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Saturday, December 5, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
The 3 Thematic Motifs within the Works of Auteur, Aaron Sorkin
To many, the name Aaron Sorkin was foreign until his recent guest appearance on the HBO series, Entourage. However, Sorkin’s work is quite remarkable, which is why proper credit shall be given in this piece. Aaron Sorkin’s work has put him in a league with some of the greatest of our time, and has classified him as a true auteur- an artist within his own work.
Aaron Sorkin, a New York native, was born in a wealthy suburb of New York City. Raised by his mother and father, Sorkin grew up with one brother and one sister. Both siblings went on to practice law; however, Sorkin knew that wasn’t for him. Aaron ended up at the nearby Syracuse University, where he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts. Initially, he believed that acting was the career he would work towards, so like many other amateur actors, he moved to New York City. In his pursuit of acting, he worked many minimum wage jobs and also went unemployed for quite some time, until he discovered his true talent was in writing. He began writing his first Broadway production, A Few Good Men, after a telephone conversation with his sister. This production was a huge success and was later made into a movie produced by Rob Reiner. From this point on, Sorkin’s name was developed in Hollywood. Aaron Sorkin has been nominated for three Golden Globes, six Emmys and he has also won six Emmys.
Aaron Sorkin’s most recent work is mainly showcased in three television series: West Wing; Sports Night; and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. However, Sorkin also wrote the big screen productions of, Charlie Wilson’s War, The American President, and Malice, along with the already mentioned, A Few Good Men. Within the writer’s work there are many signatures to note. For this reason, Aaron Sorkin can be categorized as an auteur. The word auteur is French for, “artist.” Within the context of film, an auteur is found to have signature distinguishing characteristics in their work. These consist of camera angles, lighting, and dialogical structures. Many of the characteristics are a result of personal experiences on behalf of the writer/ director. In Sorkin’s case, there are three distinguishing ‘trademarks,’ or thematic motifs that define his work.
To begin, Aaron often times uses rapid fire conversational exchanges. Many people are annoyed with this characteristic in shows such as Sex and the City, or Gilmore Girls, but Aaron Sorkin is able to use these exchanges in a constructive way that defines his work and enhances its likeability. Many times these rapid exchanges take place in “walk and talk” situations, where his characters are swiftly moving from one scene to another. For example, in the pilot for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the network television director is trying to convince one of his guest stars, Felicity Huffman, that while her sketch isn’t funny, she can pull it off. He gives this advice as he walks from her dressing room to the control center of the onscreen television series. Once entering the control room he begins to give more orders to the control team until he leaves that stage to move to another. The quick dialogue and rapid movement is one of Sorkin’s fortes but also a result of Sorkin’s fast paced lifestyle due to his recreational use of cocaine. However, Sorkin’s main appeal to dialogue comes with his lack of interest in creating plot. Aaron once candidly commented, in an interview with an online Hollywood journal, " It's a terrible struggle for me devising an intention and an obstacle that I feel holds water and that's interesting. I would much rather blather on [with dialogue]." (McCurrey)
Secondarily, Sorkin uses similar acting characters and scenes in all of his work. We specifically see Felicity Huffman and Joshua Malina appearing the most in Sorkin’s work. For example, Huffman appears in a few episodes of Sports Night, as well as the highly anticipated pilot for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Joshua Malina in this sense doesn’t even begin to compare with Huffman’s appearances. Malina is not only seen in Sports Night and West Wing, but he was also used in The American President and A Few Good Men. Coincidence? I think not! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up in Sorkin’s next project. As mentioned above, he also uses similar scenes. For example, in the television series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, many of the scenes occur behind the scenes of a television series consequently named, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. His other series, Sports Night, also shows a behind the scenes look at the production of a television series. During the period where Sorkin was writing for television and the big screen, it was said he became overwhelmed, which caused him to overlap some of his material, resulting in similar scenes and dialogue once again. An example of overlap came to Sorkin upon drafting the 385 page rough draft screenplay for The American President. Upon completing this draft, he decided to use deleted material from the script to add to his television drama West Wing.
Finally, it seems as if Sorkin is continuously yelling at his audience, “My political views are to the left!” All of the characters on his shows and within his movies seem to have left winged partisanship- even the Republican characters. For example, in The West Wing, Sorkin had a few conservative representatives working within the program. However, even those representatives tended to lean left. There were certainly no extreme right conservatives. Even the republican presidential candidate portrayed by Alan Alda in season two was not very conservative. In the series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the audience can also witness rather liberal jargon. An example of this comes from the first episode of the first season where the network executive gets on the stage in front of a live audience and spouts out how the capitalist media station is garbage, in fewer words. In this episode he portrays someone who hates big businesses, adding liberal sentiment to the episode.
Sorkin’s work, in a nut shell, is characteristically strong and mainly believable. He created his characters, scenes, and ideologies in a way that seems true to the writer. For that reason, it is easy to find Sorkin behind all of his work. His signatures are strong and his experiences real; Sorkin is a true auteur, signifying culture, wit, and politics into all of his work.
References:
"Aaron Sorkin - Biography." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 20 Oct. 2009. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0815070/bio.
"Aaron Sorkin Biography." TV Guide, TV Listings, Online Videos, Entertainment News and Celebrity News | TVGuide.com. Web. 20 Oct. 2009..
"AARON SORKIN GIVES A FEW GOOD TIPS ON WRITING." Sell Your Literary Material To Hollywood - HollywoodLitSales.com. Web. 20 Oct. 2009..
"The Five: Aaron Sorkin show trademarks -." TV Squad. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.
"Null." Entertainment news, movie reviews, awards, festivals, celebrity photos, industry events - Variety. Web. 20 Oct. 2009..
"What I really think of Aaron Sorkin." By Ken Levine. Web. 20 Oct. 2009..
Aaron Sorkin, a New York native, was born in a wealthy suburb of New York City. Raised by his mother and father, Sorkin grew up with one brother and one sister. Both siblings went on to practice law; however, Sorkin knew that wasn’t for him. Aaron ended up at the nearby Syracuse University, where he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts. Initially, he believed that acting was the career he would work towards, so like many other amateur actors, he moved to New York City. In his pursuit of acting, he worked many minimum wage jobs and also went unemployed for quite some time, until he discovered his true talent was in writing. He began writing his first Broadway production, A Few Good Men, after a telephone conversation with his sister. This production was a huge success and was later made into a movie produced by Rob Reiner. From this point on, Sorkin’s name was developed in Hollywood. Aaron Sorkin has been nominated for three Golden Globes, six Emmys and he has also won six Emmys.
Aaron Sorkin’s most recent work is mainly showcased in three television series: West Wing; Sports Night; and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. However, Sorkin also wrote the big screen productions of, Charlie Wilson’s War, The American President, and Malice, along with the already mentioned, A Few Good Men. Within the writer’s work there are many signatures to note. For this reason, Aaron Sorkin can be categorized as an auteur. The word auteur is French for, “artist.” Within the context of film, an auteur is found to have signature distinguishing characteristics in their work. These consist of camera angles, lighting, and dialogical structures. Many of the characteristics are a result of personal experiences on behalf of the writer/ director. In Sorkin’s case, there are three distinguishing ‘trademarks,’ or thematic motifs that define his work.
To begin, Aaron often times uses rapid fire conversational exchanges. Many people are annoyed with this characteristic in shows such as Sex and the City, or Gilmore Girls, but Aaron Sorkin is able to use these exchanges in a constructive way that defines his work and enhances its likeability. Many times these rapid exchanges take place in “walk and talk” situations, where his characters are swiftly moving from one scene to another. For example, in the pilot for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the network television director is trying to convince one of his guest stars, Felicity Huffman, that while her sketch isn’t funny, she can pull it off. He gives this advice as he walks from her dressing room to the control center of the onscreen television series. Once entering the control room he begins to give more orders to the control team until he leaves that stage to move to another. The quick dialogue and rapid movement is one of Sorkin’s fortes but also a result of Sorkin’s fast paced lifestyle due to his recreational use of cocaine. However, Sorkin’s main appeal to dialogue comes with his lack of interest in creating plot. Aaron once candidly commented, in an interview with an online Hollywood journal, " It's a terrible struggle for me devising an intention and an obstacle that I feel holds water and that's interesting. I would much rather blather on [with dialogue]." (McCurrey)
Secondarily, Sorkin uses similar acting characters and scenes in all of his work. We specifically see Felicity Huffman and Joshua Malina appearing the most in Sorkin’s work. For example, Huffman appears in a few episodes of Sports Night, as well as the highly anticipated pilot for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Joshua Malina in this sense doesn’t even begin to compare with Huffman’s appearances. Malina is not only seen in Sports Night and West Wing, but he was also used in The American President and A Few Good Men. Coincidence? I think not! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up in Sorkin’s next project. As mentioned above, he also uses similar scenes. For example, in the television series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, many of the scenes occur behind the scenes of a television series consequently named, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. His other series, Sports Night, also shows a behind the scenes look at the production of a television series. During the period where Sorkin was writing for television and the big screen, it was said he became overwhelmed, which caused him to overlap some of his material, resulting in similar scenes and dialogue once again. An example of overlap came to Sorkin upon drafting the 385 page rough draft screenplay for The American President. Upon completing this draft, he decided to use deleted material from the script to add to his television drama West Wing.
Finally, it seems as if Sorkin is continuously yelling at his audience, “My political views are to the left!” All of the characters on his shows and within his movies seem to have left winged partisanship- even the Republican characters. For example, in The West Wing, Sorkin had a few conservative representatives working within the program. However, even those representatives tended to lean left. There were certainly no extreme right conservatives. Even the republican presidential candidate portrayed by Alan Alda in season two was not very conservative. In the series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the audience can also witness rather liberal jargon. An example of this comes from the first episode of the first season where the network executive gets on the stage in front of a live audience and spouts out how the capitalist media station is garbage, in fewer words. In this episode he portrays someone who hates big businesses, adding liberal sentiment to the episode.
Sorkin’s work, in a nut shell, is characteristically strong and mainly believable. He created his characters, scenes, and ideologies in a way that seems true to the writer. For that reason, it is easy to find Sorkin behind all of his work. His signatures are strong and his experiences real; Sorkin is a true auteur, signifying culture, wit, and politics into all of his work.
References:
"Aaron Sorkin - Biography." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 20 Oct. 2009. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0815070/bio.
"Aaron Sorkin Biography." TV Guide, TV Listings, Online Videos, Entertainment News and Celebrity News | TVGuide.com. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.
"AARON SORKIN GIVES A FEW GOOD TIPS ON WRITING." Sell Your Literary Material To Hollywood - HollywoodLitSales.com. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.
"The Five: Aaron Sorkin show trademarks -." TV Squad. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.
"Null." Entertainment news, movie reviews, awards, festivals, celebrity photos, industry events - Variety. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.
"What I really think of Aaron Sorkin." By Ken Levine. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Where Would I Be Without TV?!
Taking the class, “Television Criticism,” seemed initially very intriguing due to the connotation I gathered from the word “criticism.” Over the course of the past two weeks however, it has become evident to me that criticism is more than just nit-picking network programming and all the elements of creativity it has to offer. “Criticism is the practice of informed judgment… television criticism is subjective in that it subjects a program to interpretation through the critic’s perceptual filters,” (O’Donnell 18-19). With that brief definition in mind, I plan to carry on with my television criticism in exactly that manner. My goal is to make the critical process of television viewing a validation of a program’s finest qualities, rather than an excuse to tear apart its weakest elements. As a person, I find myself over critical, in a negative sense. It will be a refreshing challenge to consider that other people are reading my critiques, and I must be careful as not to tread into offensive waters.
Television has always been my weakness. In this sense, television has kept me from going out to play as a child. It has kept me from also doing homework, being social, helping round the house and doing all the other things that have been expected of me growing up. However, television has also taught me a lot about creativity, social norms, discourses, and accepted values. Beginning with Barney and Friends, all the way up to Design on a Dime, Gossip Girl, and 7th Heaven, numerous creative elements and perspectives have been taught to me through televisions. For that reason, I value the TV as not only a way to pass time but also a life learning device- as backwards as that sounds. Imagine growing up without MTV, VH1, or simply the news channels, you would be completely shut out of reality and popular norms as they have changed over time!
With the TV as a tool of discovery, I also find that television is a comforting way to relate to my life to that of others. In this sense I can almost identify myself in the program, making me feel as if I’m a part of something bigger, that many people are also experiencing. This connection is commonly considered a “viewer-centered” approach. This approach emphasizes that, “…audiences seek to make what they watch fit their own experiences and lives…” (Corner 10). To me this is comforting but to others, problematic because the field of critical study has “… shown a tendency to proliferate theories rather than provide for a rigorous exchange of ideas.” (Corner 11). By taking away the exchange of ideas, it is thought that democracy is distorted in a way. To me, it seems as if television has been too hegemonic, meaning it has been controlled to closely by social norms. It is said that hegemonic relationships created by television programming often create over-generalized division between various groups of television viewers (Brundson 313). However, with the arrival of cable networks, television programming has become more of a forum than a hegemonic system. For this reason, I wish to look past the thought by Corner (and slightly by Brundson) that culture is displaced and democracy is distorted.
An additional aspect of television that is fascinating to me is the idea of polysemy, or multiple meaning. If you’re thinking, “huh?! Polysemy?” that’s ok, I was too. Considering multiple meanings within television is hard to imagine, however, multiple meanings in television don’t center on the program but the people who watch the program. For example, I watched the movie Crash, and thought it was intriguing yet bizarre due to its controversial nature and aspects I didn’t quite identify/ agree with. However, I went to see this movie with my mom, and she was deeply concerned after watching it. She related to the discrimination that occurred during her time and had a perspective that I would have never taken away from the movie. The different perspectives we can all gather are the greatest elements of television viewing. Seeing and discussing different perspectives with people of different backgrounds, or even those in your same family, will always stir up an interesting conversation and a new personal view of the program you had already criticized. As many people consider critiques either right or wrong, we are all able to offer our perspective without an excuse to defend the means to which we reach our end conclusion/ perspective. O’Donnell considers the critics as “transformers” and I truly like that term (4). One person should only be in charge and capable of presenting new ideas that other viewers might not have gathered on their own- this is my intention with television criticism, and more specifically, this blog.
Furthermore, through this blog I want to convey a transparent relationship between myself and the program, rather than a fragmented relationship. The transparency will be seen through the democratic way in which I relate myself to the other viewers, instead of taking an elitist view as a critic, which the fragmented relationship would imply. Fragmented relationships, (for example, between women and feminists) cause a pause in criticism and televisual evaluation. This pause is due to the ability to generalize and relate to other viewers and critics (Brundson 312). For obvious reasons, I want to be seen in this class and as a critic, as an approachable person with values and attitudes similar, yet at the same time unique from others. I want to add to the full potential of television criticism. I certainly hope that through this blog I can create new ways to process thought and interpret text. I look forward to this semester’s adventures in blogging!
References
Brunsdon, C. (1993). Identity in feminist television criticism. Media, Culture and Society, 15: 309-320.
Butler, J. (2002). Television: Critical Methods and Applications (2nd ed). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Corner, J. (1999). Critical Ideas in Television Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
O’Donnell, V. (2007). Television Criticism. New York: Sage.
Sillars, M. O. and Gronbeck, B. E. (2001). Communication Criticism: Rhetoric, Social Codes, Cultural Studies. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Welcome!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend! I am enthusiastic and eager to begin this blogging adventure. My wish is that over the semester everyone is able to enjoy this and gain an insight into my perspective as I will be doing the same for all of you.
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