appealing to the viewers on an emotional
level with the character Eduardo. In the beginning of the film Eduardo and Mark are best friends;
Eduardo being the one to come and comfort Mark after his break up, and then funding the start
of Facebook. While Mark just wanted Facebook to be popular, Eduardo wanted to make his
family proud sand he believed they needed to start making a profit on this business. Even though
Mark destroyed the chance of gaining advertisers through his sloppy dress and painfully
awkward disposition at interviews, Eduardo staying loyal to Mark and to the company. Mark did
not return that gesture. Once Sean Parker came into the picture, Mark disregarded Eduardo
completely, and effectively cut him out of all of his say in what happened with Facebook.
Despite their friendship Mark had no apprehension lying to and deceiving Eduardo. Sean was
able to help launch Facebook to a high level of success, but Marks unethical actions regarding
Eduardo are what left him alone in the end. Appeals to pathos are used to reach the audience
because the viewers see what a good and loyal friend Eduardo is. They understand that he just
wants to make his family proud and sympathize with the struggle he has to go through with
having Mark as a friend. When Mark effectively stabs him in the back, the viewers are drawn to
take Eduardos side. Marks wrongdoings are what Fincher is warning the audience about
avoiding. Knowing that the audience would take the side of the good guy, and developing an
emotional connection between Eduardo and the audience, Fincher emphasizes what Mark did
was wrong.

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Another situation where Finchers use of pathos plays to the cautionary tale is at the
conclusion of the film. The legal hearings result in Mark losing and Eduardo gaining back his
shares of Facebook, along with an unknown settlement. Mark has a conversation with a legal
assistant and says, Im not a bad guy. The legal assistant replies with Youre not an asshole
Mark; youre just trying so hard to be. The last scene is Mark sitting on the computer waiting
for Erica to accept his friend request, bringing the whole film full circle. These are the
consequences that Fincher is warning his audience about. Mark is alone in a room, having just
lost a lawsuit to his ex-best friend and waiting for his ex-girlfriend to respond to his friend
request. From the beginning the film asked viewers to believed that all Mark wanted was to win
Erica back and he believed the best way to achieve this was through becoming as successful as
possible. He met Sean Parker and wanted to mimic his success, which turned into mimicking his
actions. This in effect turned Mark into a person who did not care about moral or ethical
obligations; into a person who people looked at as an asshole. With this ending, Fincher is
playing to the emotions of his audience from a time when they felt alone. The whole movie was
a rhetorical device used to evoke the response from the viewers. The pity the audience feels for
Mark at the end is there to show them that they should not want people to feel that kind of pity
for them. Fincher cautions that if ones actions used to obtain success are not morally sound,
there will be consequences.
One is able to argue that, if fact, the audience is supposed to feel no pity towards Mark.
After Erica dumps him in the first scene he makes the comment, I dont want friends. This is
ironic compared to the ending when he is sitting there waiting to be Facebook friends with the
very girl he told he did not want friends. Fincher spent the whole movie building up Marks
persona as a backstabbing friend, but really he got exactly what he wanted. In the court room he

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is asked a question and responded with the answer, money isnt a big part of my life, but at the
moment I could buy Mt. Auburn Street, take the Phoenix club, and turn it into my ping-pong
room. The creation of Facebook made Mark Zuckerburg extremely wealthy and successful.
Viewers are able to interpret The Social Network as the tale of a jerk business man who got
exactly what he wanted. The message they would take away from the film would be that
achieving success without values is acceptable as long as one achieves success, but this is
probably not the message that Fincher intended. It is clear that Fincher wanted to warn his
audience of the dangers of success through the rhetorical strategies the film used to make this
point.
The aims of The Social Network are to warn the audience about the costs that come with
success achieved on immoral grounds. This film is effectively displaying the well known saying,
you reap what you sow. It is worthwhile to study this claim because some people hold the
belief that the ends justify the means, and that if one wants to become successful it does not
matter how they get there. Through this popular film one is able to understand that this is not the
case. The Social Network is based off of a real story, a real persons life. As the viewer walks
away from watching this film they will not be able to ignore the message they just received.
They will go forward and remember the cost of Mark Zuckerburgs success: loneliness.

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Works Cited

Herrick, James A. "The History and Theory of Rhetoric." Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2005. Print.
Lancioni, Judith. The Rhetoric of the Frame: Revisioning Archival Photographs in the Civil War.
Visual Rhetoric: A Reader in Communication and American Culture. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE
Publications, 2008. Print.
"Mark Zuckerburg." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 10 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher. Columbia Pictures, 2010. Film.