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The Social Network is a movie released in 2010 about the founding of Facebook.

David Fincher directs the movie, with the starring crew of Jesse Eisenberg playing
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and Justin Timberlake playing Sean
Parker, the founding president of Facebook and cofounder of Napster. The movie
starts with Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg created a website called the Facemash
to revenge his ex-girlfriend Erica Albright. The Facemash allows people to rate the
hotness of female students using stolen pictures from each houses website. It became
an unexpected success and revealed Zuckerbergs talent. The Winklevoss brothers,
also students of Harvard, noticed his talent and approached Zuckerberg. They asked
him to join their team to create a new website called Harvard Connection. Without
clearly turning down their offer, Zuckerberg started to build a new website named the
Facebook, financially supported by his friend Eduardo Saverin. The Facebook was
like a stone thrown into the previously peaceful pond of Harvard. It became popular
immediately. Irritated by Zuckerbergs success, the Winklevoss brothers sued him
stealing their original idea of Harvard Connection. Meanwhile, Zuckbergs ambition
grew bigger after meeting Sean Parker. The growing ambition blocked Zuckerberg
from maintaining his friendship with Saverin. As Facebook expanded, Zuckerberg
tricked Saverin for the overall interests of the company. The movie presents us with
several different definitions of the success, alongside with a picture of student life,
gender issues, and friendship. Moreover, accompanying with the use of sound
element, appeal to emotion, and other rhetorical and film techniques, David Fincher
claims that normally the emotional change will lead to bad decision through The
Social Network.
In the movie, the use of sound is an inseparable element that helps audience to
experience the emotional change in the movie. The sound element creates
hypermediacy. In the logic of hypermediacy, the artist (or multimedia programmer
or web designer) strives to make the viewer acknowledge the medium as a medium
and to delight in that acknowledgment.(Immediacy, Hypermediacy, and
Remediation, 41) In the movie, the after-added, non-diegetic sound acknowledges us
that we are watching a movie. Moreover, we are fascinated by the effective use of
music. The music blends with the scene. For example, in the second scene of the
movie, after Erica dumped Mark, Mark walked alone from the bar to his residence
hall. Meanwhile, the non-diegetic changes from the previously electronic music in the
bar scene into a piece of music mainly played by violin. The violin is good at playing
a melancholy melody. The background music creates a depressing atmosphere. The
change in music indicates the change of Marks emotion from relaxed to depressed.
Through Finchers act of hypermediacy, we are in fascination with music itself. We
experience the emotional change in Mark through the fascinating non-diegetic music.
After the change of emotion depicted, Fincher uses Pathos to prove that dramatic
emotion change motivates people to act. Aware of the emotional change within the
character, we, audience, draw on our own experience, and think that making a
decision under emotional change is indeed understandable. Appeals are frequently
used strategies in rhetoric. In Herricks An overview of Rhetoric, Herrick writes that
Appeal are those symbolic strategies that aims either to elicit an emotion or to
engage the audiences loyalties or commitment (13) In The Social Network, appeal
is used to elicit an emotion. Through appeal to emotion, the characters action after
the change of emotion is justified. Premeditatedly, Eduardo Saverin is depicted as a
pathetic character. In the scene of soaked Eduardo arriving California, and arguing

with Mark privately, information is presented that Eduardo has been forgotten by
Mark in the airport for an hour after a long flight. When Eduardo asks for explanation
about Seans large role in the company when he is absent, Mark mocks Eduardo for
being useless. However, Fincher presents us through dialogue that Eduardo has taken
14 hours of subway in New York everyday, trying hard to run the business of
company by getting advertising deal. Despite of all this effort, he is still considered as
left behind. Eduardo becomes angry instantly. His change of emotion is indicated by
his later decision of freezing his bank account for the company. Fincher skillfully
provides Eduardos experience to invite emotional response. Aware of Eduardos
pathetic experience, we arouse a sense of pity. Appeal to emotion is used here to
invite us to draw on our experience, put ourselves in characters shoes, and then
justify his action. As in this case, were we be ignored totally our given effort, and
mistreated, we would likely to take action, expressing our anger. Therefore,
Eduardos later action is being emotionally understood, because we actually expect
him to fight back and do something. We think that making a decision under emotional
change is necessary and justified. In other word, Fincher proves that emotional
change invites decision-making, and action.
As an experienced director, Fincher utilizes the camera angle to create the experience
of decision-making after emotional change. With the aid of sound element, this
experience becomes more vivid. In the scene of Mark creating the Facemash, Fincher
mainly involves the act of transparent immediacy. Virtual reality is immersive,
which means that it is a medium whose purpose is to disappear.(Immediacy,
hypermediacy, and remediation21) The chosen angle of camera erases the presence
of medium. The place of the camera is the place of viewer at. Numerous close shots
are used to capture the flashing cursor followed by written programing code on the
computer screen, and swiftly moving fingertips on the keyboard. The style of
immediacy put viewer in the presence of the scene. Specifically, in this scene, viewers
are Mark, who just goes through a dramatic change in emotion after being dumped.
We are looking at the computer, and programming the Facemash. The use of soundelement goes beyond the desire for immediacy, reaching hypermediacy. Once again,
soundtracks give viewer a vivid experience of this decision-making process. The
effect brought by the presence of sound is surprising. In this scene, diegetic sound
involves roommates chattering and clacking on the keyboard. While the non-diegetic
sound is a piece of rhythmic electronic music called In Motion, written by Trent
Reznor and Atticus Ross. It involved a sequence of synthesized staccato intimating
the sound of piano. (ninwiki.com) Blending with the scene, the background music
matches the high-speed programming done by Mark. Moreover, Marks voice is
added to the soundtrack to express his thoughts within his brain. Fincher clearly
invited viewers to be Mark here. Overall, the mixed act of immediacy and
hypermediacy creates an immersive scene. The close shots and use of sound effect
offer us a detailed insight into the process of decision making after an emotional
change.
Some might think that the decision made under emotional change may not always be
bad one. However, in The Social Network, the overall planned plot, including setting
and dialogue, aims to prove the emotion-driven decision is bad. In Herricks An
Overview of Rhetoric, it is written that, Regardless of the goal at which it aims,
rhetorical discourse involves forethought or planning. (8) Sometimes, the planned
setting forebodes the bad decision. One of the significant utilization of setting is
manipulating the weather of the scene. Eduardo is soaked after arriving to California

in pouring rain outside. The gloomy atmosphere is created through the heavy rain. It
foretells mischief. As viewer expected, Mark and Eduardo argue furiously afterward,
directly causing Eduardos decision to freeze the bank account. As the movie goes on,
the overall plot proves that freezing the account is indeed an irrational decision, which
ultimately leads to the dilution of Eduardos share of the company later on. The
pathetic Eduardo has paid for his own decision made after his anger. Additionally,
Fincher uses dialogue of between characters to confirm the decision made under the
emotional change is bad. In one of the last scene in the movie, Mark finally confesses
to the lawyer, Marylyn, I was drunk, angry, stupid, and blogging, describing the
situation when he created the Facemash. It is the only time in the movie that Mark
acknowledges his own fault. The Facemash is created under dramatic emotional
change after Mark is dumped. Through the dialogue, he himself confirms that creating
the Facemash is a stupid act. The decision is bad. Using planned plot, including
setting and dialogue, Fincher claims that the decision made after change of emotion is
likely to unwise.
Throughout The Social Network, Fincher skillfully conveys a claim that dramatic
emotional change causes bad decision. He depicts emotional change through the use
of sound element. Accompanying with the use of appeals, he convinces the audience
that change of emotion motivates decision to be made. In addition, the overall plot
makes us realize that the decision made under the emotional change is usually bad
because of irrationality. Through all those steps, he eventually forms a claim that the
change of emotion is likely to lead to bad decision. It is especially true to young
adults, because they are likely to be extremely irrational under emotional change.
Since the target of this movie is mainly the young adult, Fincher furthermore tries to
persuade us young adult to think twice before making a decision and be responsible of
our own decision. The more thoughts we take into account, the less bad decisions we
will make.

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