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Author
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Topic: So Much to Say (Nov. 2000)
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Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 10-30-2000 09:31 PM
   
John Dewey and Public and Its Problems is one of the inspirations for this site, but I'd be lying if I said that The West Wing didn't have a lot to do with it too. When I was a kid, I was sure I was gonna be President someday; then I became a journalist, then an academic, and now a guy who posts on message boards a lot. Somewhere along the way, I just got tired of politics. Clinton wasn't quite the breath of fresh air I hoped he'd be (do not get me started on that topic), then the whole nation seemed to take a turn for the cynical in 1994, and every political discussion I observed seemed to degenerate into bickering and/or a group of people stating and restating their views without listening to others. I was sick of the whole thing, and figured I'd just worry about making my own little corner of the world better.Then came The West Wing, and something changed. I saw people giving their whole lives over to something bigger than themselves, and they were doing it because they honestly thought they could accomplish something. Sure, they made compromises, they got their hands dirty, they got caught up in the game like everyone else -- but at the end of the day, they did what they did because they gave a damn about making the world better. How could you not be inspired by something like that? How could you not want to do your part to contribute to the cause? In "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet," when President Bartlet and the staff decide to take off the gloves and start fighting for what they believe in, Leo McGarry pulls everyone together and says, "If we're going to run into walls I want us going full speed. We're not going to be afraid of issues. We're going to raise the level of public debate in this country, and let that be our legacy." I can't tell you what I would give to hear a president say something like that, or any of the other speeches from the pen of Aaron Sorkin. Maybe that's a pipe dream. If it is, though, I take comfort in the fact that Jed, Leo and the rest aren't just raising the bar in their fictional universe -- they're doing it in ours too, inch by painstaking inch. |
Kevin Ott
True Believer
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posted 10-31-2000 09:29 PM
The West Wing is one of those shows that makes you want to become what you see on the screen -- like when LA Law came out, and everyone wanted to be a lawyer, or when ER came out, and everyone wanted to be a doctor, or when Cop Rock came out, and nobody wanted to be Steven Bochco. It's one of those television phenoms that happens once every decade or so.Everything Pattie said about the show is dead-on accurate -- it's the best new show on television, and there's no second place. It's almost a letdown watching Law & Order afterwards, and that used to be my favorite show. I have to wonder, though, if the show isn't enjoying huge popularity (this season's opener was on in about 25 million households) if we weren't looking at the most blatant lesser-of-two-evils situation in this year's election. Voter turnout is at an all-time low, and the race is so close and so packed with undecided voters that one pro-Bush group started running pro-Nader commercials, figuring, I suppose, that if they couldn't get people to vote for Bush, they'd at least get them to vote against Gore. In the past couple of decades, it seems the most likable presidents have been fictional characters. If I can't vote for Jed Bartlet this year, I'll vote for Harrison Ford in Air Force One, or Bill Pullman in Independence Day, or Michael Douglas in The American President To paraphrase Pattie and Puff Daddy, it's all about the bravery. The characters in those movies, as well as Bartlet and his staff (if I can't be Toby Zeigler when I grow up, I'll be C.J. Cregg, and gender be damned) look adversity in the eye every day and say, "Bite Me." They know what's right, and they stand up for it every day, and they never get tired. And they're not too stubborn to learn something from the people they stood up to. That's the kind of integrity that needs to be returned to the White House. And it's the kind of integrity that's been absent from the White House -- and the Capitol Dome -- since a time long before Bill Clinton invited an intern over for pizza and cigars. It's a surprisingly conservative concept. Those of us that read the ultra-right-wing comic strip "Mallard Fillmore" know that to be politically conservative means to refuse to be All Things To All People. Jed Bartlet does just that, and he does it in the right direction.
[This message has been edited by Kevin Ott (edited 10-31-2000).]
[This message has been edited by Kevin Ott (edited 10-31-2000).] |
Jen Mussi
One of the Regulars
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posted 11-02-2000 08:08 PM
The West Wing rocks! |
Velvet
Just Got Here
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posted 11-03-2000 01:28 AM
I've got to agree that The West Wing has brought up the level of public debate, if only between the people who watch the show. I've been working to get my friends to watch it not only because it's a great show, but because I love discussing the issues with them that the show covers. It brings up things that we don't ordinarily talk about, and it educates us on some issues. But even more than that, it whets the appetite. It makes me wonder more about politics and political issues more than I ever have before. And it makes me want to dig in and find out what's really going on. I'm a Generation X-er, and I believe that my generation is more apathetic than any before us. We haven't seen very many of the 'good' politicans in person, just read about them. FDR may not have had everyone's love, but he tried to make this country better than it was when he started. Now, it seems politicans only want the appearance that things are better, so that they can get re-elected. The West Wing showed me that there can be hope, though. Not because I think there will be a Jed Bartlet in the real White House anytime too soon. But because it showed me how many other people want the same thing I do. Just an honest person who believes they can help change the world and is not afraid to take a stand to get things done. With any luck, the real politicans will open their eyes and see how many people love this show, and start asking why they do. Then, maybe, just maybe, they will see that we couldn't care less about appearances. We just want a true hero. [This message has been edited by Velvet (edited 11-03-2000).] |
BJ
One of the Regulars
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posted 11-05-2000 06:49 PM
I watched West Wing once. I thought it was okay. Being one of the people who believe that new shows are only sorry, pathetic excuses for sitcoms and real life dramas, I don't tend to watch anything new. Call me close minded but it's true. Unfortunately, while I'm listening to Nirvana rightnow, I can't think of anyhting off the top of my head, mainly because I don't watch that much T.V. I mainly stick to the stuff thats been around for a couple of seasons. Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier, Babylon 5, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and the ever famous cartoons: Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing (believe me, I'm not as lame as you think for watching two of the greatest action cartoons evemade). I watch the re-runs and the new episodes(to those that apply). If you have never seen either one of these cartoons, I recommend watching them. Dragon Ball Z has some awesome animation(when they actually fight) and Gundam Wing is largely political and difficult to follow if you miss even one episode, but still worth watching. |
slgorman
One of the Regulars
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posted 11-06-2000 04:15 PM
To add a different spin on the apathy that has seeped into the average person's view of politics, here I am. Being 'younger' [didn't your mother teach you not to ask a persons age?  ], I find this year's election year "topics" out of touch with most younger voters. Medicare, social security, and education (at least K-12 education) are not topics that get 20 or 30 year olds that excited. Those persons that have been energized by this election and it's commonly discussed themes, tend to be person's who have a stake in those topics: health care workers, teachers in K-12 schools, environmentalists (not that that subject is being "actively" discussed, but that they tend to know the candidate's views and have reason to fear "The Shrub"), etc. I think we need to, as a group, ask the candidates what they think about topics *we* think are important, whatever those topics may be. Why do we, as a group, leave it to media pundits, journalists, and campaign workers to tell us what we should think is important? What happened to demanding to know a candidates stand on topics, to paraphrase Cheers, "that concern you and your family?" I guess what worries me the most is we aren't even asking the questions. So, forget about paying attention to the answers.[This message has been edited by slgorman (edited 11-06-2000).] | |
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