Letters to the Editor
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"You bet your boots!"
I remember the precise moment TWW lost me forever. It was the episode "The Stackhouse Filibuster", and the lightning rod was in the form of a diminutive intern named Winnifred Hooper. Bypassing the fact that Mr. Sorkin thinks Winnifred is a keen name (for a Preston Sturges vehicle, at any rate), this one scene is essentially a microcosm of everything I'd come to dislike about the show.
For those who don't remember, or are unfamiliar, it sets up like this: Sam and some staffers are going through stacks of files and reports, trying to see which government programs can be cut from the government largesse. All are in agreement, except for one intern who expresses her displeasure by sighing loudly. Sam holds her back after the meeting, asks her name, and when he asks, "Should I call you Winnie?" her reasoned response - to a senior staffer, no less - is, "Not unless you want me to spit at you."
Charming. Ms. Hooper then goes on to explain municipal solid waste in Sorkin's patented wonky detail/rapid-fire delivery ("The numbers would be even higher today?" "You bet your boots they would!"). When Sam offers her a job after she graduates college, she snottily replies, "When I get out of school, you should come see ME for a job." This one moment made me realize I wasn't watching one character verbally assault another. It was Sorkin dressing me down, his Loyal Audience, for being so... dumb.
And that was that. Now, I've been always eager to learn something new everyday, and when TWW worked best I was constantly amazed that the show did just that. I felt like I'd been in a classroom session with a fussy schoolmarm who was eager to teach but short on patience.
I don't enjoy preachiness, even if there's righteous anger feuling it. The Indigo Girls lost me when they finally told every white person in America "Shame On You." Maybe you're reading this and saying I overreacted, but I've been around long enough to know what condescencion sounds like. I always expect right-wingers to be jerkwads, but liberals I hold to a much higher standard. In the end, I could no longer give Mr. Sorkin unrequited love.