The Social Rosebud

In 1941 Orson Welles released Citizen Kane, a film about a newspaper mogul, Charles Foster Kane, that rises to the top at the cost of everything dear to him. The movie was met with resounding praise and is often referred to as one of the best films of all time, if not THE best. It also drew attention from William Randolf Hearst, a real life newspaper mogul who Kane was based on. Hearst banned any of his media corporations from advertising the film, as well as ordering his newspapers to slander Welles. Despite Hearst's best efforts, Citizen Kane was still a phenomenal success. 

About 70 years later the American director David Fincher released The Social Network, the dramatized account of how Mark Zuckerberg founded the website Facebook. The plot follows Zuckerberg's rise to prominence and how he distanced himself from one of his only friends. Sounds kind of familiar right?

While age distances the two films, they both share a timeless tale the can be dated back to Faust: A man gains everything he wanted but at the price of himself. Though opposite in personalities, the conflict of self v desire tears apart at Kane as much as it does against Zuckerberg. Both directors marvelously portray the pain that each of the icons bury under their pride of their respective accomplishments. 

However The Social Network stops Zuckerbergs story short of Kane's, mainly because Zuckerberg's is still continuing. In this way The Social Network does not carry the weight that Citizen Kane did. With Kane the plot comes full circle and we get a resolution, but Network we feel shorted. While still offering a resolution to the Zuckerbergs lawsuit story, the film is not able to reconcile his entire life. This is at no fault of the director but purely do the circumstances.

The films can also contrast how two opposing personality can react in the same scenerio. Kane was flamboyant and an outspoken man who had a love for theatrics, he bathed in his glory and capitalized on any opportunity to be heard. Compare that to Zuckerberg who is an introvert and has actually been criticized for being too private when his entire fortune revolves around publicizing the details of others. For Kane it was his love of materials and all other things that dissolved his relationshipa, and for Zuckerberg it was his lack for other things that made him incapable of holding relationships. 

The two films have been critiqued for straying too far from the inspiration, more so for Network than Kane. However even these critiques bring these films closer together in likeness. Many have stated that Network's portrayal of Zuckerberg was far too cold, and that he was never cruel or hurtfully sarcastic on purpose. It also kind of funny to note that no one ever came out and said that Kane was played too negatively on Hearst's behalf.

Many things get toted around as being "The Citizen Kane of this generation." But if you compare any movie along side of it. The only one that bares resemblance and any hint of being of the same tier of cinema, The Social Network is the only film in contest.