Representation of New Media in Cinematographic Apparatuses: Critical Analysis of “ The Social Network ” as One of the Social Media Themed Hollywood Movies

As new and old media articulate with each other, it is possible to find traces of each media in the other one. Although new media is fed from old media by re-telecasting [rebroadcasting] what has been telecasted [broadcasted] in old media, old media subject new media in to its various programs or products. As it is known, cinema, which can be considered as old media and as an ideological state apparatus, is one of the influential medium in the process of naturalizing and normalizing ‘dominant’ as dominant. Because of this, representation of new media in old media is explored to understand how the dominant power relations or old mainstream media represent or portray new mainstream or new (?) dominant power relations. During the present study, “unchanging political economic structures in the field of media industry” and the way they legitimate and naturalize their superiority is the main argument that has been taken for granted. For the purpose of the present study, the motion-picture “The Social Network” is analyzed in terms of investigating how the messages were coded and how the reality of Facebook as a new product of dominant power relations was constructed.


Introduction Character
The movie was emphasizing the significance of Facebook in our daily lives, and the persona of Mark Zuckerberg was highlighted. Overall, Mark was portrayed as big head, wise, and sarcastic guy. Argument about his genius was emphasized via the narration and cinematography of the movie. When mentioning the fact that the number of genius people in China is much more than in the US, he was claiming his 'uniqueness' and his 'speciality'. Via his manners and speeches, he always attempted to "inferiorize" and 'humiliate' other people either woman or man. As an antisocial personality, Mark was portrayed as a guy who has low self-esteem, a guy who did not realize himself, and a one who is poor in social relations. He was represented as a young man who has no self-esteem, which is one of the characteristics of a self-actualized person.
Mark, whose girlfriend had deserted him, felt raw about it and had humiliated her in his 'blog'. He also created 'Face-match' program to compare female students of the universities to insult them through their physical appearances. He wanted to make them feel what he was feeling about being 'undesirable' because of physical appearance. This scene indicated the fact that he was feeling anger toward the opposite sex because of his low self-confidence regarding his physical appearance. Mark's obsession about being elite or popular (but not being rich) to be admitted was repeated throughout the movie. According to him, being elite was all about being popular and the structure of the 'super-class' was only about being popular. He was portrayed as someone who was 'othering' people through his 'intelligence' in most of the scenes (such as othering his girlfriend through the university she was studying).
His lack of self-confidence about his physical appereance was indicated at the very beginning of the movie, the opening scene, where he confessed to his girlfriend that he had no chance of being popular because of his physical appearance. Despite his intelligence and high IQ, he was portrayed as a guy who has low EQ (emotional quotient) because of being poor at social relations. Regarding this, he was represented as someone who has potential to trust anybody.
This detail was given to the spectators as the mitigating causes of his negative features. It was also supported via the conversation between him and solicitress who told him that he was not a 'cur' but he only tried to be one.
His marginality within the context of his appearance was highlighted through the cinematography of the movie not to indicate his modestness but to point to his nonchalance and facetiousness. Likewise, there is a nuance between being modest and being nonchalant.
At the first legal meeting that he was involved in, everyone apart from him were wearing suits. He was the only one who presented himself with flip flops, t-shirt, and a jean. In addition to this, in the one of the following scenes, he was shown going to job interview to tell them to 'go to hell' with a robe-de-chambre and sleepwear.

Image 2. Mark Zuckerberg at Hovards's Ad Board with flip flops
Apart from his contrarian dressing style, his apathy, and sarcastic attitudes, drawing pictures or scratching during the legal meetings as well as giving sarcastic answers to the questions that are posed him, supports his pertness.
His understanding about popularity was not related with the money or attention of opposite sex. For this reason, he never concerned himself with womanizing or earning money. On the contrary, being 'an endless project' or being 'fashion' in other's life such as 'Facebook' was the only important thing for him in terms of being popular and not losing it. His ambitious persona, so ambitious that he faced losing his best friend, was highlighted during the movie.
However, his 'naiveté' or his emotional intelligence level was presented to spectators as extenuating circumstances.In the movie, his bullheaded, unsubmissive persona was intertwined with a young man who never apologizes and is evasive. This was shown as how Mark was being different and successful.

Implications
This motion picture, which only shows a particular part of Mark Zuckerberg's life (innovation and development of Facebook SNS), is one of the biopics that legitimates the power of 'representations' within the context of constructing and reconstructing realities.Cinematography, effects, and lightings were intertwined, were harmonious and professionally manipulative in the film. Forasmuch as before analyzing the movie, as the only social network site that was filmed as a biopic, I was almost sure that the 'place' of Facebook in our everyday lives would be naturalized and legitimated via this cinematographic apparatus.
To summarize, Mark, who has various negative features, does not leave a negative impression with the spectators because of the success of the movie at its narration and fiction. Despite all negativities, such a motion picture, which had said that Mark did a good job and he squeezed out, indicates the active power of cinema industry on social consciousness and construction of social reality. How 'old' media deals with 'new' media and how they legitimate already constructed power relations, the way they naturalize and cultivate the concept of 'new' although not being very different from the 'old' media is, to some extent, indicated via this motion picture as a means of cinematographic apparatus.