Regarding HBO's new drama "The Newsroom": I enjoyed this show; this is not surprising, though, as I thoroughly enjoyed it the first time I saw it, when it was called "Sports Night." The primary difference being that the new show focuses on a "hard news" program, as opposed to sports, and there is considerably more profanity--thank you, HBO.
This is not a criticism. "The Newsroom" is the latest show from Aaron Sorkin, who has, in one way or another, been writing the same program for the last 15 years or so, whether it's been called "Sports Night," "Studio 60," or "The Newsroom." All three essentially just realize Sorkin's romanticized vision of the media industry. (Alternatively, he romanticizes politics in things like "The West Wing" and "The American President." How romantic is Sorkin's view of politics? In his productions, REPUBLICANS are played by people like Richard Dreyfuss and Alan Alda.) And that's fine because, even if the characters are all somewhat familiar, it's quite a pleasure just to sit back and listen to these people talk.
I like to root for Sorkin's success, as he is one of a tiny handful of writers (as opposed to actors or directors) who has a distinctive voice (and considerable clout) in film and television. Just as you can always kind of tell, even without seeing the credits, when you're watching a Tim Burton or Terry Gilliam or (sometimes) Martin Scorcese film, you can pretty much always tell when you're watching something written by Aaron Sorkin: For one thing, every single person is hyper-intelligent--even the stupid people are witty and engaging! Realistic? No, but certainly a lot of fun.
The only disappointing thing about a Sorkin show--and I'm sure "The Newsroom" will be no exception--is that, after you finish watching, you compare the vision of news (or politics) in the shows with the all-too-depressing reality. Sorkin provides a blueprint for how you'd love to see people act and interact--sadly very few people in the real world seem to want to follow the blueprint.
No comments:
Post a Comment