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West Wing -- Arctic Radar (or Thing 1 senses a chill)
Just saw the ep, finally. Then I went to see what ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elynross had to say about it, because I knew she'd posted something, and found that I had some things to say in response to the comments.
I'm new to LJ and have no idea what the etiquette is for quoting things that get said in other people's LJs, particularly the comments, so I'll just start in cold. The discussion had focused on Josh telling Janice, the temp worker, that she was a fetishistic obsessive who needed to get a life, and how some people found that merely amusing rather than offensive in any way.
Likeelynross, I had no real problem with the earlier Sorkin-hates-fans bit, the Lemonlymon site (other than having a really bad yaoi moment or two). It was something Josh would do, it was something Josh would react to in the way he reacted. They all react to bad situations by going back to them over and over to make them worse -- it's a Sorkin trademark.
But this -- this was absurd. And the fact that no one outside of media fandom will see why it's absurd, and the fact that they'll all think it's just funny and true, and gee isn't Sorkin all clever to say that an overweight, middlish-aged woman who wears a Star Trek pin will necessarily be some sort of obsessive freak who needs to be set right by Josh and his patronizing commentary, makes me nuts.
I mean, earlier in the ep, we saw Toby commenting that Sam was taking his Lakers banner, right? A banner that showed his love for, devotion to, and loyalty toward an ever-changing group of men who run around in satin shorts playing with a rubber ball for hours on end. If you asked him why, he'd probably say something like "they exemplify teamwork and devotion to always bettering themselves, qualities I admire, and I think they're qualities we should be focused on around here." If he said that, everyone around him would nod and smile and agree, because yeah, of course they exemplify those things, and what a neat thing to acknowledge that, right?
Sort of like Janice's comment that for her, Star Trek exemplifies honor, loyalty, and civic duty, and how she thought those things were appropriate to the White House. But that's weird, to say that a tv show exemplifies something for you. It's only normal if it's a bunch of guys in a silly uniform, chasing a ball around. That can mean something. That's normal, that's safe, that's sane. Paying attention to tv other than sports makes you a freak, someone to be mocked and pitied for having no life.
(Unlike, say, my brother, who watches about 10 hours of sports a day on the weekend and as many hours during the week as he can; has fantasy baseball, football, basketball, and hockey teams (along with everyone in his office) -- which is part of the reason why he watches so much sports, so he can track all of "his" players on "his" teams; spends a fortune on tickets [more for one three-hour game than I pay to attend a three-day con] to events where thousands of people go to yell and clap and dress up in costumes and paint their faces in odd colors and patterns to watch the men in the funny outfits playing with the various balls and pucks; knows all the players' stats... but he has a life. Yeah. 'Cause that stuff's important, and is part of what makes a modern life fulfilling.)
So Sorkin wants us all to believe that it's wholly professional for a senior staff member to have sports banners hanging on his office walls -- an office where meetings with visitors to the White House, including at least one congressman, have happened, not to mention meetings with other senior and junior staff, and once or twice visits from the president himself. It's appropriate for an even more senior staff member to ask him to leave it behind, where it can be all professional in someone else's office.
But it's incredibly unprofessional for a temporary secretary to wear a piece of jewelry that means something to her, for the few days that she's sitting out there in the pool among a dozen or more other secretaries, because someone may walk by and notice that she's wearing a piece of jewelry that Josh doesn't like. So unprofessional that she needs to be given a little lecture about how strange and sad her life is (a lecture given on the strength of the cumulative 90 seconds Josh has spent talking to her before that point, no less).
It's the hypocrisy that gets me.
If it's unprofessional to have things that show your hobbies or passions other than work-related things, great. I get that, I've got no problem with that. But if that's the case, sports banners have to count, too.
If the sports banners don't count, it's not about professionalism. It's about Aaron Sorkin not liking media fans per se, and slamming them for no reason other than that.
elynross had to say about it, because I knew she'd posted something, and found that I had some things to say in response to the comments.I'm new to LJ and have no idea what the etiquette is for quoting things that get said in other people's LJs, particularly the comments, so I'll just start in cold. The discussion had focused on Josh telling Janice, the temp worker, that she was a fetishistic obsessive who needed to get a life, and how some people found that merely amusing rather than offensive in any way.
Like
elynross, I had no real problem with the earlier Sorkin-hates-fans bit, the Lemonlymon site (other than having a really bad yaoi moment or two). It was something Josh would do, it was something Josh would react to in the way he reacted. They all react to bad situations by going back to them over and over to make them worse -- it's a Sorkin trademark.But this -- this was absurd. And the fact that no one outside of media fandom will see why it's absurd, and the fact that they'll all think it's just funny and true, and gee isn't Sorkin all clever to say that an overweight, middlish-aged woman who wears a Star Trek pin will necessarily be some sort of obsessive freak who needs to be set right by Josh and his patronizing commentary, makes me nuts.
I mean, earlier in the ep, we saw Toby commenting that Sam was taking his Lakers banner, right? A banner that showed his love for, devotion to, and loyalty toward an ever-changing group of men who run around in satin shorts playing with a rubber ball for hours on end. If you asked him why, he'd probably say something like "they exemplify teamwork and devotion to always bettering themselves, qualities I admire, and I think they're qualities we should be focused on around here." If he said that, everyone around him would nod and smile and agree, because yeah, of course they exemplify those things, and what a neat thing to acknowledge that, right?
Sort of like Janice's comment that for her, Star Trek exemplifies honor, loyalty, and civic duty, and how she thought those things were appropriate to the White House. But that's weird, to say that a tv show exemplifies something for you. It's only normal if it's a bunch of guys in a silly uniform, chasing a ball around. That can mean something. That's normal, that's safe, that's sane. Paying attention to tv other than sports makes you a freak, someone to be mocked and pitied for having no life.
(Unlike, say, my brother, who watches about 10 hours of sports a day on the weekend and as many hours during the week as he can; has fantasy baseball, football, basketball, and hockey teams (along with everyone in his office) -- which is part of the reason why he watches so much sports, so he can track all of "his" players on "his" teams; spends a fortune on tickets [more for one three-hour game than I pay to attend a three-day con] to events where thousands of people go to yell and clap and dress up in costumes and paint their faces in odd colors and patterns to watch the men in the funny outfits playing with the various balls and pucks; knows all the players' stats... but he has a life. Yeah. 'Cause that stuff's important, and is part of what makes a modern life fulfilling.)
So Sorkin wants us all to believe that it's wholly professional for a senior staff member to have sports banners hanging on his office walls -- an office where meetings with visitors to the White House, including at least one congressman, have happened, not to mention meetings with other senior and junior staff, and once or twice visits from the president himself. It's appropriate for an even more senior staff member to ask him to leave it behind, where it can be all professional in someone else's office.
But it's incredibly unprofessional for a temporary secretary to wear a piece of jewelry that means something to her, for the few days that she's sitting out there in the pool among a dozen or more other secretaries, because someone may walk by and notice that she's wearing a piece of jewelry that Josh doesn't like. So unprofessional that she needs to be given a little lecture about how strange and sad her life is (a lecture given on the strength of the cumulative 90 seconds Josh has spent talking to her before that point, no less).
It's the hypocrisy that gets me.
If it's unprofessional to have things that show your hobbies or passions other than work-related things, great. I get that, I've got no problem with that. But if that's the case, sports banners have to count, too.
If the sports banners don't count, it's not about professionalism. It's about Aaron Sorkin not liking media fans per se, and slamming them for no reason other than that.