I watched the first episode of The Newsroom with my wife last night. The best part of the experience was when we laughed at Sam Waterson going off on the most annoying character of the show: "I'm a Marine, Don! I will beat the shit out of you, I don't care how many protein bars you eat!" I found myself clinging to the hope that Waterson would beat the shit out of somebody, maybe everybody, involved in the show.
The beginning of The Newsroom starts out well enough. Creator Aaron Sorkin does a good job of showing how political debate in the United States goes stupid. Actor Jeff Daniels is in the middle of this stupid debate. When probed by a student and moderator about what makes America the greatest country in the world, Daniels goes on a rant about how America isn't that great. He cites a lot of depressing statistics and fires at liberals and conservatives. His rant (as unenlightening as it is) then turns embarrassingly sentimental - the sappy dialogue and music brought to mind the "Lesson for the Day" denouements of sitcoms like Family Matters.
The self-importance and lack of intellect that creator Aaron Sorkin displays here is outstanding. It's easy to suggest America is or isn't the greatest country in the world. But here's the truth: any question about the greatest country in the world is idiotic. Who has lived in every country in the world? Who knows everything about every country in the world? These are questions that Sorkin should've raised, but instead I am reminded of Steve Urkel.
Sorkin fumbles again when the BP oil spill comes up. He uses incredible coincidences involving the college roommate and big sister of a character just to be smug about the disaster. I think any
reasonable human being knows the oil spill was a travesty, but anyone who disagrees
would either a) never watch The Newsroom anyway or b) scoff at Sorkin's
smugness.
As a cultural statement, The Newsroom will inspire those who worship the United States to continue their blind faith and know-it-all people to masturbate to depressing statistics. Based on the pilot, it is an irresponsible and, worse, insipid show. We are better off catching another pair of knockers on Game of Thrones.
3 comments:
I haven't seen the show yet, just read about it, but to be fair, I have a ton of students (supposedly this nation's best and brightest) who actually think that the US is the BEST country in the world, without having any rational argument to back that up.
So it's certainly something worth addressing...
Unknown, you make a good point. Many people feel the United States is the best and that's that. I was programmed to feel that way by my church, school, family, etc. The problem is that I don't see The Newsroom changing that mentality. Sorkin's smug approach will reinforce political boundaries rather than move the dialogue forward.
From the few politically-oriented shows/movies I've seen on HBO, I've determined HBO doesn't handle politics well. That being said, it's hard to do, especially in a fiction setting, because if it gets too opinionated, half of the audience may disagree with the show's views. I've only seen the pilot of "The Newsroom," but I think it could be fine if they would concentrate more on the theme of broadcast journalism and on the characters and not indulge too much in political opinion.
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