The Social Network

People found a lot of things wrong with the Social Network, Nathan Heller and Luke O'Brien over at Slat panned Sorkin for glossing over dteails and believing Harvard still is stuck in 70's era The Way we Were with the jews and Geeks as underdogs and overprivileged WASPS ruling the place.

I'm not a Harvard grad. Hell, I've never stepped foot an an Ivy League campus. But I think the Slate writers are the ones stuck in lala land, not Sorkin. The way Heller depicted it, I expected some sort of Revenge of the Nerds.

Harvard is not depicted as an old boys network, not really. The only one obsessed with final clubs in the movie is Zuckerberg, for whatever reason. Edwardo Saverin is also interested, and he get "punched" for one of them, but Dustin Moskovitz shows no interest in them. Zuckerberg is potrayed as embittered about not getting selected, and even tells Saverin that he was probably picked in a bid for diversity. However, as a non American I can tell you that you won't get picked for a club wearing shower sandals, I don't care if they're Adidas. Saverin on the other hand, seems to be a snappier dresser and a more sociable person in general.

Of course, this is a movie, I'm aware that the real Zuckerberg probably doesn't have Asperger's. And he's been in a long term relationship since before he even moved out to Palo Alto (something the movie completely ignores). And you don't have to be a geek in order to NOT know that the best way to meet women is to go out and meet them, and talk to them, not at them. But the real Zuckerberg still wears those sandals, and the damn hoodie. Maybe he is at least a little bit of that Eisenberg potrayal.



"Sorkin and Fincher's 2003 Harvard is a citadel of old money, regatta blazers, and (if I am not misreading the implication here) a Jewish underclass striving beneath the heel of a WASP-centric, socially draconian culture", according to Heller.

The only people who fit that description are the Winkelvoss twins. But the movie acknowledges that they're not like everyone, and not everyone is like them. Larry Summers brushes them off. Their friend and partner is an Indian guy from Brooklyn or Queens.

Every creation myth needs a devil

Towards the end of the film, a young lawyer tells this to Zuckerberg. True. But that doesn't make him any less ruthless.

I know that Sorkin and Fincher have exaggerated Zuckerberg as a maladapted kid in Harvard. The guy is a Phillips Exter grad who was captain of the fencing team. Hmm, come to think about it, that kinda sounds like Max Fischer. But the point is, they think Facebook was born out of revenge. Who knows the truth? Revenge and lust are extremely powerful motivators. And Zuckerberg is a very driven person. He created software in high school. He had software tutors for christ's sake.

All that said, the social network is a brilliant movie, an excellent piece of storytelling. The editing is tight. The music, courtesy of Trent Reznor, is quite good. The acting is also impressive.

Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as a tragic hero, anti hero, and misunderstood evil genius all at the same time. Most people don't know much past the sandals and hoodie shtick, but he shows the human side of someon whose is so sad and angry, and at the same time driven (I already said that, no?) and energetic.



Andrew Garfield as Edwardo Saverin comes of as sweet and smart, but ultimately making some foolish decisions that got him pushed out. He seems ti still care about his friend during the deposition, but also knowing that it's past the point of no return. For a guy who looks straight out of Gossip Girl, Garfield is great, IMHO.

Even Napster's Sean Parker gets a good turn by Justin Timberlake. He's opportunistic, sure, but it's not moua-ha-ha nefarious, and you can see that he has learned from experience and helps Zuckerberg retain control (knowing that he played a key part in Zuckerberg having 3 out of 5 seats on the board, that's how I read it).

The Winkelvoss, Winkelvii? (vintage sorkin) are shown as more than two dimentional characters, arguing and feeling conflicted about the need to be "Harvard gentlemen" and the need to kick Zuckerberg's ass for his perceived larceny.



The only part I DID roll my eyes at was the final club party in the beginning, with all the Girls Gone Wild Ivy Leage Edition. I don't know how realistic it was (girls lined up outside waiting to be let in?), but my general reaction to female chauvinist pigs is, really? You're among the smartest women in America and that's what you do? Take your top off? 'Cause you're so empowered? Even if they weren't Harvard co-eds, they had to be from the area, so you're talking about Boston University, Tufts, Amherst, UMass, MIT, etc. I have no idea if final clubs are such dens of iniquity, but college in general does have that type of party, so probably.

So, in the end, did they get the facts right? Did they get the sprit of the whole endeavor? When you have trust, friendship, relationships, betrayal, alienation, entrepreneurship, and all those ships, who cares?? It's a brilliant film. Go see it

Yo siempre busco comedia, o una defensa del cine mainstream

(No está bien editado, pero a estas alturas es mejor publicar aaalgo que quedarme en el intento)

Cuando mi hermano y yo vamos al cine o a rentar DVDs a Saharis, siempre buscamos comedias. Sabemos que no se ha estrenado algo, pero persistimos con la esperanza de que un día nos vamos a encontrar una colección de humor negro o de feelgoods indie que no chorrea aspartame.

Es como cuando todavía compraba CDs y automáticamente me iba a las Rs para ver que tenían de Radiohead, como si de la noche a la mañana iban a sacar disco nuevo sin que nosotros los geeks supiéramos meses antes.

Examinamos los estantes, a ver si salta por ahí alguna stoner comedy. Yo le quiero dar una oportunidad a algo con Steve Zahn a pesar de que su coestrella es Jennifer Aniston, mientras mi carnal me ve con cara de "ur so gay". Él quiere escoger Watchmen, de la cual no he escuchado nada más que "blue peen". Me dice que tal vez es tan mala que me reiré, así que habríamos logrado nuestro objetivo.

A veces envidio a la gente que no ha visto Fight Club, o This is Spinal Tap, o Adaptation, o Annie Hall. Porque todavía tienen continentes por descubrir.

Obviamente no he visto todas las películas en esta vida, y se que todavía hay comedias. Pero por cada Adventureland o Zombieland had cuatro All About Steve, Along Came Polly y Serious Moonlight. Aún con Judd Apatow y Greg Mottola y compañía, la comedia es ahora terreno de bromas de pedos o situaciones tan pendejas y deprimentes como Carrie y Sex & the City, que la neta prefiero ver algo como Precious que se regodea en su miseria.

Sí, soy light. Me gusta ver movies como forma de entretenimiento. Y aunque me encantó Doubt y Sin Nombre, hay momentos (muchos) que sólo busco catarsis. Verán, yo no veo novelas y no me gusta el horror, en algún lado me tengo que desestresar.

Por eso a veces entiendo a la gente que ve coctelitos de wákala como Transformers 2 o Charlie's Angels. Quieren divertirse. Y la neta, toda esta esquizofrenia de que si algo es indie es bueno y si es palomero tiene que ser malo, ya me dio flojera. Indiana Jones (las originales) es buena. The Dark Knight y Batman Begins son increíbles. It's All about Love, de Thomas Vinterberg, es bastante mala.

A la mera hora, queremos que nos cuenten una historia. Y si el cuento es malo, no importa cuanto maquillaje azúl o nuevas tecnologías embarren en la pantalla, la película nunca podrá ser más que mediocre. (Sorry, Avatar).

Ayer leí que Kathryn Bigelow ganó porque su película es buena y no porque su movie es super macho, y que si Nora Ephron o Nancy Meyers quieren ganar un hombrecillo dorado deben dejar de dirigir It's complicated. Bueno sí, pero porqué denigramos a la comedia? Porqué Salvando al Soldado Ryan o El Paciente Inglés son intrínsicamente mejores que Mejor Imposible? Nos dicen más sobre la condición humana? Neta? Cuando me acuerdo de una película, me acuerdo si era buena o mala antes de pensar en qué género era. Este afán de categorizar nos ha dejado más pobres de películas.

Byeeee con el 2009.

Más que nada, byeeee con todas estas listas.

¿Creen que nadie sabe que hubo una contingencia por la influenza puerca? Perdón, la influenza AH1N1.

¿Qué nadie se enteró que murió Beltrán Leyva? ¿Que la gubernatura de NL la ganó la versión guera y con menos carisma de Peña Nieto, el Golden Boy Medina? ¿Que hubo chingos de violencia y muertes por la dizque guerra con el narco?

Honestamente, este año estuvo de la chingada y no necesitamos que nos lo recuerden. No nos aporta nada nuevo.

Yo quiero ver una BUENA lista. De las 10 películas más chidas que no vi este año. De 10 personas que lucharon por los derechos humanos y no se les ha reconocido. De las 10 cosas que nos pegaron silenciosamente en el 2009 y no pelamos porque estabamos viendo las estupideces de Dulce Sarahí o el circo de Juanito o el tiroteo en Garza Sada. De lo que nos tenemos que cuidar o tenemos que aprovechar el año que viene.

Más que nada, quiero contenido original, producto de investigación. Basta con el más de lo mismo. Fue un pinche año feo para los medios a nivel global. Que el 2010 no siga así, depende de nosotros.

P.D.:Si quieren una lista chida, pasen por pajiba.com y busquen las 20 mejores películas de la década. Tienen otras sandeces divertidas, pero pues esa es la más típica. Deusexmalcontent.com también publicó los 20 mejores "singles" del año, incluyendo varios géneros desde el rap de JayZ y MosDef, los alaridos emo de 30 Seconds to Mars, hasta los sintetizadores hipster de Phoenix.

On failed states

This isn't really new, but it's still relevant I think. Stephen Haber published "Latin America's Quiet Revolution" on the WSJ on January 31. You can read the whole piece here. Several things struck me.

"A report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command released earlier this month calls Mexico a potential failing state, likening it to Pakistan. This assessment is particularly striking in light of the $400 million per year that the United States provides in military and security assistance to Mexico. It also adds urgency to the U.S. government's plans to complete a 700-mile-long border fence and dramatically expand the number of Border Patrol agents, to over 20,000 by the end of 2009 from 11,000 in 2004 -- both of which have opened a rift between Washington and Mexico City."
(...)
"Most of Latin America is, however, undergoing a period of unprecedented political and economic transformation. In Chile, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, the Dominican Republic and, yes, Mexico -- which is most decidedly not a failing state -- there has been a quiet but substantial movement toward the creation of societies that are characterized by increased economic opportunity, social mobility and political democracy. This is not to say that Brazilians have achieved the same standard of living as the Dutch, or that the rule of law operates in Mexico as it does in Canada. It is to say, however, that these countries have undertaken a series of economic and political reforms that make them vastly different places than they were two decades ago."

Although I agree with a lot of this, the Pentagon study said Mexico is at risk of becoming a failed state, not that it already was one. It stated Mexico bears consideration for rapid and sudden collapse.

And although we do have a "normal life" according to Haber's standards (education, garbage service, weekend getaways) in large parts of the country, there are cities that are quickly becoming ghost towns according to some reports. Tijuana, Monclova, etc. We have banking reforms that enable us to buy homes, but who wants to buy a home right now?

And then:

"After falling for a decade, Mexico's homicide rate increased in 2008, because the Calderón government courageously decided to take on the drug traffickers. If it keeps rising, it may soon be as high as that of...Louisiana."

Ok, yes, the official crime rates are low. Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mouriño used to say that the government was winning and that's why the narcos were panicking and going berserk. Well, Mouriño's dead. Accident or not, who knows? Anyway, half the crime goes unreported, and we may have less murders than Louisiana but we certainly have more violent crime (and murders).

Narcos aren't going to go away as long as that huge and lucrative market, the US, demands drugs. And demand they do. Imagine, if you will, that the government outlawed toothpaste. There would be contraband paste maybe, sure, but you can substitute baking soda. What substitutes drugs? Drug demand is pretty much inelastic, would you pull out of that market? When does it stop being worth "the hassle"? Especially since many people employed in the drug trade have no other marketable skills.

Desempleo, xenofobia y personal calificado

Hello again! Is there anybody in there?

I had seriously considered shutting this down, as evidenced by my nil posts for almost three months straight. Everyone and their grandmother was writing up the elections, lack of enthusiasm, I wanted to write about food like everybody else, take your pick.

But anyway, I keep sending out long and ranting emails to selected friends (lucky them, haha) about shit I run across. About Carlos Slim and the NYTimes, or Chuck Grassley suggesting Microsoft fire them furriners first.

So I decided to post one of them, as suggested by Ben. My comments are in Spanish although the quotes are in English, sorry to say, and I'm not inclined to change it right now. Sorry, it is what it is.

So without further ado, the first post of 2009!

Desempleo, xenofobia y personal calificado

En todos lados se cuecen habas, jaja.

Ahora que Microsoft correrá a 5 mil empleados (de los 95 mil que tienen y como dice Palmira, pues es una nada para ellos), el senador republicano Chuck Grassley vio la oportunidad de pedir que se corran a los extranjeros primero.

"I am concerned that Microsoft will be retaining foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American employees when it implements its layoff plan."

El H. señor Grassley no solamente mandó la carta al CEO Steve Ballmer, nooo, él la puso en su propio website. Más de sus perlas de sabiduría:

"My point is that during a layoff, companies should not be retaining H-1B or other work visa program employees over qualified American workers (...) Our immigration policy is not intended to harm the American workforce. ... Microsoft has a moral obligation to protect these American workers by putting them first during these difficult economic times."

Un blog del Seattle times sacó an abogado experto estas cosas, Cletus Weber, que informó que es discriminación! (por lo tanto ilegal) correr a los trabajadores con visa H-1B primero:

"I believe arbitrarily laying off lawfully employed foreign workers first would subject these companies to potential legal liability under federal anti-discrimination laws.

"Perhaps Senator Grassley forgot that Google and innumerable other large and small American companies that were founded by foreign workers have created tens of thousands of jobs for U.S. citizens. It is laudable for Senator Grassley to champion the cause of the American worker, but his calling for blatantly discriminatory layoffs is anti-competitive scapegoating, and in many ways removes some of the innovation that created large numbers of American jobs in the first place."

Tal vez vieron la nota del 20 acerca de la falta de personal calificado en NL (Denuncia Caintra falta de técnicos o algo así).

Aunque el desempleo está muy alto tanto aquí como allá, hay empresas tecnológicas que se mueeeeren por encontrar personal. Pero personal técnico bien, no licenciasnos, jajaja.

El misísimo Bill Gates ha declarado ante el Congreso sobre la necesidad de expandir el programa H-1B para que puedan contratar a extranjeros porque simplemente no hay suficientes estadounidenses con la educación y experiencia laboral que ellos necesitan para crear maravillas como el Windows Vista. Ya en serio, sí es un problema real, CrapVista nonwithstanding.

No pueden los gobiernos crear algún programa para capacitar a los desempleados en esto que necesitan las empresas? No es ese el trabajo de las universidades? Porqué diablos estudie comunicación y finanzas en vez de ingeniería, jaja. Apuesto que en Alemania no tienen esos problemas.

Rage Against the Machine

Interesting article about The Daily Show in a Democratic administration.

Comedy in the Era of Obama @ Pajiba.


I'm not worried that the Daily Show will run out of material just because Obama's won. Hell, the government, corporations and the mass media...there is not going to be a lack of stupid powerful people to mock any time soon. But will Stewart remain as relevant?

Now that we don't feel so much like the underground insurgency that needs to tread carefully around the jesus freaks, will we be less engaged maybe? It's a slippery slope....

I was all set to live blog election night... when something terrible and closer to home happened...

Mexico’s Interior Minister Killed in Jet Crash AP by way of NYT

Confirma Presidencia muerte de Mouriño


Juan Camilo Mouriño, Méxican Secretario de Gobernación (Minister of the Interior) was killed in a jet crash today. He was travelling from San Luis Potosí to Mexico City on a Learjet, when his plan crashed 12.6 kilometers from the airport (Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de Mexico). It all points to narcotráfico.

Mouriño was a young, good looking heir apparent, had been in office less than a year, transferred from the Oficina de la Presidencia (a relatively new department).

Per the NYT: "He headed the government’s security apparatus and was the President’s point man in the increasingly bloody drug war."

He hadn't been doing so well, especially with the energy reform. Ties to Pemex and family businesses hadn't helped.

My paranoid conspiracy theory mind points to a narco / inside job. Mouriño was a close friend of Calderón, but there must be somebody high up who takes it upon himself to do the dirty jobs. To offer the mob Mouriño in exchange for, what?
This is a big emotional hit, but the Secretary wasn't being as effective as initially hoped.

The problem is now who will take his place? Cesar Nava? Josefina Vazquez Mota? Is the country still governable? Yes, this might help the PAN get elected next year since they can be martyrs (they can also lose because they're not competent), but jesus christ was I stunned and yanked back into reality when I heard this news. There is more than one Mexico. But we all live in the same space. ANd sometimes those worlds don't just brush against each other, they crash into each other.