THE SOCIAL NETWORK THROUGH STUART HALL’S ENCODING/ DECODING MODEL REVIEW ASSIGNMENT1

 

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Introduction

David Fincher’s The Social Network is a film that reflects power, exclusion, and identity in the context of modern technology—and not merely about the creation of Facebook. In this review, I employ Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding Model, focusing on the film's meaning construction and communication. This review is framed within Hall’s theory that states media producers “encode” a message into a cultural artifact while audiences, based on their social situations, “decode” it, often differently. The film’s editing, narrative structure, mise-en-scène, and performances will illustrate Hall’s vision on how The Social Network captures perspectives on power, gender, and  tech. After that, I will demonstrate how audiences construct dominant, negotiated, and oppositional readings using examples from the film. In this analysis, we see how the film’s cultural significance and consequences continues to develop.

ENCODING

The Social Network is carefully put together to explore themes like genius, ambition, and exclusion in the tech world. The editing is quick cutting between legal depositions and flashbacks from Zuckerberg’s college days. This non-linear style creates a feeling of unpredictability, much like the fast-paced nature of the tech industry itself. It doesn’t show Zuckerberg’s rise as a smooth success story, but rather as a complicated and messy path influenced by personal issues.

The mise-en-scène is  like dark  buildings and low lit  rooms, it adds to the feeling of exclusivity. The elite social clubs shows Zuckerberg is clearly an outsider trying to break in. Women in the film are mostly shown in the background, at parties or on the sidelines, which reflects how the tech world (then and now) often sidelines them. Jesse Eisenberg’s performance helps push this idea, his cold tone and blank expressions make Zuckerberg feel  isolated. Altogether, the film paints Silicon Valley as a space that values  reasoning  over empathy,through his distant approach, supports this narrative structure. his emotionless expressions and brief dialogue shows the character shows both detachment  and superiority which matches the  film's central idea about technological dominance through social detachment and planned behavior. The film establishes a male-dominated image of tech culture through its narrative structure.

DECODING THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Using Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding model, The Social Network can be viewed through three different lenses: dominant, negotiated, and oppositional. These readings help us understand how different audiences might interpret the film’s messages based on their own background, beliefs, and experiences.

A dominant reading accepts the film’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg as a misunderstood genius who changes the world. People who take this view might see his rise as something that comes at a personal cost, but still view it as justified. The legal battles and Eduardo Saverin’s fallout with Zuckerberg are seen as unfortunate, but part of what happens when someone is breaking new ground. This perspective supports the idea that in tech culture, talent and results are what matter most—even if it means stepping on a few toes.

A negotiated reading sits in the middle. It still sees Zuckerberg as smart and driven but doesn’t ignore the moral issues tied to his success. Viewers with this perspective may admire his ambition but feel uneasy about how he treated people like Saverin or the Winklevoss twins. There’s also awareness of the gender imbalance in the film—how women are pushed to the side or shown only in party scenes or as background characters. This reading recognises the impact of Zuckerberg’s work but questions the way he went about it.

An oppositional reading rejects the idea of Zuckerberg as a hero altogether. Instead, it sees him as part of a bigger system that values power and control more than fairness. This perspective calls out the way the film portrays women—as objects of status or targets of mockery—and criticizes the male-dominated tech space the film presents. Take the breakup scene with Erica Albright, for example: a dominant viewer might see it as the moment that pushed Zuckerberg to “build something big,” but an oppositional viewer sees it as early proof of his resentment and lack of respect for women.

Stuart Hall’s model works so well here because it allows room for all these interpretations. While The Social Network might seem like it’s just telling the story of Facebook’s creation, it actually says a lot more—about power, gender, and who gets to succeed in tech. And depending on who’s watching, the message can mean very different things.

CONCLUSION

Even in today’s world where social media and start-up culture dominate, The Social Network still feels important. Its deep and sometimes uncomfortable look at Mark Zuckerberg keeps sparking conversations about how power, success, and technology mix together. Using Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding model, we can see how the film sends messages about things like ambition, gender roles, and exclusion—and how different people might understand those messages in totally different ways depending on who they are and where they come from

The way the movie is structured, how it looks, and the performances all come together to create something more than just a biography. It doesn’t tell us what to think it leaves us with questions. That’s what gives the film its lasting impact. Whether we see Zuckerberg as a genius or a warning sign, the film forces us to think about the bigger systems around him.

As the tech world keeps changing and society becomes more aware of issues like inclusion and accountability, our view of this film might change too.

So in a world where media and meaning are always shifting, how might our understanding of stories like this evolve over time?