On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 7:06 PM, Jon Delfin <jondel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Robert Bianco in USA Today had an angle that resonated with me: > > You could write volumes trying to explain why a show with as many > virtues as Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom, which ends its first season > Sunday (HBO, 9 ET/PT), is such a maddening, and ultimately > unsatisfying, viewing experience, even for those of us who like it. > > But if you're seeking a central problem (beyond the overly > screwballish way Sorkin is handling the personal stories), try that > he's making the same mistake he made with Studio 60 on the Sunset > Strip: He's forcing us to accept the characters' view that everything > they do is of earth-shattering importance. > > That unrelenting high-stakes approach worked in The West Wing, because > almost every action taken there did literally impact millions. > > But it doesn't work here, despite whatever collective power > journalists may have, because the characters in Newsroom don't run > "The Media." > > They work on one hour-long show on one cable network, and their > ability to move mountains is minimal. > > It's fine for them to think the weight of the world in on their > shoulders; at one time or another, almost of all of us do. But the > show has to stop asking us to agree with them. > I really, really disagree with this. The idea that Sorkin's characters take themselves and their work too seriously was a common criticism of Studio 60, and I thought it was wrong about that show too. After all, the work of the people at SportsNight was not exactly earthshattering, and they took their work very seriously, and the critics (well, some of them, though there were plenty who hated) seemed to like it well enough. I think the work of a one hour flagship cable news casts is very important (though I am not sure there actually is anything like that in real life). I leave an episode of Sorkin's Newsroom wishing that there was anyone in network or cable news who thought their work was as important as the people in Sorkin's universe thing their's is. But that is really besides the point. I think Sorkin's approach would work fine if it were about my shop (college teachers) or my brother's (public high school principle) or my sister (Hospital administration). I think it would work find if it were about plumbers or electricians or garbage collectors or banking. I forget now which it was, and it may have been both, of Siskel and Ebert, who had what I thought was a great review of why Ron Howard was a good film director, which was that he liked to show people doing their jobs well. I think that is what Sorkin likes to do too - showing people who are passionate as hell about their work, and try hard to do it well, even when its complexity and their flaws make that hard and impossible. I also challenge the notion that Newsroom is a maddening and unsatisfying experience for those who like it (which sounds more like a description of Studio 60). Unlike Studio 60 - and unlike SporsNight for that matter, I know a lot of people, people who may be slightly more educated than average but not intellectuals or effete HBO dilettantes, who watch the show regularly and are fully satisfied customers and full fledged fans. I think one problem Newsroom has is that the people who write about it for television and newspapers mostly feel like the show is about them and their workplace - or close enough. And they have the same nitpicking gripes that make most people who watch a television show about their own profession have difficulty with amiable suspension of disbelief, as they feel the need to point out every inconsistency and implausibility. If I ever see a film or television show about psychotherapy or mental health I tend to be the same way, and I know lawyers and physicians who almost always pour cold water and whatever legal or medical drama is getting a lot of attention on television. The difference is that psychologists and lawyers and physicians don't get to write media reviews about those shows, but news reporters on the TV beat are getting a chance to write about Newsroom, and are able to ride their professional hobby horses into the ground (like I or most people really give a damn if real TV newsrooms would have Valentine's decorations). -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
