Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Newsroom Season One

 

I was looking forward to the Newsroom, due to Aaron Sorkin and his past work on the West Wing.

It got off to a cracking start the first episode and fizzled after that. There was the snappy dialogue which I enjoyed with Sorkin and that was it.

Character development was poor and the romances got in the way of the main ideas of episodes. The news stories based on historical events aged the show, I can say this with certainty having watched the first season a few years of first screening.

The episode that revealed it to me was the "we got Bin Laden" episode. That episode revealed how patriotism can run a whole show. As a non US citizen while I think that Bin Laden was guilty, the whole storming the compound the killing him reeked of revenge, not justice. Justice occurs after a trial. Much like the Nuremberg trials when the leaders of Nazi Germany where stood to account. Bin Laden never got his day in court though I'm sure he could have been captured alive. It seemed the show got hooked on that moment, a feel good feeling for Americans, while for me it left me wondering.

Also the whole obsession with the Tea party... Very much an American phenomena, and very boring....I'm sure ther could have been more global issues to chew over.

The reviews for the second series seem better so it may not be the end for me...

 

No comments: