“The Social Network” Writer on Mark Zuckerberg: “I’ve Been That Guy”

The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin voiced “empathy” for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s position as an accused idea thief — an accusation that plays a central role in the film about the young executive.

The film is based on a book called Accidental Billionaires, which among other things accounts a dispute between Zuckerberg and individuals who accused him of stealing their ideas when creating the social network.

Sorkin said in an interview with Time, “I’ve been that guy. I’ve been the Mark Zuckerberg in that situation, and I have absolute empathy for him.”

He referenced occasions when would-be screenwriters tried to claim that they’d come up with the idea for The West Wing, the TV series he ran for seven years, as the reasons for his empathy.

At one point in the film the Zuckerberg character says, “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook (Facebook), you would have invented Facebook.” Sorkin used that line as a sort of personal catharsis; “It’s what I always want to say to these people,” he said.

The Social Network: Fact or Fiction?

Facebook’s founders are reportedly not very thrilled with the angle of either Accidental Billionares or The Social Network, and have challenged some of the facts in the story they tell, so it’s interesting that Sorkin claims to empathize with Zuckeberg.

As is the case with most film versions of true stories, the facts aren’t all straight. Since the film is a work of art and not a documentary, that old Pablo Picasso quote might apply: “Art is the lie that tells the truth.” And Sorkin’s first objective is obviously to entertain. Sorkin explained his approach thusly:

“There were a number of different versions of the truth coming from three or four or five people. And rather than pick one and dramatize that, I wanted to dramatize the fact that there are three or four or five different versions of the truth. Everybody has their own version, and everybody is right, and everybody is wrong.”

Even if you can’t catch the pre-release screenings in New York or San Francisco, you’ll be able to make your own judgments about Sorkin’s screenplay when the movie hits theaters around the U.S. on October 1.

http://mashable.com/2010/09/25/aaron-sorkin-mark-zuckerberg/