Like
his previous works, The Newsroom was
sharp, quick witted, and intelligent. Jeff Daniels stars as Will McAvoy, a
jaded news anchor
who is forced to work with an old flame, Mackenzie MacHale, played by Emily
Mortimer. As the show opens, Daniels is burnt out and co-opted. He has given up
trying to deliver hard, real stories that matter. But as he sits on a college
panel, trying not to divulge his personal thoughts and opinions about the state
of the country, he sees Mackenzie in the audience holding a sign about America
intimating that it was once a great country; it's not now but it can be again.
This provokes Will to announce exactly where America stands in terms of
literacy, infant mortality, and other important indexes that constitute
success. From there on, working with his old love, whom he bitterly resents
because she obviously hurt him deeply, enables him to emerge as a noble
newscaster and semi-decent guy.
The
show would have been perfect – great acting, perfect combination of drama and
comic elements, informative yet not preachy – but it used real material. The
first episode was all about the BP oil spill. Sorry, but I followed that
catastrophe day by day when it occurred in 2010. I don't want to go through a
blow-by-blow description again. Will next week's episode be about the spill? Or
will we move on to some other old news like the Haitian earthquake or the
terrible plight of the trapped Chilean miners?
The Newsroom would have been better off
creating its own fictional news stories. I don't see how we can move from real
life events to fantasy at this point, but I will tune in one more time next
week.
Sigrid Macdonald is the author of
three books, including Be Your Own Editor,
and two erotic short stories, which she wrote under the pen name Tiffanie Good.
Silver Publishing just released "The Pink Triangle," a tale of
friendship, lust, and betrayal. You can view her story here: http://tinyurl.com/6v65rgr
I have to say that I'm really getting into this show now, especially the episodes that are written by Sorkin alone. He really is a unique genius with a very quirky sense of humor. I love the way that he can mix drama and comedy and political and current events. Not easy to do.
ReplyDeleteI'm into the characters and their futile love lives, and I'm finding the show a little less preachy than the first episode – it is about having the balls to do a real news show that actually cares more about the facts than the ratings. What a sad commentary it is that that is still a radical idea. And Sorkin is doing a bang-up job driving that point home.