My internal conflict regarding “The Social Network.”

I haven’t seen “The Social Network” , but, I plan to, despite negative assessments of its historical accuracy. Reviews of the movie seem to fall into one of two camps. Either it’s portrayed as a great story or as an inaccurate character assassination. I presume it’s possible to be both.

The conflict stems from an old problem. Fiction takes liberty with the truth. If you’ve learned history from Shakespeare, for example, then much of what you believe may be wrong, distorted, or complete literary invention. Do I dismiss Macbeth, because it wrongly accuses Macbeth for murdering the King of Scotland in his sleep? Moving forward to more recently penned stories, do I shun the film Amadeus because there is little factual basis for the rivalry between Salieri and Mozart?

I don’t, and so, I’m left to wonder, how do I make the distinction between unfair distortion and literary license. Is there one? Does it matter?

I think it matters if a film is presented as as a documentary. In such a case, I think that is an imperative to disclose the sources of material, to check facts, and to present multiple points of view.

The problem that I see, is the tendency of people to learn history from the movies, to take cinematic presentations at face value. Unfortunately, that problem is not likely to go away, and so, one could argue that even fictional portrayals should conform to at least minimal standards of accuracy. Another argument is that fictional portrayals of living people should adhere to a higher standard.

The history of film is a sordid one. Films like “Birth of a Nation,” or “Triumph of the Will” challenge our ability to praise the art while ignoring the frightening messages behind them. For those unfamiliar with these films, the first is one that casts the Ku Klux Klan as heroes; the second, a propaganda film from which many iconic images of Hitler and Nazi Germany have been taken. Both are considered to be cinematic masterpieces.

In such a context, I am willing to try to give “The Social Network” a fair viewing before dismissing it for reasons of inaccuracy.