A king's speech, an Arab movement's voice
(Read article summary)Past weeks at times have seemed like a standoff between autocrats and Facebook. But Oscar-winner 'The King's Speech,' rather than 'The Social Network,' may have more resonance for Arabs.
Paris
They say movies reflect the times. And however improbably, two of the top winners at Sunday night's Academy Awards, “The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network," stand out amid the ongoing wave of Arab revolutions that are reshaping the world's mental maps.
With past weeks at times seeming like a standoff between autocrats and Facebook, between Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Silicon Valley's Mark Zuckerberg, "The Social Network" has felt like an art-meets-life moment.
Yet at its heart, as Timothy Egan points out in The New York Times, Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-winning screenplay about the creation of Facebook was “a fight among the privileged for more privilege.” At Harvard University, Mr. Zuckerberg is royally miffed that girls don’t date him and other brainy nerds. He’s not seeking dignity but acceptance at exclusive school clubs.
