You know how the young kids these days are always using the Facebooks for their social networking and whatnot? Sure you do. Even people’s moms can effortlessly make their way around Facebook now. (If there were no moms, there would be no Farmville.)

So you probably also know all about how Facebook wants you to “Like” everything by clicking on a little link, and then once you Like some things it will tell you about some other things you might like to Like, based on other people who Liked the same things that you like.

Here’s one it gave to me recently. The suggestion for something I might like was “action movies.” A little generic, perhaps, but okay, sure, I like some action movies.

Now here’s the justification it gave for suggesting that to me:

Many who like L’Avventura like action movies

That’s a head scratcher, I have to say. Yes, it’s true, I like L’Avventura and I like my fair share of action movies. But, starting with one, it’s something of a leap to reach the other.

If you’re not familiar with L’Avventura, allow me to explain. It’s a 1960 film from director Michelangelo Antonioni, and the first in a thematic “trilogy” that includes La Notte and L’Eclisse. I like all three films, though I think L’Avventura is the best of the lot.

What’s it about? Well, it’s sort of about this woman who, while on holiday with her lover and friends, goes missing. Except it isn’t about that at all, because once she disappears everyone basically forgets about her. This isn’t a movie about plot. What it’s really about is the emptiness in the lives of the idle rich, their inability to feel anything or to have meaningful relationships. There’s a scene where two characters—lovers, ostensibly, though the word is hardly accurate—kiss and embrace, but only as long as a bellboy is watching; once they don’t have an audience, what’s the point? They’re only going through the motions of passion because that’s what you’re supposed to do.

It’s a movie where nothing really happens, and that’s the point. Nothing “happens” on screen because nothing is happening in the characters’ lives. Not for nothing have critics referred to “Antoniennui.” The film is all about world-weariness, emotional emptiness, and loneliness in the midst of a crowd (if these people can be said to even feel enough to feel lonely).

It’s about as far removed as you can get from big bold action movies, and each time I see the suggestion on my Facebook page (it keeps coming up again and again) I laugh.

But I also see a glimmer of hope. After all, it did say that many who like action movies also like Antonioni’s deliberate, thoughtful meditation. Maybe there’s hope, after all, that inside every slackjawed audience member sitting breathlessly on the edge of his seat during Transformers, there’s a true lover of film waiting to break out, if only he could be exposed to something that would challenge and, most importantly, respect him as a viewer.

Oh, who am I kidding?

If You Hated This, You Will Also Totally Hate:

• Pinky and the Brain: Still Awesome