The Social Network Movie

In the last scene of The Social Network, an attractive attorney who is working on Mark Zuckerberg’s case, has to turn down an offer to go grab something to eat with him and he is left sitting alone in an office conference room.  He’s the lonely young billionaire.

I find Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, and the main character in The Social Network, to be a fascinating fellow—at least as he’s played in the movie.  He doesn’t always come across as likeable in the movie, but he is always interesting.  Zuckerberg is one of those people who is absolutely brilliant and yet he is socially awkward.  It might even be fair to describe him as, socially, somewhat unaware.

Most of us have known someone who was frighteningly smart in terms of basic intelligence and yet the person didn’t know how to get along very well with other people.  Right?  It’s the person with the genius IQ who has trouble having an ordinary conversation involving small talk.  That’s Zuckerberg.

This is established in the very first scene of the movie.  In this scene, Zuckerberg and his girlfriend, Erica, are sitting in a bar on the campus of Harvard University and after he bothers, annoys, and, even, insults her, she tells us him that she is going to her dorm to study and that she is no longer his girlfriend.

That’s not a great way to end the evening.

The scene unfolds with some snappy dialogue that involves Erica telling Mark that dating him is “exhausting” because, she says, “going out with you is like dating a Stairmaster.”

Their exchange ends with Erica delivering this zinger: “Listen, you’re going to be successful and rich.  But you’re going to go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a tech geek.  And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won’t be true.  It’ll be because you’re an… #x@*&!” 

This movie was interesting to me because of the Mark Zuckerberg character, in addition to that, the creation of Facebook is an interesting story.  In fact, the whole phenomenon of Facebook is fascinating to me.  Why do certain things catch on?  Facebook started at Harvard University and initially was opened selectively to various other universities.  At every university where it was made available thousands of students signed up within days.  Why is that the case?

Social networks already existed prior to Facebook, it was not a new concept.  Even the exclusivity of Facebook, which is highlighted in the movie as an important ingredient to its success, wasn’t a new concept.  So, why did it catch on so effectively and ultimately bypass other social networks, like MySpace, which had a great head start?

[If you know the answers to those questions, by the way, you might be “billionaire” material.]

I found the story of Facebook to be told in a compelling way in The Social Network.  And, believe me, it’s amazing that I’ve used the word “compelling” about a movie that does not contain a single explosion.  In fact, at no time during the movie was the word “kung fu” ever mentioned, and I still liked it.  Maybe I’m growing up, huh?  [Oh wait…what was I thinking?  That can’t be it.]

Ultimately, though, there was a sort of sad irony to the movie.  Mark creates the world’s most successful online social networking site allowing millions of people to be connected and, yet, he winds up being sued by the friends that he makes along the way, including his best friend.

At the end of the movie some follow-up type of information about several characters was provided in text on the screen.  The last bit of this follow-up information stated that Mark Zuckerberg is the world’s youngest billionaire.  And we’re reminded that a person can be very rich and still be lonely, in which case we have to wonder: Are you really rich?

Dan Marler

Oak Lawn, IL

Do Our Expectations Affect Our Experience?

What do we really expect God to do?  Do we EXPECT Him to be active and involved in our lives?  Do we expect Him to transform us into the likeness of Christ?  Do we expect Him to empower us and give life through His Holy Spirit?  Is it possible that our expectations, or lack of expectations, may have some impact on what we actually experience?

Healthy Connections To Others Are Important

Real love binds us to others—particularly, others in the body of Christ.  So, if we are living an isolated life it’s very possible that we are not connected in a healthy way to the body of Christ and it’s possible that love is not operative in our life the way Christ designed it to be.  “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Col.3:14

Engaging The Head And The Heart

“When the intellect engages with a fact, the fact is stored as truth, and belief results. In contrast, the heart believes only what it experiences.…We’re created to establish belief through two pathways—cognitive and experiential...only when both pathways are engaged does belief become complete.” ~Judith Hougen.  For TRUE belief, we need to engage both the “head” and the “heart”.

You Were Wondering If Wilson Is Orange Yet?

I wrote a story a while back [Sept. 17^th] about a pumpkin—we named him “Wilson”—that began growing in our yard after Nadia threw out the remains of an old pumpkin by some bushes after Halloween, last year.  Nadia wasn’t cultivating pumpkin plants on purpose.  There was nothing intentional about this, Wilson just began growing on his own.  Back in September when I wrote the original story about Wilson he was completely green, as you can see from the picture that accompanied that story.  And we wondered if he would ever turn orange.  Come on, who ever heard of a green pumpkin?

Well, Nadia did some research [that means she typed some key words into Google] and she read that when a pumpkin is picked from the vine it will turn to the orange color that we’re all familiar with.

Yesterday, someone asked me, “Hey, how is Wilson doing?  Is he turning orange, yet?”

Those questions got me thinking that I should probably provide an update.  So, I took a picture of Wilson earlier today—it’s now early October—and you can see that, yes, he is slowly, gradually becoming more orange.  I don’t know how the ripening process happens, but Wilson is starting to look like the kind of pumpkins that we all know and love.  He’s got a ways to go still, sure, but he’s getting there.

Now, I had no idea when I took the photo earlier today, that I was in for quite a surprise.  But later this afternoon, something happened. 

I accidentally walked into the bathroom without knocking on the door, and my jaw hit the floor.  I discovered that Wilson hadn’t been turning orange, naturally.  I caught Wilson with some of Nadia’s make-up and other cosmetics.  That’s right, Wilson was turning orange…but it was all being done artificially!  It was Orange-In-A-Bottle!

I had heard that pumpkins do this kind of thing, sometimes, but I never guessed…that…well…Wilson?  Really?  Wilson is using Orange-In-A-Bottle?

Boy, am I stunned!

But you know what?  I have to admit.  I keep going outside to peek at him and the truth is, ….he’s actually looking pretty good!

So, I’ve got to get running.  I’m going to Walgreens to get some…well, never mind…I’m not telling.  But I’ve got a feeling that soon I’m going to be looking a lot better.

Life In God's Kingdom Involves Serving Others

Hey!  Here's your chance to listen to an audio message.  Really.  I'm not kidding.  This must be your lucky day!  It's titled:  "Life In God's Kingdom Involves Serving Others".

Click here for message.

The Personal Nature of Real Love

God calls us to love everyone but that doesn’t mean we will have the same kind of love or the same intensity of loving feelings for everyone.  This reality does not represent a flaw in love, rather it reflects the nuance, beauty and personal nature of real love.

Carly Is Crowned...Homecoming Queen!

We hurried from lunch to get over to the Anderson University campus for the Homecoming football game, half-time festivities.

You say, “Dan, do you mean to tell me you are actually entertained by the half-time programming at a football game?”

No, not really.  We were excited about getting to the game at half-time in order to watch my beautiful and talented niece, Carly, be crowned...

…The Anderson University HOMECOMING QUEEN!!!

Well, we arrived as the Homecoming Court took the field. 

“Whew!  Just in time.” I said.

To see Carly standing out on the football field was such a joy and such a proud moment.  She is not only a lovely young woman, but she is also a fun, witty, interesting, intelligent, caring and terrific person.  The students of AU got the right person for Homecoming Queen.  (As you can tell, I’m not the least bit biased.)

My mind went back to the years when my brother Cam (Carly’s father) and I were students at Anderson.  We both were given strict instructions to remain at least 50 yards away from the Homecoming Court at all times, and there was some other similar language in the restraining order.  Wow, just think, here we are only one generation later and Carly is the Homecoming Queen!  My how things can change, huh?

Yes, it’s a tremendous honor and responsibility to be the Homecoming Queen.  But I think even more significant than the $50,000 in prize money—and the diamond-studded crown, which is hers for life—is the main benefit of being Homecoming Queen.  Yep, you got it, the “main benefit”.   You see, for the rest of the 2010-2011 Anderson University school year, Carly, as queen, is allowed to give orders to everyone in Anderson and the greater Madison County metro area and her orders must be obeyed.  It only makes sense, right?  

That really is a neat perk.

In fact, for her first official order Carly said, “Uncle Dan, if you write one of your crazy stories, please try to get the facts straight.”

That’s true.  In fact, that’s an outstanding challenge for a person who attempts to maintain the kind of journalistic standards for which I strive.  I should get the facts straight.  But, frankly, I’m not writing from Anderson or the greater Madison County metro area—to be honest, I don’t even think there is a “Madison County metro area”—so, as you can see, I don’t have to follow the orders.  I’m in a different jurisdiction.

Oh well, even Homecoming Queens have to deal with odd and perplexing realities of life, like having strange uncles.

Congratulations, Carly!

Lindsey, Carly & Cam, after the Homecoming Game.

         Later that evening, Carly, before the "Encore" show at which she will perform.

Nothing Else Speaks As Persuasively As The Way We Live

“The power of an exemplary life is probably the most important teaching of Jesus, Paul, and the other writers of the New Testament as well as the early church fathers.”~Keith Meyer.  Most of the time, nothing we say will speak as eloquently, effectively, and persuasively as the things we actually do.

Love Hopes For The Best In Others

Our love for someone may, occasionally, appear to be extremely naïve to others.  It’s not that loves requires us to abandon wisdom or discernment or good judgment—love does not require us to close our eyes to reality—however, love does genuinely “hope” for the BEST in those we love.

We See A Person's Character In The Midst of The Crisis

Where do we usually learn more about a person’s true character, in the comfortable situation or in the crisis situation? Yes, of course, in the crisis situation.  That’s why Jesus’ attitude and behavior during the passion is so insightful.  Jesus loves others and cares about others even while he’s in the midst of dying on a cross.  His true character is revealed and it is amazingly good!

What Will Jasper Do Now That We Have A New Fence?

Jasper had one final escape from our backyard last night.  I think he may have somehow sensed that we were having a new fence put up today so he had to make one last attempt at wandering the neighborhood freely.  You know how dogs have an intuition for things, right?  Dogs can sense what people are talking about, or the mood of things, and they know what’s going on?

Okay, never mind about the “dog intuition” stuff—it’s just a theory.  But Jasper has made numerous escapes from our backyard because the fence around our back yard is old and rotting and broken.  So, he may have sensed that this new fence was going to change things.

We found this crudely written note among Jasper’s personal items, shortly after his most recent escape:

“Tonight may be my final chance to bust out.  Got to try.  Life here in this place is grueling.  Yesterday, I was only able to sleep on the couch in the living room for 16 hours before someone came and shooed me off.  What kind of torturous prison is this?!?”

Signed, Jasper

Well, I refer to last night’s roaming adventure as his “final” escape because our new fence is being put up today.  Even as I type these words, it is being completed.  In fact, I’m having a good chuckle because Jasper’s days of taking off are definitely over!

Right?

It’s been funny watching Jasper and his buddy Jake as the fence is being constructed.  They’ve been standing by our back door looking outside and I can see the wheels are turning.  Oh yeah, they’re watching and the way they’ve stood there for long periods of time—occasionally jotting down notes and diagrams—makes it seem that they’re plotting.

As they stood by the door, I overheard Jasper telling Jake, “This is it, buddy.  That fence is looking rock solid and air tight.  I may be stuck here for good.”

“What are you two talking about?” I asked, walking into the room. 

But they just turned and gave me that look where their eyes say, “Nothing.  We’re not talking about anything.  How could we be talking about anything?  We’re just two innocent animals behaving nicely.”

It was only a few minutes later that I found Jasper upstairs smoking and talking to his lawyer on my cell phone…again.

Well, the new fence is almost completed. 

I have to admit, Jasper’s taken a good crack at escaping over the past year, he’s given it an admirable try.  But there’s no way he can get out now.  Isn’t that true?  I mean, it’s just not possible!  No way!  He can’t do it.  Even Jasper can’t get out with this kind of security!  Right?

……Right?

                               Even now, he's plotting and planning.