The Social Network

Hard to say what prompted this post more, the movie or baby no. 2‘s social conduct these days or people’s reaction to it. I will try and navigate in order of occurrence. One episode per post.

We have been lagging behind in movies these days and not too happy about it.  In this weird world, people bond over the simplest of things. Travel, Art, Academics, Nature, Humor, Children, Charity, Cynicism, Faith are just a few of the sentiments that bring couples together and keep them together. Movies happen to be that “thing” for us. We can watch the crappiest movie together and still have a good time. That said we do watch some good movies too.

Sunday was just one day away. The list of skipped movies was getting longer by the night (movie time is mostly nighttime) and a few of them on the dreaded list gravely endangered our status of being movie buffs. How embarrassing was it that two people who were hooked on Facebook for an un-disclosable (forgive the use of a non-existent word) number of hours in a day had so far not watched “The Social Network”? Very.  Admitted, the joke on the number of hours was a bit of an exaggeration, but you got the point, right?

It was under such dire circumstances that Netflix delivered “The Social Network” in our mailbox. If somebody else wanted to watch the movie as desperately as us, it was purely a coincidence.

So what can be more entertaining than watching an engaging movie? Watching it with friends. The whole movie watching experience and the volume in the room reaches another decibel in which case. So it was 10 p.m. when we gathered with a bunch of friends at a residence which anchored the biggest TV within the group and put on “The Social Network”, expecting it to be some kind of a documentary on the inventor of the famous website. What we got to see was a witty, fast paced, engrossing and a thoroughly enjoyable film.

If I were to write a detailed review of the movie right now, I am pretty sure nobody will bother reading it and frankly it would be quite late in the day! But I cannot really take you through this whole movie watching charade and not give my two cents on it.

Since a lot has already been said and written about the movie, I will keep it simple. It didn’t bother me that the inventor of Facebook had been accused of stealing an idea that ultimately changed the dynamics of being social on the internet. Clearly, there are now friends and then there are Facebook friends. Whoever said an idea is worth a million was bang right on this one. I didn’t care much for the central character being socially inept, an irony highlighted all the way through. For me, the movie was not about the billions made or the millions paid in settlements. It was about friendship and its betrayal.  A hurt compensated by money, but never erased.