Conquering the meatspace: the lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014)
This article analyses how Baran bo Odar’s film Who Am I: Kein System ist sicher (2014) productively engages with its US predecessor The Social Network (2010), directed by David Fincher, to undermine the notion of the lonely nerd. Both films revolve around the distinction between social connections i...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Warwick
2022
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| _version_ | 1826310983011794944 |
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| author | Schaper, B |
| author_facet | Schaper, B |
| author_sort | Schaper, B |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article analyses how Baran bo Odar’s film Who Am I: Kein System ist sicher (2014) productively engages with its US predecessor The Social Network (2010), directed by David Fincher, to undermine the notion of the lonely nerd. Both films revolve around the distinction between social connections in real and virtual life: on the one hand, this separation allows them to examine the validity of an online community as a remedy for loneliness and a potential catalyst for relationships in embodied meatspace; on the other hand, this enables them to self-reflexively discuss the workings of film narratives. The article will demonstrate how Fincher’s film challenges the notion of the lonely nerd by highlighting its constructedness, while presenting a nerdy protagonist who is not able to overcome his real-life isolation. Who Am I, in contrast, takes on the lonely nerd as a transnationally recognisable archetype mediated through Hollywood’s cinematic hegemony, moulds it into a specifically German context, and establishes firm social bonds for the nerd in meatspace. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:00:05Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:2812f5ab-3574-4e69-84b7-366510a512f3 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:00:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | University of Warwick |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:2812f5ab-3574-4e69-84b7-366510a512f32023-09-29T12:27:55ZConquering the meatspace: the lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014)Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:2812f5ab-3574-4e69-84b7-366510a512f3EnglishSymplectic ElementsUniversity of Warwick2022Schaper, BThis article analyses how Baran bo Odar’s film Who Am I: Kein System ist sicher (2014) productively engages with its US predecessor The Social Network (2010), directed by David Fincher, to undermine the notion of the lonely nerd. Both films revolve around the distinction between social connections in real and virtual life: on the one hand, this separation allows them to examine the validity of an online community as a remedy for loneliness and a potential catalyst for relationships in embodied meatspace; on the other hand, this enables them to self-reflexively discuss the workings of film narratives. The article will demonstrate how Fincher’s film challenges the notion of the lonely nerd by highlighting its constructedness, while presenting a nerdy protagonist who is not able to overcome his real-life isolation. Who Am I, in contrast, takes on the lonely nerd as a transnationally recognisable archetype mediated through Hollywood’s cinematic hegemony, moulds it into a specifically German context, and establishes firm social bonds for the nerd in meatspace. |
| spellingShingle | Schaper, B Conquering the meatspace: the lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014) |
| title | Conquering the meatspace: the lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014) |
| title_full | Conquering the meatspace: the lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014) |
| title_fullStr | Conquering the meatspace: the lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conquering the meatspace: the lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014) |
| title_short | Conquering the meatspace: the lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014) |
| title_sort | conquering the meatspace the lonely nerd in david fincher s the social network 2010 and baran bo odar s who am i 2014 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT schaperb conqueringthemeatspacethelonelynerdindavidfinchersthesocialnetwork2010andbaranboodarswhoami2014 |