In Deference to Great Men: Aaron Sorkin vs. the Occupy Movement

[PETRUS]

Let it be known that everything humans have learned in centuries of people fighting for social justice is wrong. Tell Martin Luther King, Eugene Debs, Howard Zinn, the Founding Fathers, Ghandi and anyone else who has wrestled the with daunting task challenging injustice in the face of immense power to turn on HBO and take some detailed notes. It turns out that Aaron Sorkin, creator and writer of "The Newsroom," a drama now halfway through its second season, has it all figured out. The key to making the world a better place? You must secure a meeting with Max Baucus.

That is essentially the lesson that Sorkin gave to the Occupy movement through his mouthpiece, the stubborn, but well-intentioned news anchor Will McAvoy. If this sounds ridiculous, that is because it is...

Read more: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/18317-in-deference-to-great-men-aaron-sorkin-vs-the-occupy-movement

[Bluenorthwest]

1. I do not agree with the author that the McAvoy character serves as Sorkin's 'mouthpiece' or

as a Sorkin substitute. There is nothing in the piece that supports seeing the McAvoy character as a proxy for the author's actual feelings and opinions. McAvoy is a Republican, Sorkin a Democrat. And from there it just goes on and on. If McAvoy sounds stubborn but well intentioned but ridiculous, it is Sorkin who made him sound that way.
In the episode the author references part of the point of the story had to do with the fact that the older and more cynical/pragmatic McAvoy and his producers do not handle the Occupy story well, in fact McAvoy's attack on the Occupy member on air fucks up their contacts for a major story, they lose a lead and will eventually regret this greatly, because they will wind up reporting a false story using their own sources. Younger characters on the show practice a new sort of method which the older and more powerful characters do not understand.
The author of this piece creates the 'Great Man' premise to avoid substantiation of his views of the McAvoy character. The reality of the piece is more complex than this author cares to admit, so he says 'Sorkin does the Great Man thing'. The actual moral centers of this show are women, and female characters are carrying the Sorkin voice far more than McAvoy is.

[GeorgeGist]

5. Excellent rebuttal I think.

I'm too cynical to see "Newsroom" as anything but another Sorkin fantasy.

[limpyhobbler]

2. Well written article. Seemed like an awesome smackdown.

But also I just read bluenorthwest's reply #1, so maybe the show is actually a little deeper than this review suggests. I wouldn't know because I haven't seen it.

But in any case, the writer here does a good job of rebutting some of the dumbest anti-occupy arguments that were spewed by cable news windbags during those months -- arguments that continue to be repeated.

[PETRUS]

11. That's why I posted it - I haven't seen the show either. nt

[malthaussen]

3. It is constitutionally impossible for an extroverted narcissist...

... to believe that anything can be done or achieved without the influence and "leadership" of some "great man" who will stand at the fore, draw all the accolades, and impose his will on his bumbling opponents.

Or in other words, how can anyone in show business even conceive of the utility of a system in which there are no stars?

-- Mal

[bigbrother05]

4. Without the full arc of the storyline

it is difficult to see where Sorkin is taking the OWS story. It appears that with the depiction of Will's shortsightedness re: leaders in a movement, Sorkin is attempting to reveal how badly the MSM missed the whole point of the Occupy movement.

Again, we haven't seen how he intends to resolve this story, but Sorkin has often shown McAvoy as someone that reflects conventional wisdom who can come to regret his initial failings and striven to correct the damage done.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. I don't watch TV but was shown the first five or so minutes of the first episode.

It has promise but I know nothing more about it. I'm glad the Occupy message is being brought forth for more consideration hopefully in a respectful light. Hopefully we will not become yet another plot point. Thanks for the OP!

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. Very sorry you are missing the show..

Sorkin's stuff is always well worth watching.

[7wo7rees]

8. Here's the interview

And the fallout

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. Thank you; will watch it when I get a minute to concentrate on it as it deserves. n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. I don't have a flip response to the two clips.

The first does depict the smarmy and dismissive response taken by too many, and some of the specific media behavior and destructive context shifting done to us; for that, the interviewee is sympathetic and some of the insular, self-responding nature of the corporate-owned media aptly depicted. Her heated reaction off-screen...did it truly have to go that far?

The second flatly mentions specific corporate abuse which many may not be aware so that is brilliant.

On a deeper level, it's good the conversation is being had at all as the issue is as fresh today as ever, most unfortunately. I am wary of where it may end; HBO are owned by Time/Warner; take a look at Time/Warner's owners:

Dodge & Cox owns 14.42M shares worth $1.40B
Vanguard owns 14.30M shares worth $1.37B
STATE STREET CORPORATION owns 11.77M shares worth $1.13B
Franklin Resources owns 11.44M shares worth $1.10B
Inves owns 9.47M shares worth $909.54M
T. Rowe Price Associates owns 7.40M shares worth $710.46M
Wellington Management Company owns 4.87M shares worth $467.84M
ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN owns 4.59M shares worth $441.05M
Barclays owns 4.06M shares worth $257.30M
TPG-Axon Management owns 3.44M shares worth $218.68M
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO owns 3.44M shares worth $282.36M
Coatue Management owns 3.34M shares worth $324.77M
TIAA-CREF Investment Management owns 2.75M shares worth $263.76M
American Century Companies owns 2.62M shares worth $214.76M
Name Highfields Capital Management owns 2.56M shares worth $245.78M
Lansdowne Partners Limited Partnership owns 2.51M shares worth $240.77M
ARONSON JOHNSON ORTIZ owns 2.27M shares worth $144.30M
GOLDMAN SACHS owns 2.20M shares worth $211.55M
Sterling Capital Management owns 1.98M shares worth $189.89M
Chieftain Capital Management owns 1.97M shares worth $187.50M
Norges Bank Investment Management owns 1.95M shares worth $189.91M
Geode Capital Management owns 1.95M shares worth $187.53M
LSV Asset Management owns 1.95M shares worth $186.86M
Waddell & Reed Financial owns 1.89M shares worth $181.79M
TPG-Axon Capital Management owns 1.85M shares worth $132.34M
Glenview Captal Management owns 1.80M shares worth $147.45M

http://stockzoa.com/ticker/twc/

Edit: Thank you for posting it for myself and those not yet familiar!