Still, I find it difficult when he goes off and does stupid, pretty indefensible stuff like this bit, mentioned in Frank the Tank's blog this week.I had been planning to get to all of the commotion about how the comedy show central to Studio 60 isn't all that funny - more on that later - but the critics, both professional and armchair who are taking umbrage to Sorkin picking fights and trying to marginalize the Midwest in general and Red States in particular.
While Frankie and others are right in calling out Sorkin for painting anything west of the Appalachians and east of the Pacific Time Zone as a bunch of Jesus-loving hicks, I tend to limit my ire on this because it makes for easy shorthand on a weekly television show.
In this particular instance, it wasn't a major plot point that all people in the Midwest didn't know who Abbott and Costello were - and honestly, you'd assume the Midwest would have a more intimate knowledge of the duo on a per capita basis - the point was that one character's parents didn't know the history of comedy, which was causing friction in the family.
It'd be different if the show had been written to have one character say to another, "Did you see the new Gallup poll? Nearly 72 percent of all residents in Indiana don't know who Abbott and Costello are!" but it wasn't. It was an important facet to the storyline and I think that it's been taken out of context, given the outcry I've read and heard.
In the biggest Red State baiting episodes, John Goodman played a small town judge in Nevada who toyed with the cast and network brass based on his position of power. In the end, he got the best of the fancy-pants Hollywood liberals and the whole thing played out pretty well.
Here's the deal on both of these fronts - it comes down to suspension of disbelief.
Rather than get too worked up over why Sorkin is picking on Ohio or Iowa or wherever, it needs to be taken as intended so that without having to burn screen time with an extended exposition on this particular town and their conservatism, they just break out the big brush and hit everyone at once.
I'm OK with this. If the rest of the Midwest wants to shift the blame back down to Alabama, then they need to stop voting Republican. No one had a problem with this same type of broad strokes in the West Wing when Midwest was equated with down-home family values, a blue collar work ethic and ethical folks who just wanted to do right by America.
On the same topic, I don't see a need to make the sketches rival the first years of Saturday Night Live in order to make the show work. Would I prefer to see hysterical sketches that broke up the scenes? Sure. But I don't really need that.
Again, if you can take this at face value and work with the premise that Matthew Perry's character is a sublimely talented comedy writer, why can't that be enough.
Again, I'd prefer it with better comedy, but what does it really detract from the overall show if the sketches aren't fall-down funny? It's still funnier than Home Improvement and that show was on for roughly 15 years.
I guess the point is that if you want to have quick-reference stereotypes for your weekly network dramas, you're going to have to break some eggs. Everyone knew that Jed Bartlet wasn't the real president, that the cowboy antics depicted by his staff wouldn't fly in the real world and that bi-partisan stunts in the name of public good weren't really in the realm of possibility, but it made us feel better about ourselves.
Is it really such a bad thing to have a show that makes us think that somewhere in America - outside of South Park - there are writers and actors on a television show that prize content above viewership and would prefer to use their positions on the show for something more than a springboard to further their own celebrity?
I know my TiVo is monitored and the contents sold to be sliced, diced and consumed to try and convince me to buy more crap I don't need, but still - once a week it's nice to step outside of that.
More so, West Wing made us care about the characters and worry about them to the point that most fans felt a double loss when the real John Spencer died because we lost both a talented actor but Leo as well.
If you ask me, that's the biggest problem I'm having with Studio 60 right now - that the character development is suffering because too much energy is being expended on taking shots at irrelevant causes. I agree with the Chicago Tribune columns that argue that the characters are suffering on the show and that there are too many loose ends and unexplored plots out there.
But to damn the writing because it follows the same formula as West Wing and SportsNight before it? That's just asking this show to play by a different set of rules.
(Photo from WashingtonPost.com)
1 comment:
I don't have a problem with people using the power of pop culture to advance their social views as long as it's done in a quality manner. That's my disappointment with Aaron Sorkin's shows - I do believe the vast majority of the aspects of his shows are amazing as a whole, yet when he inserts his personal views (which on at least with social issues, I actually agree with), it's so heavy-handed and preachy that it detracts from everything else. There's a fine line between great social commentary that challenges the viewers and poorly done social commentary that beats the viewers over the head with a "we're right because we went to Ivy League schools and everyone who disagrees with us must be an unwashed idiot" mentality, particularly for dramas. For the most part, comedies do the best job of presenting social commentary without patronizing the audience since it takes a lot more skill and thought to write a well-placed joke about a serious topic, which in turn forces the audience to think, than to have someone go on a long-winded speech in a drama, where all the audience can do is listen.
It would be one thing if Sorkin would present his views in an enlightening or challenging manner that would make the viewers think, but all he really does is nothing more than recycle the same old tired "Hollywood/East Coast Liberals versus Middle America" talking points that are spewed on Bill O'Reilly or Air America on a daily basis. This negative reaction may also be a function that I'm personally sick of hearing about the "culture wars", which are largely a media concoction. If you feel the need to put your views out there, at least deal with some issues that actually matter.
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