The Social Network

The Social Network: ***1/2

When I was eight, nine, or ten years old I went fishing with my grandfather and my great uncle. We took position on a bridge that had been closed and turned into a fishing pier. This is somewhere in the Tidewater region, I don't know where- I didn't fish much before or after this trip, so forgive me if I'm scarce with the details. What's important is that my great uncle caught a fantastic flounder right before we were to pack it up and head home. I had spent most of the day reluctantly catching croaker and not wanting to touch the damn things to throw them back. Fish always seem gross to me- like spiked fin cousins of serpents. But something changed when I caught sight of that flat bodied flounder. At no time during the day had I seen one of them come up. There was a general excitement about it. I thought that a school of them had just swam through the area and that I had no time to waste- so I cast my rod into the water below... well, that was the intention. In reality, I threw the rod, reel, everything into the water. I watched it slowly descend into the waves and vanish.

Social Network reminds me of that moment. Of seeing something great and wanting so bad to be part of it. I got home and checked facebook and looked at the about us page- typically the last place on the world wide web anybody would go. It seemed cool. As if every word was hand crafted for coolness. It made me feel invigorated. I clicked on the career opportunities section. That too was cool. And then I began to deflate. Just as I did when I launched that rod and reel into the sea.

It's a great adventure, seeing something fantastic happen in front of your eyes. It's amazing what people can do. I'm tired and I'm going to go to bed. I had a good time with The Social Network.