?The Social Network? takes jabs at BU students

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's upcoming film "The Social Network" "pokes" Boston University the wrong way, students said.

In the opening scene of the film, Facebook founder and then-Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, mocks his BU girlfriend while on a date by telling her, "You don't have to study &- you go to BU."

This line is one of the multiple jabs at BU in Sorkin's film, which opens in theaters on Friday.

However, in Ben Mezrich's book "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal," on which the movie was based, there is no BU girlfriend &- the character's college was changed for the film.

In an interview with The Boston Herald, Sorkin said he has nothing against BU students - his sister was one.

He said although the movie opens with a joke about BU girls, "the BU girl may be the only class act in the movie."

Many students said they think the movie is a poor representation of the school academically.

"Try not studying at BU and see how quickly you fail out," said School of Education senior Anna Stern.

The notion that BU students have a less-demanding workload is also irritating, students said.

"Pre-med students spend more time doing homework than sleeping," said Sargent College of Rehabilitation Sciences junior Taylor Platt.

"[Those jokes] make the Harvard character seem more ignorant," added College of Engineering senior Ellen Reavey. "I have about eight hours of homework per night. As soon as I get out of class, I work until midnight."

"Just because we have an enormous population does not mean that we have an easier workload," said SAR junior Cai Ou.

Some BU students who attended an advanced screening of the film at the Boston Common last Wednesday said audience members booed at the BU put-downs.

College of Communication sophomore John Sanderson, who went to the screening, said attendees also yelled "oh come on" and "really?" at the screen after some of the lines.

"They are probably three or four jokes specifically about BU," he said. "One guy even asks in the film "why are all BU girls bitches?'"

Sanderson, who is a film and TV major, said he he wasn't offended by the insults because they didn't really take away from the film.

"I would say it was more surprising because we're not used to any sort of competition between BU and Harvard and it almost felt like there was some pre-existing competition between the schools," he said. "I was more surprised that they were targetting us over other Ivy League schools."

Other students said it's OK for the film to joke about BU because Harvard is one of the top-ranked schools in the nation.

"I'm sure a Harvard student has more homework," said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Morgan Ford. "I think [the joke] is kind of funny."