The Crackpots and These Women—Smallpox, WWII, and Western Exceptionalism

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I’ll make a separate post regarding the 2nd scene.

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But why?

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Notice the contrast of the bleakness of what he says with the beauty of Schubert’s “Ave Maria” playing in the background. I’ll make a separate post regarding the 2nd scene.

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Movie and TV board? What the frick even is this.

2nd scene is the President addressing his staff at the end of the episode. It’s much more optimistic, as is the entire show. It’s idealist, and while we’ll never be able to live up to those lofty ideals in real life, I see no reason why we shouldn’t try. I’ll post 2 clips of the same scene. The 1st one is shorter and gets to the point:

Surely we can do it again

The 2nd link is the entire scene (a little under 3 minutes), and while a lot of you won’t agree with its politics, surely you can appreciate the message of the inevitable triumph of the human spirit:

...and touched the face of God

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Movie and TV board?

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I don’t want to discuss the show, but the content of the scenes that are relevant today.

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What the frick even is this.

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It’s a post on a message board. Perhaps posting is not your game. I know—let’s have a spelling contest.

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West Wing

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crazy4lsu

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Thank you for the substantive reply. I appreciate you linking the scenes and will respond later after I have time to watch.

Though our personal politics differ (mainly because I know his don’t work in the real world), I am an unapologetic sucker for Sorkin. There’s a time for all different types of art, but I can’t help but enjoy the feeling of being moved that most of his works tend to evoke in me.

Just screwing with ya man. Enjoyed the scene

I can't forgive Sorkin for infecting a whole generation of people with this notion of how politics "should" work, and then the disaffection that occurred as a result. The darker view of politics is always more representative. I don't find a TV show currently that doesn't induce cringe. Homeland's portrayals of ME politics are utterly retarded. The newer version of House of Cards also struck me as cartoonish, especially in comparison to the original.

There are a variety of works that do represent politics well. I think Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and 2nd GIG wonderfully imagines a complicated bureaucracy, and is not wistful about the representation. I think The Wire does a fantastic job, through writing, of representing an entire city and the complicated lives that make it up. I think films like The Battle of Algiers were both prescient (or perhaps instructive) in how modern resistance movements would operate. I think movies like The Mouse that Roared and Being There, though satirical, do wonderful jobs of presenting how "power" is expressed. I think a film like Reds is probably a precursor to much of Sorkin's stuff. There are a number of other films, books, and shows that are better representations of politics too.

I don't mean to take away something from you, as if you find joy in Sorkin's work, then by all means experience it and enjoy it. There are works that I love that were formative for me, and would be generally regarded less than favorably, though I think The West Wing was critically lauded. My personal opinion is that the maudlin veneer of the show drives it to the realm of the unreal. Contrast the show with things like The Fog of War, or reading Rumsfeld's cables during the early days of the Afghanistan war, and notice the difference. I never get the sense that there are things unknown with Sorkin's work. The sense of mystery is absent, and the appeals to wonder are too direct. Like in the above scene, setting the music to Ave Maria is too on the nose, to direct an appeal, as though the direction wants me to feel something in particular, rather than letting me feel for myself. American films since 9/11 are especially fond of this too. The mystery has been washed away, and fast cuts with short quips have taken the place of a particular type of thoughtfulness that film allows you to enjoy. Maybe this is there in Sorkin's work, but I've never been able to sit through it long enough without it annoying the living shite out of me.

I don't blame Sorkin in particular for predominant political aesthetic that is almost in every political thriller, but I do blame him for his pose to the audience, and what he is ultimately selling. I also blame him for the obvious instances of poor writing.