|
Paragon8 posted:Agreed. The West Wing is about hope and striving to do our best and to better our world and I can't really think of many other tv shows that really do that anymore. While I do like The West Wing, I think that the optimism really grated after a while. My main problem is that nobody on the show stopped and asked whether the policy was good or not; people would pass something and say what's next. It never analyses the implications of the policies, which makes it feel very detached. The Wire was a pretty good way to show the implications of federal policies and how they rarely help those who need it most. In keeping with tradition there was a fairly liberal interpretation of history outside the US, and I hated Lord Marbury or whatever his name was- it's like every British cliche dialed up to 11. Also I didn't like the death penalty episode just because nobody pointed out the obvious; if you execute people you will also execute innocent people.
|
#
¿
Jul 10, 2011 19:48
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 11:53 |
|
|
scarymonkey posted:That's not really relevant. You can say the same about any punishment. e.g. If you jail people you can also jail innocent people. Honestly I'd rather be wrongly executed than wrongly given life imprisonment. Especially that after about a year or so in the American prison system I would have probably lost my humanity. Life isn't an numbers game, life isn't better just because you reach the bigger number, quality matters as much as quantity. This isn't the place to argue about the death penalty, but even if you don't agree with the point of view it's pretty egregious to not even mention it; it's the main reason why it was abolished in the UK. Also one thing I realised; Charlie is the only major black character. There's that interesting scene where Fitzwallace says he doesn't see a problem with a black kid waiting on a white president, but nobody brings up the fact that nobody else in the senior staff is black. Again it seems to address a small issue while totally ignoring a much bigger (and harder to solve) problem.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 11, 2011 22:43
|
|
|
Mu Zeta posted:I thought Qumar was a real country because of this show and it led to an embarrassing situation years ago. Thanks a lot Sorkin, you rear end in a top hat. I can't help feeling it was based on Qumran, the Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister fictional gulf state. By the way everyone should watch Yes Minister. All the episodes are available on youtube.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 21, 2011 14:52
|
|
|
gohuskies posted:Will sucking big time was a big problem for me. I hated him so much. It was interesting how in the space of a season he went from an idealistic hero campaigning (and winning) with a dead candidate, to settling for Bingo Bob. He just seems like two different characters- the first I liked, the second one I hated. Also his voice was annoying- it sounded perpetually whiny.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 12, 2011 08:39
|
|
|
myron cope posted:I always get choked up when Bartlet gives Charlie the knife It may be my ignorance, but did Paul Revere really make carving knives? My impression was that he was too good a silversmith to bother with something like that. Also I'm just going say once again that I despise John Marbury and I'd like to punch whoever wrote him in as a character. West Wing was never too good at realistic portrayals of other nations, but as a Brit Marbury was the worst by a long way.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2012 19:15
|
|
|
myron cope posted:Yeah since they founded New Hampshire, signed the declaration of independence and whatnot, it doesn't seem crazy that Paul revere would have made them something special Possibly, though I would've expected something more fancy than a knife considering Revere's reputation. The bigger problem with that scene is that it doesn't really resonate with me considering my parents have an entire silver set that is twice as old as the knife would've been. Sorry if I sound smug, but in general heirloom handovers don't really impress me. Personally when I have kids I'm going to buy some jewellery and say that they're ancient heirlooms that have been passed down my family for centuries. Who knows, maybe they'll buy it and I can start one of these traditions.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2012 20:31
|
|
|
qntm posted:Words That's an interesting way to look at things, not one I'd considered. I can accept the relevance of Bartlett giving Charlie his knife, but that doesn't mean it had to be made by Paul Revere, does it? I just felt that part was unnecessary, trying to add extra weight when it wasn't needed. I would've found the scene far more moving if it was just a knife that his father had given him.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2012 21:10
|
|
|
Eikre posted:My favorite lovely pat argument is the one where Donna is talking to Jack Reese to about wasteful military spending and 300$ ashtrays, and he justifies them by procuring one he apparently stole and smashing with a wrench. Then he reminds her, sardonically, that sometimes submarines get hit by torpedoes or something. And, it's like, why do you need glass ashtrays at all? Go hit a piece of sheet metal with a hammer a couple times and make your own, you jackass. During the space race the US spent millions producing a pen that would work in zero-gravity, the Russians used a pencil.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 31, 2012 09:02
|
|
|
pentyne posted:Wow, seasons 6/7 really took a dive in quality. The entire arc with nuclear power being presented as some demonic threat at America's throat seem really out of place. Having the noble laureate Bartlett treating nuclear power like the plague and yelling at Vinnick about it came off as completely incomprehensible. Yeah, that line really annoyed me. I would've liked a reply from Vinick along the lines of: "You are an economist! What makes you think as a member of the dismal science you could possibly hope to fully understand the safety and upkeep of a nuclear power station!? You notice that the French have plenty of nuclear power plants and they haven't had a meltdown!"
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2013 09:33
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 11:53 |
|
|
pokeyman posted:Watching S3E22 "Posse Comitatus" and I have to keep reminding myself that setting a scene to (optionally a cover of) Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" wasn't yet cliche. You got it the wrong way round; John Cale (the version in the episode) covered it first, which inspired Jeff Buckley's version.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 25, 2014 20:26
|
|