Subject:
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Re: John Leo's opinion of "The West Wing"
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 2 Oct 2002 15:09:10 GMT
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Viewed:
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617 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> I saw his column today in the Grand Rapids Press. So I thought I'd share it
> with you. But of course to just cut and paste it in here is copyright
> infringement, not fair use, so if you want to see what he thinks, you'll
> have to follow a link. Here's one I found...
>
> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/leo1.asp
>
> This was just the first site that had it when I entered the search string
> "john leo west wing" into google.com. I have no idea how long the column
> will be held there so this link may be bad in a month from now or whatever
> (I base that on the last bit of the URL which has no date tag...)...
>
> I do not often agree with John Leo, he's too "conventional conservative" for
> my taste.
>
> But he hit the nail right on the head this time.
>
> "The West Wing" is pure propaganda, not grounded in reality, and promotes
> the producer's personal agenda with no balance, but keeps that a secret from
> those viewers incapable of thinking for themselves (i.e. most of them,
> apparently, since it seems to do well in the ratings despite being
> significantly out of sync with how people feel politically).
>
> Therefore citing from it carries no water for me. Ever.
I remember a relatively huge controversy amongst the legal profession--"L.A.
Law does not show what it's really like in the legal profession." A radio
DJ at the time quipped, "WKRP is nothing like how a radio station works
either, but I still like the show..."
Yeah, M*A*S*H went 9 years longer than the war it was suppose to represent,
and watching "Pretty Woman" does not give you insight into the lives of
everyday prostitutes--What's your point?
Forgetting once again how people will interpret things to fit their own
worldview, some points in this article is erronous.
Quoting John Leo...
"
Under pressure to demonstrate some fairness, he hired two former aides to
Republican presidents, Peggy Noonan and Marlin Fitzwater, as consultants.
Noonan says she wrote a script segment on affirmative action featuring C. J.
Cregg, Bartlet's press secretary, explaining that her father's life was
shattered when he was shunted aside in favor of less qualified nonwhite job
seekers. In Sorkin's rewrite, C. J.'s father wasn't shattered or a victim of
government. He was doing just fine, "in part because that's how Aaron thinks
about affirmative action, and it's his show," Noonan wrote in the Wall
Street Journal.
"
I have to ask--did Peggy Noonan see the episode? C.J.'s father was not
'just fine'--C.J. was almost in tears due to her fathers deteriorating
mental health, which C.J. attributed directly to affirmative action.
As well, anyone who watched the show thru seasons 2 and three might recall a
character named Ainsley Hayes, a Republican lawyer who was hired onto the
staff for that elusive 'bipartisanship'.
Beyond that, quoting another thread, critiquing a movie without having
watched the movie is, well, wrong, unless you're Craig Kilborn and want to
do "Movie Poster Reviews"
More ideas...
About the slamming of the fictional person, a la Dr. Laura...
"
President Josiah Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of
questions while I have you here. I'm interested in selling my youngest
daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown
sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her
turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I
ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the
Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally
obligated to kill him myself or is it OK to call the police? Here's one
that's really important because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town:
touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they
promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can
Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together
to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I
burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from
two different threads? Think about those questions, would you?
"
I think it was a general response to people who say that homosexuality is an
abomonation to the Lord because of what it says in Leviticus, and fail to
take into consideration what else the bible says.
I'm a God fearing Christian, and I can't rhymn off the 10 commandments
specifically--I'd probably get 8 or 9 off the top of my head, but for me,
it's more important that God's will is in my heart, instead of mindlessly
following a piece of paper written a long time ago.
Quoting John Leo...
"
On last week's opening show, when two White House aides were introduced to a
few schoolgirls in Indiana, one girl asked, "How many unborn babies did you
guys kill today?" This is the show's established level of subtlety in
dealing with abortion. In the pilot for the show, an antiabortion zealot
sent the president's granddaughter a Raggedy Ann doll with a knife through
its throat.
"
You want to talk subtlety? How about anti-abortion zealots that run around
shooting doctors and personnel that perform abortions--that's about as
subtle as it gets, me thinks. There have been documented cases of abortion
clinics getting packages with mutilated dolls in them. So a television show
takes real life scenarios and works them into a story and puts them on the
tube--whoda thunk?
Citing a television show as a "proof" for *anything* is ludicrous at
best--psst--they're acting, it's fictional, it's not really real! However,
starting a conversation because of what was seen on television is just
that--*starting* a conversation. How many water cooler conversations did
people have about 'Seinfeld'? It was even known as the 'water cooler' show.
The entertainment industry has a way of starting terrific conversations.
Quoting John Leo...
"
The West Wing is back for its fourth season on NBC, trailing a lot of newly
won Emmys, high expectations, and, of course, controversy. It really is a
terrific show, with unusually strong dialogue, humor, and dramatic impact. I
thought the second-season scene with President Bartlet arguing bitterly with
G-d (in Latin, no less) over the problem of evil and the death of a beloved
secretary was a daring one that worked well.
"
I prefer to think that the West Wing raises the bar on what would otherwise
be a pretty bleak television season. In a time when the industry is dumbing
things down, and going for supposed 'reality t.v,', the West Wing (and for
two glorious seasons, Sports Night) are a Godsend--I am glad that someone
has enough backbone to actually stand up and start these important
conversations. M*A*S*H did it, and a few others--let's not make the lowest
common denominator the highest we can hope to aspire.
"More and more we are expecting less and less from each other. It's time to
start working against that"
-Aaron Sorkin, in Sports Night as well as West Wing
(yeah, sometimes he reuses themes and even the same text in both shows--oh
well, whatreya gonna do?)
Dave K
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: John Leo's opinion of "The West Wing"
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| (...) I think the point is that Leo perceives that people are distressingly apt to get their political views from fictional programs. No doubt Leo would include such fictions as the 700 Club and Rush Limbaugh's daily spew, as well as the film (...) (22 years ago, 2-Oct-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | John Leo's opinion of "The West Wing"
|
| I saw his column today in the Grand Rapids Press. So I thought I'd share it with you. But of course to just cut and paste it in here is copyright infringement, not fair use, so if you want to see what he thinks, you'll have to follow a link. Here's (...) (22 years ago, 2-Oct-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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