Ha! Yeah, I didn't eve know Jane Fonda was in the series, and didn't recognize her immediately when she first appeared, and so was both surprised and delighted in the apparently right-wing role she played so convincingly.
Thanks for your well-thought-out review of the show ... I also liked West Wing and -- what was the name of that short-lived one of Sorkin's? Studio 61? Breaking Bad I love, having just finished the first 8 episodes of the last season, and still waiting for Netflix to give us the final batch. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "RoryGoff" <rorygoff@> wrote: > > > > Have others here not liked this show, and if not, why > > not? My wife and I just watched the first season on > > Netflix, and we enjoyed it a lot, for the same reasons > > you give. > > Back when the series started, I wrote positively about > it, so there is a certain contingent here who felt the > need to dump on it simply because I liked it. And, as > we have seen here before, I would bet that many of > those who did so have never seen a full single episode. > Should any of them chime in, ask that question of them > directly, and see whether they'll admit that they got > pretty much all of their supposed criticisms from other > people's reviews. > > That said, there *were* a lot of criticisms of the show > in the media, mainly IMO *from* members of the media, > who didn't like their foibles presented so accurately > onscreen. Some envy Aaron Sorkin his success, and others > envy him his writing ability, so the bottom line of a > lot of the criticism is, again IMO, envy. > > The silliest of the criticisms have to do with the > characters of the primary women in the series. So- > called feminists complained that they weren't treated > seriously. As if women in *any* workplace in America > *are* treated as seriously as they deserve to be. I > personally think that many of the women in the series > are presented as being strong, but at the same time > capable of love and stupidity and the ability to make > dumb decisions w.r.t. love from time to time. To me, > that's a *compassionate* portrayal, putting them on > an equal pedestal of capability/stupidity as their > male counterparts. :-) > > The worst of the media criticisms are veiled attempts > to create a furor of supposed dislike for the series, > in an attempt to get an obviously left-leaning series > canceled. That failed, and my early prediction of the > series' quality being rewarded with several Emmy > nominations came to pass. I imagine that the people > mentioned in my first paragraph found that particularly > galling. :-) > > Me, I just enjoy snappy dialogue, at which Sorkin and > his team of writers are masters, and I like complex > characters who foil attempts to pigeonhole them, of > which there are many in this series. Yes, it's main- > stream television, and thus must walk that fine line > between "being entertaining to the masses" and actually > "saying something," but I think it's managed that quite > successfully. > > Glad to hear you liked it. It's one of my "Monday morning > automatic downloads" from the previous Sunday night, US > time, along with "Dexter," "True Blood" (now over for the > season), "Breaking Bad," and (thanks to you reminding me > about it) "Copper." > > When it comes to Jane Fonda, I have a particular affection > for her because I discovered her early, long before she > gained recognition in the US as anything but another > example of Hollywood nepotism. After a couple of fluff > movies in the US, she moved to France, took up with Roger > Vadim, and starred in one of his films called (in English > translation) "The Game Is Over" (a remake of Émile Zola's > "La curée." I was transfixed. I went back to see it > several nights in a row, and started telling all of > my film school buddies, "This woman is a STAR!" > > Three years later came her first recognized performance, > in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" and then three years > after that, her first Oscar-winning role in "Klute." I > have been missing her onscreen presence for some time, so > it is a real joy for me to see her not only take on a plum > role like this one, but knock it out of the park. > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > OK, I know that not many here enjoy this series as much > > > as I do, but I'm the only person I have to please around > > > here, and I love it. > > > > > > I think it's tightly written, superbly acted and directed, > > > and it occasionally makes some strong and valid criticisms > > > of the News and how it works...and how it sometimes fails > > > to work. All six of the previous episodes this season have > > > been leading up to last night's episode, when a seemingly > > > strong story they'd broadcast came crashing down with > > > embarrassing-to-the-network and mass-resignations-required > > > consequences. And IMO all on the team did a fine job in > > > presenting this story in these six episodes. > > > > > > But -- again IMO -- all of this was preface. It was all > > > leading up to a scene featuring the actress who had not > > > been present so far in the season, delivering a speech > > > that both Aaron Sorkin (as the writer) and her (as the > > > actress delivering it) will be remembered for long after > > > those who rag on "The Newsroom" are dead and forgotten. > > > > > > The owner of the fictional News network gets called out > > > of a charity benefit she's dressed to the nines and paid > > > a thousand bucks to attend because she wanted to meet > > > Daniel Craig, who was a no-show. She's not in the best > > > of moods, because she really *wanted* to meet Daniel > > > Craig. And to top that off, she's stoned. Then she gets > > > called into a room and told that she has to accept the > > > resignations of her three most key employees at the > > > network. > > > > > > That's the setup. The punchline is that this woman is > > > being played by Jane Fonda, one of the greatest actresses > > > any of us have ever been privileged to see onscreen. > > > > > > My bet is that she'll be nominated for another Emmy (she > > > already was, for her work in last season) for this five > > > minutes of screen time. And my hope is that she wins. > > > This was as masterful a piece of acting as I have ever > > > seen in my life. She literally brought tears to my eyes. > > > > > > Those of you who like to rag on "The Newsroom" can carry > > > on now, carrying on. Me, I'll carry on enjoying great TV > > > wherever I find it, no matter how many others don't like it. > > > > > >
