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The Social Network
Movie

The Social Network

2010 • Biography, Drama

Woke Score
3
out of 10

Plot

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

Overall Series Review

The film chronicles the creation of Facebook and the subsequent legal battles, depicting the founder as a brilliant but deeply flawed and socially inept entrepreneur whose ambition trumps friendship and ethics. The central drama revolves around merit versus old-money entitlement, and a betrayal motivated by greed and a desperate need for social status. The narrative is heavily focused on the cutthroat, secular, and male-dominated world of elite university life and the emerging tech industry. Women are relegated to being objects of desire, catalysts for the main character's actions, or brief, moral-voice figures in the periphery. The film's morality is entirely transactional and secular, revolving around lawsuits and equity, not any transcendent moral code.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The main conflict is not based on race or immutable characteristics, but on a clash between intellectual merit (the hacker/programmer) and the entrenched class-based privilege of the Harvard Final Clubs. The film critiques the 'social apartheid' of the old elite institution. Character judgment is based entirely on ambition, talent, and betrayal, not intersectional hierarchy. Minor characters from diverse backgrounds are present but their race or background is not a narrative focus.

Oikophobia3/10

The film criticizes two specific American institutions: the outdated, elitist system of Harvard's 'Final Clubs' and the greed-driven, unethical behavior of the emerging tech-money class. This is an indictment of hypocrisy and amorality within the American elite, not a wholesale demonization of Western civilization, heritage, or ancestors. There is no 'Noble Savage' trope, but rather a focus on American class warfare.

Feminism1/10

This film actively lacks 'Girl Boss' and 'Mary Sue' tropes. Women are heavily objectified (starting with the 'Facemash' site) and are primarily portrayed as being motivated by their attraction to status and power. The female characters are catalysts for the men's actions or marginalized moral voices, which is the complete opposite of the modern 'woke' feminist narrative. The film's portrayal was criticized at the time for being misogynistic and only showcasing women as 'vacuous, sexualized objects.'

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative has no focus on LGBTQ+ issues, centering instead on heterosexual college relationships, ambition, and greed. Traditional male-female pairing is the undisputed norm, and the film includes scenes of promiscuity and sexual objectification, but no centering of alternative sexualities, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or lecturing on gender theory is present.

Anti-Theism6/10

The film's moral universe is entirely secular and transactional. The narrative centers on legal battles and financial disputes, establishing morality as subjective and defined by power dynamics, legal contracts, and personal betrayal. No character finds strength in faith, and traditional religion is absent from the lives of the characters. This spiritual vacuum, where objective truth is replaced by 'immaturity, greediness, stealing, lying/honesty, disrespect, and betrayal,' is the backdrop for the rise of a billionaire.