Logging into The Social Network

The Social Network spares us a superficial discourse on Facebook's influence on human connection and instead immerses us in human experience: inspiration; indignation; the perils of revenge and acting on impulsive anger. This movie is so good because, to borrow a phrase from the film itself, it is "wired into" the brains of its characters and draws its pace (fast), IQ (very high) and tone (self-assured) from them. No man or woman is ever entitled to be an asshole, but some people are chemically inclined to exhibit those tendencies. Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is brilliant, socially tone-deaf, sexist, belligerent and arrogant, and the plot doesn't make him atone for any hurt feelings he's caused. If he does get his comeuppance, it may be that Facebook doesn't appear to make him happy. The site's popularity functions as a rare outlet worthy of his genius.