I came upon an old account of Sorkin’s quirky internet forum forays that most likely effected his luddite philosophy after some back-and-forth arguments between the two parties that did not make Sorkin stand out very well to say the least. The forum’s meticulous analyses of the show have unraveled aspects of The West Wing that I did not notice when I watched the show years ago. I implore everyone to read the post for all its points and the presentation of Aaron Sorkin that will differ from what you will be used to reading. One of the points conveniently elaborates on my critique of Sorkin’s writing as theatricality over reality and poetry over prose. In the sixteenth episode of season four titled “The U.S. Poet Laureate”, the laureate, Tabitha Fortis, channels Sorkin’s voice in a soliloquy, as his characters are wont to do:
An artist’s job is to captivate you for however long we’ve asked for your attention. If we stumble into truth, we got lucky, and I don’t get to decide what truth is. (…) I write poetry, Toby; that’s how I enter the world.Res ipsa loquitur. Quoth Aaron Sorkin himself:
I and everyone else here are, honestly, thrilled that there are these fan sites where strangers get together and talk about the show and like the show/don’t like the show (I’d prefer if you liked the show) but you ought to disabuse yourselves of the notion that what we do is debate a point and then declare a winner. We’re just telling our little stories and doing our lame jokes. And hoping you’ll keep tuning in.
