The Social Network and Citizen Kane

Even a few weeks before The Social Network made it's way to theaters, critics were quickly comparing it to the classic Citizen Kane. I can understand why the comparisons have been made, as they both share many similarities. 

In Citizen Kane, Orson Welles' character was an entrepreneur in the newspaper business. At that time, (besides the radio), newspapers were the most relied upon source of information and news. Recently, the internet has taken over the written word, and in today's generation, what your friends did on a Tuesday afternoon is more important with the events going on in the world. Jesse Eisenberg's character in The Social Network is apart of that reason, so it's an interesting contrast and similarity between these two characters. They are both manufacturers of the largest sources of information that we have known besides television and radio. 

It should also be noted that both films feature the classic tale of a nobody becoming a somebody and all the little people that had to be stepped on to get there. Both characters exploit their friends' trust and loyalty and are consequently left alone in the end. 

Even the narrative structure is similar between the two films. In Citizen Kane, we have the lead character die and the film takes us through his life in a series of flashbacks. The Social Network follows this structure as well. We have Mark Zuckerbergs' life go back and forth from two separate hearings. It could be said that he is metaphorically dead, given that he is completely alone now without friends, a relationship, he has gone against his own “F**k the world” attitude and paid Eduardo Saverin and the twins, etc. 

As far as the differences go, I'm having some trouble finding any. They're both pretty different movies, but the characters, themes and structure are almost exact. The only difference I can think of is the time period. The Social Network did a great job at capturing my generation is with computers, friends, social status, etc. The whole thing is pretty glamorized, but it's believable. In Citizen Kane, we have scandalous news reels, paparazzi doing anything to get a good story, private detectives, etc. That was how cinema was back then and this is how cinema is now, which when thinking about it, only makes the films more alike. 

Overall, these two movies are quite similar in theme and structure and only contrast with subtle differences. I don't exactly think The Social Network truly has the lasting power to become an absolute classic like Citizen Kane, but they're both incredible films that I'd recommend to anyone.