Aaron Sorkin: The Master Screen-Writer.
“A film is a one night stand but television is a love affair”. That’s Aaron Sorkin when quizzed why he chose to make a television series after having written brilliant movies like A Few Good Men and The American president. This coming from a man who wrote the scene of poetic outburst of Michael J. Fox in the oval office when debating how it is important for a man of immense power to do the right thing – political ramifications and international treaties be dammed!
In the last seven years, if there was one indulgence that I let on unhindered when facing a dilemma or being in a stupor over the morally correct, West Wing was a series that I turned to day in and day out. Books were a refuge but my time of growing up gave me access to much more visual form of ideological exchange that would impress and calm me down. All of us have our ways and for most it is rather cult-isc to name books. Rand was a refuge too maybe more so for the forceful characterizations that I take from it but in my limited sphere of knowledge the characters of Aaron Sorkin had impact beyond reason.
“If you are smart, surround yourself with people who disagree with you”, another quote of Sorkin that translates into every sketch of the West Wing. The principal story line for the uninitiated is as follows: A moderate intellectual Noble-prize winning democrat is elected to the White house courtesy of a team of a five all of whom had left distinguished careers and high paying jobs to get a man elected whom they barely knew. Now in the White House, they have the task of running a country based on all the democratic ideals with their moral conscious being the driving force. The series over seven years wonderfully tells the tale of how these six strong personalities clash on varied issues, coming together by first taking on each other to fight personal ideologies and then take on the world. Over the years, these relationships become an unbreakable bond when facing crisis that take immense faith to weather over – hale of bullets, embroiling with prostitutes, the president’s undisclosed illness, the imperative to abide by constitution all the time, re-election crisis, press fumbles and incumbent choices to name a few.
Not going too much into the issues that are tackled by the series which truly is a fodder for debates on innumerable issues, digressing Sorkin for being a Screen-Writer par excellence is truly personifying the intensity that each of his characterizations had from the word go and how he wrote each of them to absolute perfection. That’s what puts Sorkin way above the rest. Every character of his incorporates a sublime feeling of passion towards their work, constitution, their party, the president for the most part, their country. Each scene has been designed to exemplify these qualities and watching each episode unfold their hidden qualities, their fancy’s and fallacies with their idiosyncratic ideologies is like watching something so real that you can mirror most of your feelings through the stand taken by each of the men in the sitcom.
John Spencer, who plays the role of Leo McGarry – the Chief of Staff – died in real life during the last season once remarked that there was just one thing that made him come to work even when he knew that he was about to die – Golden Writing. “I was given gold in every single sketch”, he said and that’s some tribute coming from a man who has more than 50yrs of working experience in Hollywood. His character of someone who runs the country from the background was written to suit somebody whom you would vision in a place of such capacity and power. All through the series, he moderates the arguments placed by his staff in front of the president, rarely opinionating but ultimately advising the president to do what’s best. He dies after being elected the Vice-president in the last season and his exit was so skillfully written that for anyone who has not followed the series would just feel that’s how the storyline was, such was the care taken to write every single episode that changes could be made even when the worst was to happen.
Allison Janney who plays CJ Cregg, the White Press Secretary & the Chief of Staff is a character who excels as somebody who brings the feminine perspective to the table very well. As the only female member of the senior staff, the sexism is very well handled by Sorkin who in the whole seven years has never discriminated or wrote something derogatory for her. Martin Sheen again makes for a great President throughout the show, figuring as the head of a team that always lays down great challenges for him. He makes the role of a president look so easy at times and at other times, brings out the magnitude of the post so well that you would ultimately get convinced of the course that he steers the nation too. As somebody who got elected without declaring an Multiple Sclerosis story to the world and who takes the blame head on and fights to win another election, what Sorkin has achieved is to set a benchmark to politicians everywhere that the quality of honesty is the highest code.
But if there are two characters that set the tone for the show for seven long years, it’s Toby Ziegler and Josh Lyman played by Richard Schiff & Bradley Whitford respectively. I dig them like anything especially Josh. Both are fanatics for policy and constitution, zealous in love with their job more so that it is done in principle than word and both absolutely love each other and trust till the end. Even when Toby is fired and when Josh was running a campaign for the next president, the way they talk throughout plotting is pure camaraderie of the highest order.
I understand that this article would be Greek and Latin to most not residing in the US or who have never heard of the west wing or not familiar with Aaron Sorkin. But the reason I felt to put it on PFC was simple – imagine this. The last two seasons of the show was 2005&2006 when I was still in India and it used to be aired at 9PM EST. The torrent would be up at around 11:30PM EST that would roughly be about 1PM IST. I would put it up then and thanks to Indian download speeds, it would take a day but I would wake up at 4AM in the mornings to watch, and that’s something I did for two yrs in India. I may have been crazy but I loved the writing, pure and simple. I have watched each episode like a zillion times and I can bravely state I know each episode like the back of my hand. And if you were ever to meet a critic of American Sitcom’s, West Wing rates very highly up there as one of the most intelligent shows ever written.
If you ever get a chance, catch a show… you will be hooked, I promise!
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For me the song by Buffalo Springfield sums up west wing perfectly:
There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, now, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
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Tags: English - Other, Television
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“if you are smart surround yourself with people who disagree with you”
yeah why do you think am on PFC :d
hey ravptor have not watched TV in years, will watch WW for you! Others have voiced similar opinions before on WW, par ab tums kay liye kuch bhi ;)
so glad to see an article on sorkin. ravptor, much like u, i am a hardcore fan, or is it fetish as Josh would say :-)
it was a pity that sorkin’s intelligence was a bit too high for the general audience, i am talking about his next show studio60 that was cancelled after season 1. i grabbed dvd of that as well, pure gem again.
now, the critics reviews for charlie wilson’s war has started coming up (sorkin has written the script) and as expected, he has scored again! can’t wait to see it.
if anyone in NY wants to spend a weekend watching and analysing TWW, speak up :-)
‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’ by Sorkin was really brilliant writing, astounding quality of material for television. A friend in NY used to send me the episodes, and I can’t thank him enough. Bradley Whitford was brilliant in it, and Matthew ‘Chandler’ Perry was a revelation. I loved it and was deeply disappointed it got cancelled after the first season. Ravptor, my kid brother is a fanatic of ‘The West Wing’. He’d do the same post-midnight downloads of the torrents! He introduced me to ‘The West Wing’, and yes, I was hooked!
Damm u guys, thanks for saying it out loud.
I could have written so much more, actually can do posts and posts only on Josh cos of his characterization throughout but I held back as i was not sure if there would be any who knew Josh… Thanks!
Followed Studio 60 just like i did WW. Brilliant would be an understatement, but I spoke to a few people about S60 and like them, i felt it was a little over the top too. Saturday night live is like a tradition here so maybe it was too hard for the audience to digest it.
That said, loved Matt Albie and Danny Tripp. Actually, Mathew Perry did about three episodes in WW and he took on Josh and Toby and he was so so good. Chandler becoming Joe Quincy was such a revelation that Aaron wrote Albie for him based on himself. And that for me was the best part. Aaron wrote Studio 60 on himself….
I love WW cos its so real… its like the modern day model of how democracy should be and how actually people in such places and power should be… Ohh how much do I dream that if I ever make a movie and shoot in US, for cheap thrills, I would place banners of Josh and Toby on a democratic ticket just to pay a tribute… :-)
Kavita: I will give you all the episodes myself, that’s on me.
Prashanth: Would love to do the weekend talking WW and Aaron in NYC or at my place in CT…
Bhavani: Is you brother of legal age??? Someone after my own heart… would love to hear more about Aaron’s writing skills especially about what you think of the technique of fast paced discussions with the main cast continuously moving. Loved that but watching that for 7yrs was getting a bit on my nerves. Seventh season was much ok in that terms though…
I will do Studio 60 on PFC sometime…
Tums
[tammudu aka chota bhai in Telugu and not a spelling mistake]
Ayushman Bhava! Vijayi Bhava !!
Will await the DVD delivery in mail or in person
Kavitakka
[ as in laaljhanda 'Swarnakka' ]
holla,just as you said in the last para which you should have said in the beginning but didnt say ,couldnt relate to it…kya tho bhi lagra tha anna
par ab ustaad sorkin ke baare mein google karthoon
anyways in which year did you leave cbit…i used to be in parkin lot,sports room,mech labs and kanteen and out in 2004
Oooh.. The West Wing.. Sorkin. Looks like there are more people like me!
Ravptor, one thing though. Sorkin left The West Wing after the 4th season. And also, Sorkin is back now with the screenplay of Charlie Wilson’s War, for which he has been nominated for a Golden Globe (the movie releases in theaters next week).
Though the 7th season surely came close (last season syndrome common to most American sitcoms) the highs for the series were truly during the Sorkin years. The first season, that I finished watching on Netflix DVD last week, (had watched reruns before) had an episode about a India Pak standoff at Siachen. One other episode had outsourcing as a major plot thread.
The political ideas mentioned during the series were sometimes much more logical compared to actual American policy and that was both endearing and comical at the same time
And yes, Studio 60 was one series that I hated to see cancelled :(
Sorkin had another series in 1998, a percusor to Studio 60 called Sports Night, about a sports themed TV news show. Again, just like West Wing and Studio 60, that series got another life after it was cancelled.
i have also felt that sorkin’s characters show his own dilemma about the political realities.
There was a scene in American President where the President asks, what is the virtue of a proportional response? He never could explore that thread in detail.
Fast forward to TWW, he created a similar situation and made the president ask the same q and presented such an insightful discussion on the same.
ravptor: i shall send u an email. i got TWW, studio60 and sportsnight DVDs. i guess we have our task cut out :-)
I was always fascinated abt American Presidents and had read a lot of fictional books and now thanks to u, Ravi, I will lend this DVD (I hope my library has it…) and watch it…Tx again Ravi….
Aaron Sorkin is da man.. I discovered him through late night reruns of sports night on comedy central and followed him to the west wing. I am really looking forward to Charlie Wilson’s war. If anyone in bangalore is interested let me know I have the complete west wing and sports night sets on dvd.
@Ravptor
When you are back from your road trip watch CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR. Its fuckin great!
You would be proud of AARON SORKIN.
This year was truly Phillip Seymor Hoffman’s year as far as acting goes. He gave 3 mindblowing performances.
THE SAVAGES
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU ARE DEAD
CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
http://hypem.com/artist/ratatat++spank+rock
I will have to check out his work, and comment back what I thought about it. This will keep me busy over the weekend.
Thanks