当艾伦·索金创作2010年的《社交网络》时，巴拉克·奥巴马还是总统，唐纳德·特朗普正在出演《学徒》第七季，而社交媒体尚属新生事物，人们满怀信心地相信网络连接能够改善社会。十六年后，索金亲自操刀编剧并执导了这部犀利有力的影片《社交代价》。影片以举报人弗朗西斯·豪根（米基·麦迪逊 饰）的真实经历为蓝本，揭露了脸书对社会产生的腐蚀性影响——这些正是马克·扎克伯格（杰瑞米·斯特朗 饰）极力想要掩盖的事实。
When Aaron Sorkin wrote 2010’s The Social Network, Barack Obama was President, Donald Trump was starring in Season 7 of The Apprentice, and social media was still relatively new, alight with the belief that connecting people online would improve society. Sixteen years later, well… We get The Social Reckoning, with Sorkin stepping up to write as well as direct a blistering movie pointing out the corrosive effects of Facebook on society, based on the true story of whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), who stepped forward to reveal secrets Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong) would prefer not be revealed.
《社交代价》的故事主要发生在2019年至2021年间（没错，疫情也是剧情要素之一）。身为脸书数据科学家的聪慧女郎弗朗西斯逐渐发现，脸书通过用户信息流中的内容来操控他们的行为。当她试图向上级反映这些问题时，得到的回应却是“别多管闲事”。于是，当《华尔街日报》记者杰夫·霍维茨（杰瑞米·艾伦·怀特 饰）通过领英联系她、希望获取有关雇主的内幕消息时，她便开始向他提供相关信息。
The Social Reckoning takes place largely between 2019 and 2021 (yes, the pandemic is a plot point), as Facebook data scientist/smartypants Frances uncovers the ways Facebook is manipulating its users through the content they see in their feeds. When she tries to raise her concerns to her higher-ups, she’s told to let it go, and so when she gets a LinkedIn message from Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) looking for dirt on her employers, she begins the process of feeding him information.
对于近年来一直密切关注脸书动态的观众而言，影片中揭露的诸多事实或许算不上惊天动地——尤其是该平台为追求用户参与度而诱导人们走向极端行为的现象。不过，如今脸书依然在广泛影响着大众，尤其是年长者群体，这也使得这部影片显得尤为重要。我们或许都明白：那些能激起愤怒情绪的帖子确实比描写鲜花与日落的帖子更容易获得关注；但真正令人不安的是，该平台竟公然鼓励这种行为，全然不顾其对用户心理可能造成的恶劣影响。
Those who have closely followed the news around Facebook over the past few years may not find many of the revelations featured shocking, especially the knowledge that the platform’s desperation for engagement has helped drive its users down some dark paths. However, the platform still remains painfully prevalent today, especially for older adults, making this movie feel all the more essential. It’s one thing to know that rage bait posted online will get more attention than posts about flowers and sunsets. It’s another thing to know that the platform is deliberately encouraging that, damn the real effect it might have on people.
饰演那些被网络上的政治团体煽动而走向极端的人物的，是波西亚·道布尔戴（或许大家更熟悉的是她在《黑客军团》中担任常驻角色）。她扮演的年轻白人女性几年前还是个满怀理想的进步主义者。然而在长时间使用脸书之后，她开始口出种族主义言论，甚至于2021年1月6日前往美国国会大厦。正是这个角色让弗朗西斯意识到脸书对用户产生的负面影响；不过索尔金还在影片中穿插了许多其他例子，用以说明社交媒体的种种危害——从青少年遭受的网络霸凌到有关新冠疫情的虚假信息。
Representing those lost souls radicalized by political groups online is Portia Doubleday (perhaps best known as a series regular on Mr. Robot), playing a young white woman who only a few years ago was a passionate progressive. After enough time on Facebook, though, she’s spouting racist invective and taking a trip to the Capitol building on January 6th, 2021. It’s this character who woke Frances up to Facebook’s impact on its users, though Sorkin scatters in plenty of other examples of social media’s evils, from pre-teen bullying to COVID disinformation.
不过，在影片中扮演马克·扎克伯格的演员看来，这些问题都不足以成为脸书加强内容审核或采取其他减少危害措施（比如对政治广告进行事实核查）的理由。相关讨论集中出现在几场戏中：马克正在为即将到来的国会听证会排练，此时由乌妮·莫萨基饰演的公关危机处理专员以及由比尔·伯尔饰演的马克昔日盟友对他轮番质问。这样的叙事框架让影片能够传递大量信息，这些内容恰好与弗朗西斯向杰夫（一个自称对科技一窍不通的人）解释自己所发现的种种不良现象形成呼应。
To this movie’s version of Mark Zuckerberg, though, these issues aren’t good enough reason for Facebook to engage in deeper moderation, or other potential harm-reduction practices like fact-checking political ads. This gets discussed in depth during scenes in which Mark is rehearsing for an upcoming congressional appearance, getting grilled by a crisis PR representative played by Wunmi Mosaku and a former ally of Mark’s, played by Bill Burr in full Bill Burr mode. This framework allows the film to regurgitate an impressive amount of information, which nicely complements Frances’ own explanations to Jeff (a self-professed idiot when it comes to technology) about the disturbing material she’s uncovered.
严格来说，《社交清算》并非《社交网络》的续集（要是这么称呼的话，说不定会收到索尼公关团队的邮件）。尽管两部影片由同一位编剧执笔，但它们其实风格迥异。最大的区别在于：2010年由大卫·芬奇执导的《社交网络》讲述的是一个社交平台的创立过程，但影片本身对该平台的实际使用情况兴趣不大，重点反而放在了背后的商业交易与勾心斗角之上。
The Social Reckoning is not, technically, a sequel to The Social Network (call it that and you might get an email from the Sony PR team). And despite sharing a writer, they are indeed very different projects. The biggest difference is that the 2010 film, directed by David Fincher, was about the creation of a social media platform, but it really wasn’t that interested in the actual use of the social media platform. Instead, the behind-the-scenes business deals and backstabbings were its focus.
《Reckoning》着重探讨各类算法及其影响——剧本对此进行了极为清晰且连贯的阐释。至于卢卡·瓜达尼诺执导的《Artificial》，虽说也试图讲述一个以科技为核心的故事，但效果却远不及前者；索尔金确实具备将此类复杂话题以通俗易懂的方式呈现给观众的能力，而这些话题本身又极其重要。
Reckoning, meanwhile, is all about the algorithms and their impact — explained with remarkable coherence by the script. Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, for what it’s worth, isn’t quite as effective in dramatizing its own technology-focused story — Sorkin does have a real knack for making complex topics like this palatable on screen. And in this case, these topics are incredibly important.
当然，索尔金仍忍不住以“搞笑”为名夹杂一些性别歧视的桥段——比如把女实习生称作“女实习生小妹”，还用一句自以为巧妙的俏皮话全盘否定“ mansplaining”（男性居高临下地向女性解释事物）这一概念，着实令人捧腹。不过值得欣慰的是，他在重复使用自身台词方面有所克制，这倒是避免了以往常出现的问题：影片中再没有像“一个鸡蛋就是oeuf”这类第一次出现时都算不上好笑的桥段被反复使用。
Of course, Sorkin can’t resist some casual sexism in the guise of intended comedy (yes, it’s hilarious to refer to your female intern as “Girl Intern,” not to mention rejecting the entire concept of “mansplaining” with a presumably clever quip). He does, however, show some restraint in terms of recycling his own dialogue, a past issue: There’s no blatant reusing of barely-funny-the-first-time jokes like “one egg is an oeuf,” thankfully.
同样值得庆幸的是，影片的演员阵容足以驾驭这些复杂的对白：早在2024年的《Anora》上映前，看过FX剧集《Better Things》的观众便已深知米基·麦迪逊是一位极具天赋的女演员，而她在本片中的表现更是印证了这一点。她塑造的弗朗西斯一角既凸显了人物的锋利棱角，也展现了其社交方面的不安全感，使其成为索尔金笔下迄今为止塑造得最为丰满的女性角色之一（尤其是与他最近执导的《Being the Ricardos》相比）。
Also thankfully, he’s got a cast that can handle the complexities of his dialogue: Those who watched the FX series Better Things were aware well before 2024’s Anora that Mikey Madison is a gifted actress, and her work here only continues to prove that. Her take on Frances brings out the character’s sharper edges and her social insecurities, making her one of Sorkin’s more well-rounded female characters to date. (Especially compared to his most recent writing/directing effort, Being the Ricardos.)
相比之下，杰瑞米·艾伦·怀特饰演的杰夫显得较为单薄，但他依然能把那些带讽刺意味的台词演绎得生动有力。至于另一位名叫杰瑞米的演员斯特朗，他凭借扎实的表演功底成功塑造了马克·扎克伯格的形象：影片并未刻意引导观众站在他的视角去理解人物（不像《社交网络》那样），而是让观众从他细微的面部表情与刻意的眨眼动作中自行体会其内心世界。
Jeremy Allen White ends up being more of a cypher by comparison, but still delivers Jeff’s snarkier lines with plenty of snap. As for the other Jeremy in the cast, Strong’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg is incredibly locked-in, by the method actor’s design. There’s no effort to draw us into his point of view (the way The Social Network sometimes did), leaving the viewer to draw a lot from his face twitches and deliberate blinks.
所幸斯特朗的表演风格极为细腻，这些细节足以传递出大量信息。他面无表情的神态恰恰折射出一个支离破碎的世界，这种氛围在影片结束后仍久久萦绕在观众心头。
Fortunately, Strong is such a deliberate actor that a lot does still get communicated that way. His blank stare ends up being a true reflection of a broken world, one that remains haunting well after the film ends.
不得不说，对于脸书声称自己不会审查内容的说法，还是有些证据可寻：“Social Reckoning”这个脸书页面确实存在，其发布的帖子也确实获得了一些互动——有几条帖子的点赞数甚至超过了100次。不过，看完这部电影并彻底了解了社交媒体是如何操控我们所有人的之后，你可能很难抑制住出门去看日落的冲动，甚至事后都不会发一张照片。
Say this for Facebook’s claims that it does not censor content: There is a Social Reckoning Facebook page, and its posts do show some signs of engagement, with a few posts even getting over a hundred likes. That said, after watching this movie, and really taking in the full knowledge of how social media manipulates us all, the urge to go outside and watch the sun set might be hard to ignore. You might not even post a photo afterwards.
《Social Reckoning》将于10月9日正式上映。请点击下方观看最新预告片。
The Social Reckoning updates its status to “in theaters” on October 9th. Check out the latest trailer below.