Showing posts with label Achilles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Achilles. Show all posts

Thursday, 25 April 2024

A Theory

You're not an asshole, Mark. You're just 
trying so hard to be.







On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications. 

Mark :
Did you know there are more people 
with genius I.Q.s living in China 
than there are people of any kind 
living in the United States?

The Girl :
That can't possibly be True.

Mark :
It is

The Girl :
What would account for that? 

Mark :
Well, first, an awful lot of people live 
in China, but here's my question :

How do you distinguish 
yourself in a population 
of people who all got 
1600 on their SATs?

The Girl :
I didn't know they 
take SATs in China. 

Mark :
They don't. I wasn't talking 
about China any more, I was 
Talking about Me.

The Girl :
Yes. 

Mark :
I could sing in an acappella 
group, but I can't sing

The Girl :
Does that mean you actually 
got nothing wrong? 

Mark :
I could row crew or 
invent a $25 PC. 

The Girl :
Or you could get 
into a final club. 

Mark :
Or I get into 
a finals club. 

The Girl :
You know, from 
A Woman's Perspective
sometimes not singing in an 
a Cappella group is 
a good thing. 

Mark :
This is serious. 

The Girl :
On the other hand, I do 
like guys who row crew. 

Mark :
Well, I can't do that. 

The Girl :
I was kidding. 

Mark :
And, yes, I got nothing 
wrong on The Test.

The Girl :
Have you ever tried?

Mark :
I'm trying right now
To row crew?

The Girl :
To get into a final club. 

Mark :
To row crew? No. Are you, 
like, whatever, delusional? 

The Girl :
Maybe it's just -- sometimes you say two things at once. 
I'm not sure which one I'm supposed to be aiming at. 

Mark :
But you've seen guys 
who row crew, right? 

The Girl :
No. 

Mark :
Okay, well, they're bigger than me. 
They're world-class athletes. 

And a second ago, you said you like 
guys who row crew so I assumed 
you had met one. 

The Girl :
I guess I just meant I like the idea of it. 
You know, the way a girl likes cowboys

Mark :
Okay - Should we get something to eat? 
Would you like to talk about something else? 

The Girl :
No. It's just since the beginning of the 
Conversation about finals club, I think 
I may have missed a birthday. There are really 
more people in China with genius IQs 
than the entire population... 

Mark :
The Phoenix is the most diverse. 
The Fly Club... Roosevelt 
punched the Porc. 

The Girl :
Which one? 

Mark :
The Porcellian, the Porc. 
It's the best of the best.

The Girl :
Which Roosevelt?

Mark :
Theodore. 

The Girl :
Is it true that they send a bus around 
to pick up girls who want to party 
with the next Fed chairman? 

Mark :
So you can see why it's 
so important to get in

The Girl :
Okay, well, which is the 
easiest to get into?

Mark :
Why would you ask me that?

The Girl :
I was just asking. 

Mark :
None of them. That's the point
My friend Eduardo made $300,000 
betting oil futures one summer and 
Eduardo won't come close to getting in. 
The ability to make money doesn't 
impress anybody around here. 

The Girl :
Must be nice. He made 
$300,000 in a summer?

Mark :
He likes meteorology.

The Girl :
You said it was oil futures. 

Mark :
You can read the weather, you can predict 
the price of heating oil. 

The Girl :
I think you asked me that because you think the final club that's easiest to get into is the one where I'll have the best chance. I... 

The Girl :
What? 

Mark :
You asked me which one was 
the easiest to get into 
because you think that 
that's the one where 
I'll have the best chance

The Girl :
The one that's the easiest to get into would be 
the one where anybody has the best chance. 


Mark :
You didn't ask me which one was the best one
you asked me which one was the easiest one. 

The Girl :
I was honestly just asking, okay? 
I was just asking to ask.
Mark, I'm not speaking in code.

Mark :
Enca. 

The Girl :
You're obsessed with finals clubs. 
You have finals clubs OCD and you 
need to see someone about it 
who will prescribe you some sort of medication. 
You don't care if the side effects 
may include blindness

Mark :
Final clubs. Not "finals clubs." And there's a difference 
between being obsessed and being motivated

The Girl :
Yes. There is

Well, you do. That was cryptic, so 
you do speak in code. 

The Girl :
I didn't mean to be cryptic. 

Mark :
I'm just saying I need to do something substantial 
in order to get the attention of The Clubs

The Girl :
Why?

Mark :
Because they're exclusive. And fun, 
and they lead to a better life. 

The Girl :
Teddy Roosevelt didn't 
get elected president 
because he was a member 
of The Phoenix Club. 

Mark :
He was a member 
of The Porcellian
and yes, he did

The Girl :
Well, why don't you just concentrate on 
being the best you you can be? 

Mark :
Did you really just say that? 

The Girl :
I was kidding. Just because 
something's trite 
doesn't make it less true. 

Mark :
I wanna try to be straightforward with you 
and tell you I think you might want to 
be a little more supportive. 
If I get in, I will be taking you to the events 
and the gatherings, and you'll be meeting 
a lot of people you wouldn't 
normally get to meet. 

The Girl :
(horrified) You would 
do that for me? 

Mark :
We're dating. 

The Girl :
Okay - Well, I wanna 
try and be straightforward 
with you and let you know 
that we're not any more.

Mark :
What do you mean?

The Girl :
We're not dating any more. 


I'm sorry. Is this a joke?

The Girl :
No, it's not. 

Mark :
You're breaking up with me? 

The Girl :
You're gonna introduce me to people 
I wouldn't normally have the chance to meet
What the... What is that supposed to mean?

Mark :
Wait, settle down.

The Girl :
What is it supposed to mean? 

Mark :
Erica, the reason we're able to sit here and drink right now 
is 'cause you used to sleep with the door guy. 

The Girl :
"The door guy"? His name is Bobby
I have not slept with the door guy. 

The door guy is a friend of mine, 
and he's a perfectly good class of people. 
And what part of Long Island 
are you from, Wimbledon?

Mark :
Wait. Wait, wait. 

The Girl :
I'm going back to my dorm.

Is this real? 

The Girl :
Yes.

 Then wait, I apologise, okay?

I have to go study.

Mark :
Enca?


Yes?

Mark :
I'm sorry, I mean it. 

The Girl :
I appreciate that, but I have to go study. 

Mark :
Come on, you don't have to study. 
Let's just talk. 

I can't. 

Mark :
Why? 

The Girl :
Because it is exhausting
Dating you is like 
dating a StairMaster. 

Mark :
All I meant is that you're not likely to... Currently... 
I wasn't making a comment on your appearance. 
I was saying that you go to BU. 
I was stating a fact, that's all, and 
if it seemed rude, then I apologise.

The Girl :
I have to go study.

Mark :
You don't have to study. 

The Girl :
Why do you keep saying 
I don't have to study? 

'Cause you go to BU. Do you 
want to get some food? 

The Girl :
I am sorry you are not sufficiently 
impressed with my education. 

Mark :
And I'm sorry I don't have 
a rowboat, so we're even.

The Girl :
I think we should just be friends.

Mark :
I don't want friends. 

The Girl :
I was just being polite. I have no intention 
of being friends with you. 

Mark :
I'm under some pressure right now from 
my OS class and if we could just order 
some food, I think we should... 

The Girl :
Okay, you are probably going to be 
a very successful computer person. 
But you're gonna go through Life thinking that 
girls don't like you because you're a nerd
And I want you to know from the bottom 
of my heart that that won't be true.
 It'll be because You're An Asshole