After watching three episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, my first impression is that the dialogue pops and is wonderful to listen to. On the other hand, there are a lot of shots taken towards organized religion. “A lot” as in it’s been a major subplot of every episode thus far, and I’m wondering if this is all Studio 60 has to say.
I feel like I’m in a weird middle ground on this. First of all, I happen to work within one of those organized religions. On one hand, I’ve never been too impressed with the lectures we all receive from the loudest voices of religion … guys like Pat Robinson, Jerry Falwell and William Donohue turn up the volume on anybody who disagrees with them or with their way of life, which destroys any reasoned analysis we may receive on spirituality. When I think of “What Would Jesus Do,” pictures of them do not pop into my head.
However, I’ve found in my experience the vast majority of people in churches, temples or whatever denominational building they’re in at the time do not have an extreme reaction like the ones that get all the press. They believe in a set of morals, they believe that there is a better way. They go to church every week, or sometimes, or not at all, but they think there is something out there that is beyond our human understanding. Some people have faith because it gives them hope they can see and talk to people they loved and lost. For whatever reason that gets them through the doors, they all have one thing in common: they have faith.
I firmly believe that for all the crap organized religion gets, whether it be pro-life supporters shooting abortion doctors, televised evangelical preachers publicly calling for the assassination or people sexually abusing minors, the vast majority of the people who attend services are good people. They donate to charities, they help out at the food pantry. They volunteer. They do this at the religious building, because … well, there are not a lot of public places in the community that offers so many one-stop shop options to be a better person. And it makes them feel better about themselves. Is that really so awful?
I realize that when Aaron Sorkin writes about representatives from Rapture Magazine ambushing network executives, he’s rebelling against a reactionary, fanatical sect that manage to be the killjoys at every party. Lord knows, they get the most press. But to make it such a prominent part of the show with stuff like the Crazy Christians, the sketch so genius we will never see it, or whatever-game-show-that-mocks-religious-beliefs-whose-name-escapes-me-at-the-moment that was on Monday’s episode is a bit of a turn off. Yes, Mr. Sorkin, people who support Intelligent Design over hard science are ridiculous, I agree with you. But to make people with religious beliefs the punch line of every other joke is not only an attack on them, but it becomes an attack on reasonable people who happen to be religious. I’m fairly cynical, but I’m starting to feel uncomfortable watching this.
There is one character, Harriet, that is religious, and is presented fairly positively. Initially it felt like she was thrown in as a way to deflect criticism that the show is anti-religious, but on Monday’s episode she had an interesting comment. The scene involved making a joke about how some rural community in Michigan (or Ohio or some other flyover state) cancelled a high-school production of Grease because parents thought it was too racy. Harriet wants to can the joke, saying something to the effect of, “I’m making millions of dollars and these people are just trying to raise their kids. Why am I making fun of them?”
That’s a question I’d like to pose to this show. Believe me, I completely understand you’re frustrated and angry with how the Christian Collation, the Moral Majority and the like have taken over the country and demonized anybody who disagrees with them, but I wish the producers did not fight fire with fire in this case. It’s not going to win the hearts and minds of people in the pews, which is still the vast majority of the country, whatever their denomination. It only makes agnostics, atheists and liberals who piss on all things god feel better about themselves. Which may be what Sorkin is going for, but I don't think helps resolve the whole red state-blue state nonsense.
Hopefully the next few episodes will be less Crazy Christians and more “why am I making fun of them?"
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4 comments:
I have to respectfully disagree, Mark. I think the religious issues being handled in this show are being handled very well. Also, I think the character of Harriet and the religious isses have been central to the show since its creation. I've heard that the character (and her relationship with Matt) is based on Sorkin's relationship with Kristen Chenoweth...who happens to be a blonde, Christian actress.
I think Harriet is becoming a stronger character by the third episode, so it starting to balance out, I feel. I was just rather surprised that for a series about a comedy show, there was a lot of religious commentary, only a little of which was funny.
I'm also getting the sense that Sorkin is writing a show about how people in the media and entertainment industries deliver their opinions in a post-9/11 world.
It's not perfect, but I'm interested to see where the series goes. I have to echo other reviews in saying that I'm rather surprised how well Matthew Perry is doing. What do you think of it so far?
I'm probably going to write about it in detail at some point, but I adore it. I wasn't sold on Amanda Peet in the pilot, but she's growing on me. I think Matthew Perry is brilliant, and I just love Bradley Whitford...although, having watched The West Wing religiously, it's tough to watch BW playing another character. I think the two of them work very well together.
And I love Harriet. Did you notice that she's the actress who played the tutor hired by Alma Garrett on Deadwood? :)
Yeah, she's the one hired by the Pinkertons, right?
The West Wing is definately on my list of things to watch, but I'm trying to get through a bunch of DVDs and books I'm backlogged on before I start it. I presume you've seen Sports Night?
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