Geek love

There are many and varied reasons why I don't do Facebook, some of which include:

(a) it's the work of the devil (or the CIA, if you're that way inclined)
(b) when your aged mother is an enthusiastic devotee, it becomes about as cool as Cliff Richard, and
(c) could we be any more sheep-like if we tried?

Yet yesterday I allowed myself to be dragged along to 'The Social Network', a movie that chronicles the rise and rise of an invention that, I grudgingly admit, has changed the world in which we live.

And yes, I did question whether a film about a bunch of computer geeks setting up a website could be worthy of seven quid and two hours. The answer, my friends, is yes.

Perhaps it's because the producers avoid gimmicky computer graphics or show-off special effects and allow good old school story telling to perfectly capture a crucial moment in the zeitgeist. Or maybe it's because writer Aaron Sorkin (of West Wing fame) has managed to nail this tale of aspiration, revenge and idealism.

Yes Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is somewhat of an anti-hero (and a prized prick who would trample his grandmother in the stampede to win) but, long after the last credits have rolled, you're still pondering questions such as, can anyone really 'own' an idea, how many people do you have to piss off before you end up lonely and tragic, or will geeks ever truly inherit the earth? And, most pressing of all, how the hell can this film hold the attention of the generation it attempts to define when there are no fight scenes, car chases or special effects?

Had no trouble engaging my pre-YouTube attention span, though.