‘Visibility as Credibility’–symbols as reality, in the new social media digital age in which we all live.
News websites are buzzing with news that Hollywood beauty Natalie Portman would spill the beans on Harvard’s inner circle of who didn’t get A grades like she did, because they were doing other things on campus.
This Portman, reportedly did with the Facebook movie’s screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. The vixen! Apparently, Natalie’s gossip became the back story to The Social Network. In my hood it was called something simple, like conversations over a Jewish dinner, which is quite the norm really, over one’s matzo ball soup. But this is how it reads in Hollywood’s sensationalized hypey press this week.
Which in Hollywood speak – actually means the film had too many blokey moments, and it needed a pretty face overlay (testscreen audiences feedback revealed), in hindsight – to make it seem, less – what’s the word? oh – noninclusive of women. That’s the term.
Regardless, Natalie getting the call to be the face of this mission is proof that girl has Angelina Jolie status as a credible Hollywood queen. Remember when George Clooney’s camp got Angelina Jolie to announce that she would play Marilyn Monroe to Clooney’s Sinatra in a new film, to help generate some buzz for George. The hype worked, and George scraped in again, via Jolie’s celebrity cyphon to just make it to #1 at the box office. Although they have zero, to do with the film being marketed, it’s what girls of Hollywood are called on to do, for the boys. Teamwork.
More seriously though, what is The Social Network all about? We’ve seen people prattle on about it, saying its Oscar worthy. Here’s some thoughts from a critic or two, to share on the film, that I think are quite good.
Frank Chi says: “The Social Network is about social upheaval in the digital age. It’s about the ability of a new media class to deconstruct centuries worth of privilege and access that would’ve won in every other generation but now.”
I say: It’s really about visibility as credibility in a digital age. The fact that the ‘wealthy’ or ‘privileged’ (is anyone that these days still? – the global recession knows no class structures – it just burns) haven’t been as visible via new social media - is because: a) they’re private and b) humble.
New technology like social media – means though, that the wealthy have to be more visible as a norm too now. It’s just about, not being silenced as a voice of reason, or fun, or insight, or light-heartedness too. Speaking up is FaceBooking or blogging, tweeting etc.
Jose Antonio Vargas says: that the movie shows how much Hollywood doesn’t understand Silicon Valley.
I say: Silicon Valley follows Hollywood, (so what they talkin?) because Silicon Valley hopes to develop useful IT, based around propagating new Hollywood trends faster (those things that are recession proof worldwide), in forms, that are Hollywood fit. Hollywood sells.
Silicon Valley’s purpose in America (of stuff that works) is that they’re (S.V) on medium creation, we’re on message construction.
When the message goes into the medium (the i.t platform’s software), than the medium becomes the message (to quote McLuhan), which is precisely what Facebook means, and why Facebook has accelerated brand power in its market.
Enough about meaning. What about Geeks?
Jeff Jarvis thinks: it vilifies nerds and is the new “anti-geek movie.”
“People who want absolute allegiance to the “truth” of Facebook’s founding are offended by the dramatization of it all, although nobody actually knows the truth.
I say: Anyone going to see the facebook movie is a geek in the first place, the one’s not going to see the film, are villifying geek culture, by not paying their movie dollarss to support a film about geeks doing well. Period. The truth in a digital age: is simply about – “the latest upload to Facebook’s pages and communities.” It’s about immediacy. Current standing in as more credible, than the last upload of content. Again, Facebook’s whole point of existing as a means to dessiminate ‘truth’ as it happens, minute by minute.
One things for sure: Anything that generates culture – and facilitates discussion, expansion, shaping thoughts on culture and cultural expression is going to be a hit. We have politicians to thank for that. People are weary of authority systems. They’d rather gage a mood, a vibe, a thought, from a complete stranger – being honest (or funny as a construct), rather than people with a ‘serious’ tone. These people, they just see as ‘actors’ these days. Anyone can be serious. It sometimes takes more commitment to be funny.
Facebook is about it’s creators beating the serious guys in suits. Yet, being serious enough to pioneer the platform, so that us kids, can be the funny ones in it.
Social upheaval exists when the figureheads of traditional meaning (church figures, state figures, educators etc) are not defining meaning in a way that offers useful purpose to those living life in the world. If this occurs and relevancy is impaired, people create meaning themselves, and the ones that do it the best – become the new leaders of meaning and defining culture, as we know it.
I think – all opinions are valid from all leaders and all people. Facebook is one tool, that allows us access to see other peoples opinions and to also share our own it, if we want to. Having said that. If you put all your meaning eggs into Facebook’s basket? Whose b*tch are you? Mark Zuckerberg‘s and team. Aren’t we better off doing some things of Facebook, some on Twitter, oh… and having and owning our own blogs and websites? This blog is an experimentation into that endeavor. Will keep you posted, the day I make a single buck off it. Lol!
Congrats to Team Facebook and the team of The Social Network movie too, on such a fine job, capturing social attention this weekend.
If you live in Hollywood, you get sick of faces. Everyone’s pretty. I sorta think that maybe “Think Book” is the next best thing, as a slightly alternative balancing act - “in 280 characters or less, write some riveting thoughts.” It should be a TV show too – with the best ofs occurring in every state in the U.S, all winning entries being skyped in and edited together in a TV show specific to each town, with a national best of hour occuring each week on the TV.
Social Media TV Network thinking – The Future. If people get to vote the thinkers; then people earn a face spot, based on good thinking. The celebrity star system would clean out all those dumb reality TV series grandstanders (I kid) and create an order of Americans with brains as the new stars.
If posts of ”thought profiles” (authors) are voted on by an online commuity. Why not even call it something green, like The Think Orchard. Like each city is a tree that produces thoughts from branches (people) like good fruit.
The best thoughts voted, allow the community to then put faces on good thinkers. That’s an idea. It would certainly balance out, the current culture of political rhetoric, of –turn up for the cameras without any major new thought being offered in the photo call - so your mug can go everyone (on news, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and the whole gammet of social media) – when really little thought, is behind a face, or an appearance.”
ThinkSpace or ThinkBook or “Thinking Orchard” - would be a good one, to keep the game of “meaning and how its created” – and “the leaders of new meaning” and their selection process, real in this day and age.
Top thoughts, will always be centered on “what green thinking ways of saving, conserving as social thought towards intelligent change” will always get top star billing on a service like that. Or, and funny should win every time too, to counteract the banality of ‘the grief industry’ the world has become in global recession. More humor. More thinking. More social media platforms needed with a green focus.
That would help make FaceBook culture more useful, from my Hollywood tree stand point anyway, on this blog. Philosophy needs pruning and recreation in every age. Super distillation of the best thought, needs to happen quicker, to be fed up to a U.S President, etc, in these times.
We live in that age. Think Orchard TV Network, is my idea to inspire the best thinking stars, a nation can produce each day and week. Let’s put a visible face on Thinkers as Stars! And where even Oprah’s set to bounce her OWN Network, right here in Cali next year, that’s a trend of intelligent cable TV Network – of showcasing best thinkers on relevant topics right there – to compete? support? right along side her, with my idea.
If there’s any social upheaval in this age, may it be one of best thought, reordering weak thought, in order to make a stronger America, New Zealand and all the countries on the globe in betwen both these nations of great people. That’s my American dream. This second.
Thanks Ms. Portman for turning up, for Facebook’s movie this weekend and trucking in some Harvard worthy brains and Hollywood Israeli beauty to lift thinking to new levels. :)
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA.
One Response to NATALIE PORTMAN IS A HARVARD GOSSIP AND SOCIAL UPHEAVAL IN THE SOCIAL NETWORK FILM