Most honest 3.5 minutes in HBO history
- Thread starter Srvy
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Doghart
Well-Known Member
The show that clip is from, The Newsroom, is pretty incredible, I'm totally addicted to it.
http://hbowatch.com/category/The-Newsroom/
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http://hbowatch.com/category/The-Newsroom/
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To be honest, I find it pretty pretentious. The way he rattles off dozens of statistics from the top of his mind is annoying with many not very relevant. It sounds like someone who spent months tweaking the most perfect monoloque on why America isn't the greatest country in the world to make it the most absolutely perfect argument one can make, without any opportunity for rebuttal on any point made (and there were many points being made), it just sounds like a writer making an argument after years of failure. It is just too tidy, pre-scripted sounding, and carefully worded for me to appreciate it. I also don't find it "honest", just controversial. I get tired of the idea that anything which attacks any perceived "status quo" as being "honest" only because it appears to attack the status quo.
If it were honest, it would include a comparison with other nations on all those statistics. For instance, is any one country consistently higher on the list of negative statistics or is it all over the place where no single nation can claim to be better in every case? I don't know. There were also some VERY politically one sided statements in this seemingly perfecty scripted tyrade in which assumptions of facts cannot be proven, just driven by political opinions. Meanwhile, as Sorkin is very apt to do, he couches those extreme views between commonly held beliefs of all Americans so as to call attention away from them. Kinda like hiding a pill inside a piece of meat to fool the dog into taking the pill.
This is probably a fun show to watch, and I enjoy political discourse and even one sided viewpoints, but I definitely don't think this rant is the "most honest" anything.
But that's just my view. It is purely entertainment intended to make money for everyone involved anyway.
If it were honest, it would include a comparison with other nations on all those statistics. For instance, is any one country consistently higher on the list of negative statistics or is it all over the place where no single nation can claim to be better in every case? I don't know. There were also some VERY politically one sided statements in this seemingly perfecty scripted tyrade in which assumptions of facts cannot be proven, just driven by political opinions. Meanwhile, as Sorkin is very apt to do, he couches those extreme views between commonly held beliefs of all Americans so as to call attention away from them. Kinda like hiding a pill inside a piece of meat to fool the dog into taking the pill.
This is probably a fun show to watch, and I enjoy political discourse and even one sided viewpoints, but I definitely don't think this rant is the "most honest" anything.
But that's just my view. It is purely entertainment intended to make money for everyone involved anyway.
Flint said:
It is a monologue from a TV show so yes it is a bit tidy and scripted, it comes from a script. And as a monologue it gives one person's view point. We're it a "real life" video of say a debate then I could agree with many of your points but hey it is just a TV show.
Now I will readily admit I agree with much of what the fictional charector says but it doesn't negate the fact that it is a fictional situation.
In addition we are seeing 3 minutes of what I imagine is a 50 minute show - what is the exact context relative to the show? What happened prior to or after the above scene? As far as I know the charector giving the monologue is an antaginist and has viewpoint torn to shreds five minutes later.
I could be misinterpreting your comments Flint but again though I agree with the sentiment expressed I think you may be taking it too seriously.
Of course it is scripted. I was pointing out that it is written and performed as if it was very carefully planned out, even though the situation they set up is supposed to make this rant seem made up on the spot. That was my point. This isn't the only place I am now seeing this clip being extolled as amazing and right on point about America. I am a little put off by something so contrived being praised as if it were a real speech by a real person invented on the spot.
Yep... exactly like that. There are clear differences, though. The older "Network" monologue feels much more natural. Like a man who flipped out and cannot help but go on and on. He doesn't quote an encyclopedia of facts that it would difficult for any single person come up with off the top of his head. He is obviously emotionally unstable before the rant and the rant seems more natural and spontaneous.
I really feel like Sorkin spent months trying to get everything he wanted to say into a single 2 minute monologue and tweaked and tuned it endlessly. It comes off more like an op-ed piece in the WSJ or NYT rather than an off-the-cuff tyrade by a frustrated anchorman.
I really feel like Sorkin spent months trying to get everything he wanted to say into a single 2 minute monologue and tweaked and tuned it endlessly. It comes off more like an op-ed piece in the WSJ or NYT rather than an off-the-cuff tyrade by a frustrated anchorman.
By the way, this is a really well thought out argument and I love seeing that. While I don't agree, at least it is logical, cogent, and makes it point very well. The weaknesses in it I have already discussed. I prefer less emotionally driven political arguments and this argument has fewer emotional and irrational points than most. There are still a few stuffed in, but they are not the sole argument.
-B-
Well-Known Member
What he say's is pretty relevant in relation to real life and the opinion of many that this country is "the greatest". If it's a bit over the top or too scripted isn't really the message, and it's a shame that it takes a fictional show about a news program to make this point so it won't be taken seriously as it could be if someone in the real world would simply point this out and make news out of it. Instead we still fill the news with BS issues that people sadly use to vote, like gay marriage. The last part of it is what really should strike a chord, we used to. Sure it's fictional, sure it's scripted and sure it has it's agenda....you could almost pass it off as a real news program.
So lets do away with the Republican's ad's on TV & News along with our current President's ad's....they are all scripted & most & if not all are untrue...........along with all product's & services ads.
So where can we find the truth to the Republican's plan along with their scripted votes.....you can't
So where can we find the truth of the Democrat's plan along with their scripted votes.......you can't
Where is the "truth".........?
So where can we find the truth to the Republican's plan along with their scripted votes.....you can't
So where can we find the truth of the Democrat's plan along with their scripted votes.......you can't
Where is the "truth".........?
But I disagree with more than half of the points he makes while completely agreeing with most of the rest. That's the problem I have with it. It would mean so much more if something like this were natural and real (as portrayed) rather than something from a book.
I could just as easily post a video clip of an actor doing an amazing job with the monologue from John Galt in Atlas Shrugged and claim it was the most honest 15 minutes in broadcast history. It is just another well crafted tyrade from a good writer.
I could just as easily post a video clip of an actor doing an amazing job with the monologue from John Galt in Atlas Shrugged and claim it was the most honest 15 minutes in broadcast history. It is just another well crafted tyrade from a good writer.