Since everybody in the media and their monkey is consistently pointing at my country Germany for "bringing unemployment under control", let me just point out two things. One, it is the same kind of shallow, lazy reporting that had the right wing snap up some hogwash item from India telling that Obama's trip costs 200 million a day. That's bad enough, but from this former reporter's perspective, the constant misinformation world-wide about Germany is even worse.
Yes, our unemployment numbers are down, because the state mandates to take you a job, any job with pay underneath the welfare line. In fact, these practices, during which employers willfully and with intent pay hourly wages of 2 to 4 Euro (Germany has no mandatory minimum wage) and then tell their employees to go on welfare has exploded over the past five years. These practices cost the German taxpayer 50 billion Euro. All of it to put the proverbial make-up on the pig that is our unemployment statistics. We have less people on unemployment, and many many more people on welfare. And does the media "get it"? (that seems to be the phrase du jour, right?)
No. In Germany, the media frames the narrative in such a way that it's the "welfare recipients" that cost those 50 billion. All of which then gets picked up world-wide and serves as the basis of a global narrative. All of which I once dissected here.
And this is not merely something the "poor, uneducated masses" are facing. Do you know what a junior professor is worth now in Germany? 258.60 Euro per month for teaching two full courses! And no, I am not making that up.
And as for wealth? Well, Germany ain't far behind folks in the United States. According to the latest study, the upper 10 percent of Germans own 60 percent of all wealth, the lower 70 percent own 09 percent of the wealth. Leaves the amazingly shrinking middle class of 20 percent of people with 21 percent of the wealth. Again, not making this up.
So, while the worldwide media is kissing Angela Merkel's twat (what? too harsh a word for you? If she was male, I'd have said "sucking her dick"), especially those amazing folks at Forbes Magazine (let me tell you, if you are on a Forbes list these days, you might as well be on a list of the "Top 10 Most Wanted For White Collar Crimes" list, too. only we don't have such a list. We care about terrorists in caves.), this is what is really going on in my home country. My friends often tell me to stop blogging about this, because "dude, who knows who is listening and reading it".
And while one may say with some validity that such sentiments – as well-meant as they are – show signs of paranoia, the fact alone that an evergrowing part of the population has started to self-censor their openly spoken thoughts, that they worry about who might be hearing what you say...
... shows how badly it has become. It is a vague feeling of fear, of uneasiness, of something you cannot quite grasp. It is very similar to the feelings I experienced while visiting East Germany as it was still behind barbed wires and watchtowers. When I was talking – as innocently as you can when you are a child – with my relatives there, very often there would be that "hush" moment when they grown-ups talked. Very often, there would be those glances, followed by the warning of "don't say that. You never know who might be listening".
Fuck that shit.
Didn't I once say that the truth shall set you free?
It does. It sets your mind free. It says to you that you spoke up, you said it out loud, and damn the fucking consequences.
November 7, 2010
November 6, 2010
THE SLAVERY OF PROFESSIONALS, AS EVIDENCED BY THE KEITH OLBERMANN SUSPENSION
While everybody on the left (isn't that the "professional left" now? And if it is, why don't I get a paycheck?) is up in arms over Keith Olbermann's suspension by MSNBC for donating three times the maximum allowed political contribution for a normal citizen to three democratic politicians...
... the others are up in arms for the wrong reason. They compare it to Fox (News, god, it grates me to even spell that word in sync with Fox) and their anchors, and while there is validity to that criticism, spelled out by Rachel Maddow on her show last night, there is something much larger here at stake.
The fact that Olbermann had apparently something in his contract something that had to make him beg his employers to exercise his constitutional right to donate a political contribution to causes or politicians he liked. Did he do it in accordance with the law? Yes. Did he disclose it? Of course he did. His name is listed on the FEC list of contributors. Duh. Did he beg his employer to say "yes" to his contribution?
No.
Let this sink in for a moment. You may go "but Thomas, he is a journalist, and journalists have to appear impartial, and this..."
This. is. bullshit. Every day, every single fucking day around the world, be it in Germany or in Britain or in the United States, "journalists" sign up for big paychecks to "host" and "moderate" big corporate events, thus creating the appearance that these corporations are either fair or impartial or doing "good" in whatever sense. Did Keith Olbermann do that? Why the news media has no problem with that?
Because they very often are part of that circus, because they are multinational conglomerates, very often with stakes in energy businesses (hello, GE) or other, very often unsavoury sideline moneymakers. And then? Then obviously they want that air or respectability that a "journalist" provides. Did Keith Olbermann do what hundreds of "media celebrities" (for that is what TV anchors are, I am sorry, but we are decades away from Murrow and/or Cronkite and/or Scholl-Latour here in Germany) do every single day?
No. He openly contibuted to a candidate of his choice.
But that isn't even the point here.
The point is larger, deeper and much more dangerous.
Not only did the Supreme Court give corporations the status of citizens in the political process with its decision of the "Citizen United" case, it now allows multinationals and billionaires to play Secret Santa in elections, as was evidenced in the election this week. Hundreds of millions of dollars, unaccounted for, channeled by Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers to smear, slime and slander the political process itself.
They have the "right" now.
And here's where it gets really tricky. As the defenders of MSNBC's decision so gleefully point out "well, it was in his contract, so meh". Really? Are you already such slave whores that you don't see what is wrong there? It means that a contract (and not just in Olbermann's case, there are instances by McDonalds – albeit it only in one franchise – and other companies that have popped up) that very often you kind of have to sign to get employed and thus food on the table...
... trumps your constitutional right as a citizen! You are no longer a free citizen, if you have to beg your employer to be allowed, let me say that, to be allowed to make a political contribution, while at the same time your employer is allowed to funnel – taxfree, of course – millions of dollars into the political process that benefits nobody but the corporation itself.
Of cours, they will say, "fuck you, Olbermann makes a shitload of money and that means he should shut up". Yeah, sure, shut the hell up. In this case that is an emotional argument, obviously, but one I can understand.
What about those other people, then? Who are not Olbermann? Who have it in their contracts that they have to beg their coproation if they can make a contribution. Maybe that contribution will go against the corporation's interests? Can it then just shut you down? Of course it can. It's in your contract.
A contract that then supersedes your constitutional rights.
Know what that is called? Ownership. Slavery.
Or in German, we would call it "Leibeigenschaft". You are owned, then. Your ability to make your own choises, severely cut down. You are owned. And that is not merely Keith Olbermann's problem, it is the danger to democracy. The danger to everybody living in it. And to those tea baggers screaming the loudest about "freedom"? Where are you now? Huh? You are soooo scared of the government taking away things.
But you adore to be corporate slaves.
Hell, for money, you'd sign your liberties away in a nano-second.
... the others are up in arms for the wrong reason. They compare it to Fox (News, god, it grates me to even spell that word in sync with Fox) and their anchors, and while there is validity to that criticism, spelled out by Rachel Maddow on her show last night, there is something much larger here at stake.
The fact that Olbermann had apparently something in his contract something that had to make him beg his employers to exercise his constitutional right to donate a political contribution to causes or politicians he liked. Did he do it in accordance with the law? Yes. Did he disclose it? Of course he did. His name is listed on the FEC list of contributors. Duh. Did he beg his employer to say "yes" to his contribution?
No.
Let this sink in for a moment. You may go "but Thomas, he is a journalist, and journalists have to appear impartial, and this..."
This. is. bullshit. Every day, every single fucking day around the world, be it in Germany or in Britain or in the United States, "journalists" sign up for big paychecks to "host" and "moderate" big corporate events, thus creating the appearance that these corporations are either fair or impartial or doing "good" in whatever sense. Did Keith Olbermann do that? Why the news media has no problem with that?
Because they very often are part of that circus, because they are multinational conglomerates, very often with stakes in energy businesses (hello, GE) or other, very often unsavoury sideline moneymakers. And then? Then obviously they want that air or respectability that a "journalist" provides. Did Keith Olbermann do what hundreds of "media celebrities" (for that is what TV anchors are, I am sorry, but we are decades away from Murrow and/or Cronkite and/or Scholl-Latour here in Germany) do every single day?
No. He openly contibuted to a candidate of his choice.
But that isn't even the point here.
The point is larger, deeper and much more dangerous.
Not only did the Supreme Court give corporations the status of citizens in the political process with its decision of the "Citizen United" case, it now allows multinationals and billionaires to play Secret Santa in elections, as was evidenced in the election this week. Hundreds of millions of dollars, unaccounted for, channeled by Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers to smear, slime and slander the political process itself.
They have the "right" now.
And here's where it gets really tricky. As the defenders of MSNBC's decision so gleefully point out "well, it was in his contract, so meh". Really? Are you already such slave whores that you don't see what is wrong there? It means that a contract (and not just in Olbermann's case, there are instances by McDonalds – albeit it only in one franchise – and other companies that have popped up) that very often you kind of have to sign to get employed and thus food on the table...
... trumps your constitutional right as a citizen! You are no longer a free citizen, if you have to beg your employer to be allowed, let me say that, to be allowed to make a political contribution, while at the same time your employer is allowed to funnel – taxfree, of course – millions of dollars into the political process that benefits nobody but the corporation itself.
Of cours, they will say, "fuck you, Olbermann makes a shitload of money and that means he should shut up". Yeah, sure, shut the hell up. In this case that is an emotional argument, obviously, but one I can understand.
What about those other people, then? Who are not Olbermann? Who have it in their contracts that they have to beg their coproation if they can make a contribution. Maybe that contribution will go against the corporation's interests? Can it then just shut you down? Of course it can. It's in your contract.
A contract that then supersedes your constitutional rights.
Know what that is called? Ownership. Slavery.
Or in German, we would call it "Leibeigenschaft". You are owned, then. Your ability to make your own choises, severely cut down. You are owned. And that is not merely Keith Olbermann's problem, it is the danger to democracy. The danger to everybody living in it. And to those tea baggers screaming the loudest about "freedom"? Where are you now? Huh? You are soooo scared of the government taking away things.
But you adore to be corporate slaves.
Hell, for money, you'd sign your liberties away in a nano-second.
November 5, 2010
THE TRIBE, IN PROGRESS (UPDATE)
Yes, I do like how it flows. Maybe I can tickle Edo into doing it in colour. Muhahahahahaha. No, not really. He'd very likely kill me, and that would be his right. Are these things final? No, of course not. I am still experimenting with different styles and classes of word balloons, whether to overlap them or to open them to the panel borders, e.g.
Hey, I did call it "in progress", right?
November 4, 2010
ZACH SNYDER: IDIOTS ON PARADE (ALSO CALLED: SUCKERPUNCH)
Here's why I will never, ever watch another Zach Synder movie again. Why? Snyder doesn't make movies. He makes video games. And games that you cannot even play. Watch this trailer closely. No, wait. Don't watch it. Close your eyes. Listen. Are you hearing it?
You will need five items to set yourself free.
Enter, Level 1. SkirtGirl vs. SamuraiBot!
Enter, Level 2: SkirtGirl vs. Steampunk Germany!
Enter, level 3 ... and so on.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the future of movies.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
November 3, 2010
THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN
And the only thing I can say with regards to the midterm elections in the United States of America, what most of them have said was "we have the fucking memory of a goldfish". So now you have what you wanted. You have the people back in positions of power who were so good to you before, who were instrumental in causing the greatest economic collapse since the 1930s...
... and who were quite clear about the fact that they will do it again.
You have a President who already sold out pretty much everything you wanted over the past two years, and who still got hammered for being a Communist/Socialist/Nigger Anti-Colonialist Kenyan. And who this evening European time had a press conference that made me roll my eyes, moan and wondering if Black Barry is on a different earth, you know, like Earth 2 or Terra Nova, for he also apparently doesn't need writers.
That man there wasn't a president. That man there was a Harvard professor lecturing. That man there had no fire in him, and I am tired of people telling us that he is the master at 11th dimensional chess, and that the rest of us are just too stupid to understand him.
Intelligence is important. Tactical planning is important.
And it is worth nothing if you don't have something worth fighting for. If you don't have the heart to stand up and tell the ones who say "no" to everything, "hey, assholes, you want a fight? I'll give you one. I will start mopping up the floors with you, ain't that what us niggers are supposed to do for you, anyway?"
The media makes the claim all over the place that it's Obama's radical leftism is what drove the votes to vote Republican this time. Okay. Fine. You will likely see not anything happen in the next two years. More people will fall through the cracks. Extended unemployment? Forget about it, kids. How's that street looking to you? Getting sick? Tough shit. Health care coverage – even the limited one – will not kick in until 2014 and later.
Your premiums (if you still have a job), however?
Going up, up, up... right now.
The ones who voted in Rand Paul? Congratulations! You now have a fucking racists standing up for you. Oh, wait, you are racists, too? Oh, good. At least in that case, you good people of Kentucky, have the right person representing you. And don't give me that "but I have a black friend, you know". Fuck that shit. It's the same thing as stating "You know, not all Jews are devious Communist Capitalist Crackerfucks" if you were a German in the 1930s, because, "you know, Aaron down there at the corner shop, he's kind of decent. Why, if he hadn't worn that yellow star the other day, I would have never known."
Yes, the people have spoken.
They spoke like a three year old.
What they said was "Waaaaah!"
So, here's the deal, kids. Don't whine. When they come for your Social Security and your medicare, don't whine. When you still cannot make your credit card payments, and the jobs continue to go away, don't whine.
You have spoken.
You told the poor, the helpless, the minorities, the gays, the sick to "man up".
Just like your Queen Sarah did.
You better suffer the consequences.
And you better fucking suffer them in silence.
Man up, motherfuckers. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
... and who were quite clear about the fact that they will do it again.
You have a President who already sold out pretty much everything you wanted over the past two years, and who still got hammered for being a Communist/Socialist/Nigger Anti-Colonialist Kenyan. And who this evening European time had a press conference that made me roll my eyes, moan and wondering if Black Barry is on a different earth, you know, like Earth 2 or Terra Nova, for he also apparently doesn't need writers.
That man there wasn't a president. That man there was a Harvard professor lecturing. That man there had no fire in him, and I am tired of people telling us that he is the master at 11th dimensional chess, and that the rest of us are just too stupid to understand him.
Intelligence is important. Tactical planning is important.
And it is worth nothing if you don't have something worth fighting for. If you don't have the heart to stand up and tell the ones who say "no" to everything, "hey, assholes, you want a fight? I'll give you one. I will start mopping up the floors with you, ain't that what us niggers are supposed to do for you, anyway?"
The media makes the claim all over the place that it's Obama's radical leftism is what drove the votes to vote Republican this time. Okay. Fine. You will likely see not anything happen in the next two years. More people will fall through the cracks. Extended unemployment? Forget about it, kids. How's that street looking to you? Getting sick? Tough shit. Health care coverage – even the limited one – will not kick in until 2014 and later.
Your premiums (if you still have a job), however?
Going up, up, up... right now.
The ones who voted in Rand Paul? Congratulations! You now have a fucking racists standing up for you. Oh, wait, you are racists, too? Oh, good. At least in that case, you good people of Kentucky, have the right person representing you. And don't give me that "but I have a black friend, you know". Fuck that shit. It's the same thing as stating "You know, not all Jews are devious Communist Capitalist Crackerfucks" if you were a German in the 1930s, because, "you know, Aaron down there at the corner shop, he's kind of decent. Why, if he hadn't worn that yellow star the other day, I would have never known."
Yes, the people have spoken.
They spoke like a three year old.
What they said was "Waaaaah!"
So, here's the deal, kids. Don't whine. When they come for your Social Security and your medicare, don't whine. When you still cannot make your credit card payments, and the jobs continue to go away, don't whine.
You have spoken.
You told the poor, the helpless, the minorities, the gays, the sick to "man up".
Just like your Queen Sarah did.
You better suffer the consequences.
And you better fucking suffer them in silence.
Man up, motherfuckers. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
WHO NEEDS WRITERS, ANYWAY?
According to today's article in the Los Angeles Times, Steven Spielberg doesn't. Well, that would explain Indiana Jones & The Flying Monkey Shia as well as pretty much every movie he has either directed or produced in this decade (and whoever comes to me to defend The Minority Report, The Terminal, Leo's On The Run and/or Tom Cruises With Aliens will get slapped, very hard.)
In the latest development that had Fox first move Terra Nova (their new hot science fiction series that is essentially Earth 2, but now with added dinosaurs, whoooooo!) to May 2011 with a super-special-über-awesome pilot to then have the show come back in the fall in order to give the show more time, since it is, like, you know, like, really time intensive to do good F/X.
Sounds logical, and isn't necessarily something new, right? After all, animated shows like the Simpsons need to have all that extra time as well, since they have to be animated first (like F/X, also a time consuming process)
So, if you write the episodes today, if they start shooting this month, you have a full year to come up with the F/X. And even if it still Spielberg masturbating to the tune of his last big TV failure, Earth 2, one would assume that they would at least get the dinosaurs right, then.
Ah. If they were writing right now.
See, in that LA Times article, it is revealed that they have just fired all of the writers that don't have an overall contract.
Oh, have I said that the show already costs 20 million (allegedly) for the pilot alone, with not a single bit or byte having been shot? See, writers are apparently expensive, but they are nothing against the producing fees and bullshit that Spielberg and the others get for putting their name on a product that sounds simply dreadful, and after having read the pilot script that is simply awful, I can tell you that one would need some writers to...
... oh, wait, yeah. Sorry. No, we don't need writers. They are too expensive.
We are Spielberg.
We have a name.
Wrong, Stevie. You once had a name. Know when that was?
In the 1980s.
In the latest development that had Fox first move Terra Nova (their new hot science fiction series that is essentially Earth 2, but now with added dinosaurs, whoooooo!) to May 2011 with a super-special-über-awesome pilot to then have the show come back in the fall in order to give the show more time, since it is, like, you know, like, really time intensive to do good F/X.
Sounds logical, and isn't necessarily something new, right? After all, animated shows like the Simpsons need to have all that extra time as well, since they have to be animated first (like F/X, also a time consuming process)
So, if you write the episodes today, if they start shooting this month, you have a full year to come up with the F/X. And even if it still Spielberg masturbating to the tune of his last big TV failure, Earth 2, one would assume that they would at least get the dinosaurs right, then.
Ah. If they were writing right now.
See, in that LA Times article, it is revealed that they have just fired all of the writers that don't have an overall contract.
20th Century Fox Television last week canned most of the writing staff, including former "X-Files" scribe Chris Brancato. Brannon Braga, late of "Star Trek: Enterprise," remains in charge as showrunner. [...] "These are expensive writers," one insider said.So, for a show that will start in the fall (usually that means last week of September or sometime during October), the bulk of the shows will be written – like with most normal shows – during the summer. That means either they already have scripts written and ready to go, or – more likely – the show will be run on the normal TV network model.
Oh, have I said that the show already costs 20 million (allegedly) for the pilot alone, with not a single bit or byte having been shot? See, writers are apparently expensive, but they are nothing against the producing fees and bullshit that Spielberg and the others get for putting their name on a product that sounds simply dreadful, and after having read the pilot script that is simply awful, I can tell you that one would need some writers to...
... oh, wait, yeah. Sorry. No, we don't need writers. They are too expensive.
We are Spielberg.
We have a name.
Wrong, Stevie. You once had a name. Know when that was?
In the 1980s.
CAN WE BOMB GREECE NOW?
Considering that the immediate reaction (and I am talking here, one the same day – yesterday) to the parcel/mail bombs from Yemen was "this is the most dangerous terrorist plot, like, ever, or at least since 9/11, we are going to call for decisive military action, like, right now"...
... the bombs that were sent to the German Chancellory and the French president and to a couple of other places from Greece would have to warrant the same reaction, right?
Right? Bueller?
Let's compare.
A threat from a country that is politically and economically instable?
Check.
The means of delivery of such threat being the same?
Check.
The inability of said country's government to keep its most extreme citizenry under lock and key as to prevent attack from their soil on other countries?
Check.
Boys and girls, it is clear that Greece and Yemen thus fall under the American government's definition of a failed state. It is clear that both countries harbour terrorists that are bend on destroying and/or destabilising Western democracies.
However, the reactions – both in the media and from government officials – are nothing compared to the outcry of outrage in the case of Yemen.
Now, what is the difference, hm? Can you tell me? Come on, it is not that hard.
Let me tell you. Nobody here gives a fuck as to how many innocent people may die in a Western attack (oh, what the hell, let us call it a "military police action", that one worked so well before...) on Yemen. Because (a) it's a Muslim country and (b) it's in the Middle East, and tradition expects us to bomg something there, anything, really...
I personally think that nothing in the past year or so has shown more and better what hypocrites run our governments, especially but not limited to the American government.
If it weren't the case, we'd have drones above Athens right now.
Doing them "surgical strikes", yes?
... the bombs that were sent to the German Chancellory and the French president and to a couple of other places from Greece would have to warrant the same reaction, right?
Right? Bueller?
Let's compare.
A threat from a country that is politically and economically instable?
Check.
The means of delivery of such threat being the same?
Check.
The inability of said country's government to keep its most extreme citizenry under lock and key as to prevent attack from their soil on other countries?
Check.
Boys and girls, it is clear that Greece and Yemen thus fall under the American government's definition of a failed state. It is clear that both countries harbour terrorists that are bend on destroying and/or destabilising Western democracies.
However, the reactions – both in the media and from government officials – are nothing compared to the outcry of outrage in the case of Yemen.
Now, what is the difference, hm? Can you tell me? Come on, it is not that hard.
Let me tell you. Nobody here gives a fuck as to how many innocent people may die in a Western attack (oh, what the hell, let us call it a "military police action", that one worked so well before...) on Yemen. Because (a) it's a Muslim country and (b) it's in the Middle East, and tradition expects us to bomg something there, anything, really...
I personally think that nothing in the past year or so has shown more and better what hypocrites run our governments, especially but not limited to the American government.
If it weren't the case, we'd have drones above Athens right now.
Doing them "surgical strikes", yes?
November 2, 2010
WHAT'S WRONG WITH (SOME) RICH PEOPLE
Nothing wrong with that. Although I do hope the tree house has a sign at its bottom that states its name is "Rosebud". For that's what it is. And personally, me? I love looking at beautiful houses, even though I don't have one myself. But I like looking at them.
No, it's not any of that. It's this –
Ms. Page, a 60-year-old executive recruiter-turned-neurofeedback counselor, didn't get quite everything she wanted. When she suggested the installation of four microwaves so she could heat all her Whole Foods take-out simultaneously "I just about died," confesses concrete artist Fu-Tung Cheng, who also designed the kitchen. A single microwave and a speed-oven were installed instead.Wha? Okay, let us not ask what exactly a neurofeedback counselor does. Mainly, because to me it sounds a lot like a cross between some kind of mumbo, with a bit of jumbo (also called meditation, when it doesn't have somebody look at an EEG while you're doing it, I would assume, but don't take my word for it. I am somewhat confused as to what exactly it is supposed to be).
No, let us focus on the fact that this woman wanted to have four microwaves, let me repeat that, four electrical appliances that zap a shit load of energy... to, and here's where I am getting angry, to fucking not have to wait for her four-part fucking take-out meal (but hey, it is "Whole Foods" take-out, so gosh, I guess she really is into the whole "organic" thing, if only she doesn't have to fucking cook it)
What a fucking lazy person is that? Never mind the energy consumption four microwaves would have had. No, what a fucking lazy person (a) takes take-out (and then (b) doesn't even have the patience to wait for all of it going through one microwave?
And no, I don't care that in the end these four microwaves didn't make the cut.
The fact alone that she wanted them shows what a seriously deranged person she is.
November 1, 2010
THE SOCIAL NETWORK, OR WHY THE REAL MARK ZUCKERBERG SHOULD CHILL ABOUT THE MOVIE
It's summarised by the lawyer at the end of the movie, and no, I do not mean her often quoted "You're an an asshole, Mark. You're just trying very hard to be one."
It's this, "Don't worry about it. Emotional testimony is about 85 percent exaggeration."
"And the other 15 percent?" Zuckerberg asks.
"Perjury."
"Ah."
"Every creation myth needs a devil."
And since Zuckerberg (the real one, and also the fictional one) took away the power from those who thought there were entitled to everything (watch closely how Fincher intercuts Zuckerberg working his ass off while the Winklevoss Twats do... what exactly? Oh, yes, partying! While his friend Eduardo does... what exactly? Sucking Harvard Social dick.) Both of these groups did not do anything, really, then for the creation of Facebook.
In the Winklevoss Twats' case, did they have a contract? Did they hire him? Did they pay him? Was he an employee? Was he their partner? No. If even half of the film is true with that regard (and those parts are apparently based on the deposition), they just thought they could use his intellect and his talents to get some shit for free.
They same way people with money always think that people with talent should be their slaves. And that the latter should appreciate it if they were taken to the "bike room" of the former's exclusive clubs.
In other words: assholes. Wow. The sons of very rich people who got everything handed to them on a silver platter thinking they can get the poor Jewish kid to do some shit for them for free? And then waah waah?
Let us call them what they are: assholes.
In the same way, Eduardo is shown to be merely chasing the respect of people who are out of his league. No, that doesn't negate that it was a not so good thing of Zuckerberg to let Eduardo walk into the trap later (and if Shawn Roberts is only a third of the sleazeshit in real life as he is portrayed here, then please, I hope he rots in hell... he likely won't, but he should).
But who was making the decisions from the get-go? Zuckerberg. Who creates Facebook? Zuckerberg. And here's me – hating Facebook (and I do, but hey, I have been told I am anti-social) – and defending the man's accomplishments, at least in the early phase.
Now, something that is not in the movie is the released Messenger intel by Zuckerberg, telling one of his people that he got 4,000 people to trust him – dumb fucks. Well, uh, one can definitely see this as being slightly sociopathic, but at the same time, let us be honest here for a second, right?
Now that Facebook is everywhere, and the ramifications of putting your daily shit online for everybody to see, for everybody to judge, I would actually say that trusting all of your information to a giant corporation does make you a dumb fuck. And several have already paid the price for that, be it in hunting for jobs or being cyber-bullied into suicide. It's why you shouldn't simply trust anybody or anything online.
But the genius of Zuckerberg was that he told you you would be in control of your online life. That you would be cool, too. Whoooohoooo! As for how far that octopus reaches, I gave a friend of mine in Australia an email containing a bit of my writing, and her system immediately synced up that data the next time logging on to Facebook, recommending me (I did tell you, I have a Facebook account in order to not have anybody else assume my identity, yes, I am paranoid, fuck off) as her Facebook buddy.
Yeah, that is the kind of thing one should be worried about. You listening, Mark?
But back to the movie. Much has been made of the fictional scene between Zuckerberg and "Erica Albright" at the beginning of the movie. And it is a powerful scene, fictional or not. And there must have been somebody, if Sorkin is right and taken the Voice Over here from Zuckerberg's original blog posts. Sorkin says he only changed the name, left the rest untouched, and I would assume that was in the depositions as well.
So let us say, there was a girl, and there was that moment.
Oh, wait.... there apparently is at least somebody now trying to assume that identity (you know, of that woman who we are told doesn't exist), Erica Albright.
Ooops. Okay, then. We shall now assume that this is the woman that is referenced in Zuckerberg's original blog post and thus subsequently in the movie. How pathetic do you have to be to try to ride this to fame? Go to her web site, look at the photos of Rooney Mara there, where she goes, "oh, Rooney Mara played me in the movie".
How pathetic do you have to be to go out there, then, and assume the fictional identity of "Erica Albright"? I mean, really? Sorkin and Fincher do the best to obscure her identity, but she goes out and says "it's me."
All over sudden that dialogue written by Sorkin, where the fictional Zuckerberg takes her apart argumentatively doesn't appear so snide anymore. Suddenly, she does begin to appear as somebody who would do a lot to get people's attention without actually ever having created anything (and god, do I know people like that).
What are they called again? Ah, yes. Fame Whores.
So, in essence, the real Zuckerberg shouldn't have worried so much about the movie. What he should worry about is (a) the next big "exclusive" thing that may take his company down from a perceived value of 25 billion to something worth a lot less (look at Yahoo, look at Digg, look at Friendster) and (b) that some of the "dumb fucks" out there go, "hey, I can have a life without Facebook! When did I start to forget that?"
On the other hand, if the worry about this movie was one of the reasons that Zuckerberg will donate 100 million in Facebook shares to the New Jersey public school system, well, that is a good thing, too.
Or isn't it?
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