Jewishness, in general, is a characteristic the fictional Zuckerberg and his friends are desperate to escape. At the Caribbean Night party at the Alpha Epsilon Pi house, one of Zuckerberg's friends wryly remarks: "There's an algorithm for the connection between Jewish guys and Asian girls: They're hot, smart, not Jewish and can dance." Sorkin would have us believe that, in the eyes of some Jewish men — or at least those run-of-the-mill Harvard scholars — one of the best things about an Asian woman is that she isn't a Jewish woman. And in Sorkin's story, Asians get bonus points for performing oral sex in public bathrooms.
"That's not what you're going to get from an Erica," said Olivia Cohen-Cutler, referring to the film's only female Jewish character. Cohen-Cutler, a senior executive at ABC, is the chair of Hadassah's Morningstar Commission, which devotes attention to images of Jewish women in the media. While most are decrying the film's treatment of women, Cohen-Cutler sees something different in the character Erica Albright.
In the film's opening scene, the fictional Zuckerberg is on a date with Erica, who is pretty, sophisticated and exquisitely articulate. While trying to woo her, an arrogant and socially inept Zuckerberg winds up insulting her every which way, which prompts Erica to unequivocally reject him: "You're going to be successful and rich. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a tech geek. I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that won't be true: It'll be because you're an asshole."
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