The West Wing: My Reason for Watching

I’ve nearly finished the fifth season of Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing. The show revolves around the lives of the West Wing staffers and of Sorkin’s television resume (Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Newsroom), this is his most popular. As to it being the best is up for debate. I’ve heard strong arguments both for and against the series – my major criticism is its over-infatuation with democracy/The White House itself. While the series supposedly lowered in quality in the fifth season, I believe it has held its own though it may not be at the same place it was earlier in the series. Being a network show, there are twenty-two-ish forty-two minute long episodes in each season. So, to state the obvious, they are long seasons.

What keeps me watching, and I would contend makes it one of Sorkin’s best, are the characters. This is somewhat of a clichéd remark to make about a television show as good characters are typically what make an ensemble-cast show good in almost any case. That said, The West Wing is more often noted for its quick-witted writing style, ability to deal with modern political issues in an enlightening manner, or film in this talking-while-walking way that’s so cool and simultaneously so smarmy. While Martin Sheen’s performance of President Bartlett or Rob Lowe’s ability to play a young, speech-writer might be grouped in there, they typically aren’t in the first breath.

While I enjoy the political debates and long discourses, I find the interaction of the characters’ lives in the political arena to be the most fascinating aspect of the show and I believe the show has created some great characters to do so. Though I have not yet finished the series, I would like to now, perhaps prematurely, list my five favorite characters from The West Wing.

5. Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe)

Sam is an idealist without being disconnected from life. Rob brings a sharp-edge to the character and, perhaps bolstered by his Parks & Rec role, humor as well.

4. Charlie Young (Dule Hill)

What’s not to love about Charlie? He’s on top of it. He’s a hard worker. He comes from a troubled past but has successfully built a strong life. He knows when (and when not) to speak. And his romance with Elisabeth! Why won’t it happen?!

3, 2. Donna Moss, Josh Lyman (Janel Maloney, Bradley Whitford)

I haven’t gotten there yet but I assume these two eventually get together, right? They have to. Donna is incredibly thoughtful, motivated by emotion, and intelligent enough to not let those attributes be weaknesses. Josh is brash and daring, typically in order to better the administration. They’re great individually though when they operate together, they balance each other out like any modern television couple should.

1. C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney)

An episode without much C.J. is a sad day (and it being an ensemble show, it happens). C.J. lights up the screen. She’s quick, funny, and extremely caring. She’s able to be firm without being stand-off-ish. She fights for what she believes in. And her lip-syncing The Jackal!!!

Character

Near the end of last year, I watched the second and third seasons of Mad Men. While it is a slow moving drama that is "boring" to my little brother (and he enjoyed the slowest movie I have ever watched: Cache), I find the sets, plot-lines, and characters fascinating. I've already gone into the premise of the show on an older blog, but an abbreviated recap is that the show is about a 1960s ad agency located on Madison Avenue.

One of the thoughts I had while watching the later seasons involved the idea of characters. The show does a swell job of developing each main character, slowly unveiling small portions of each character's person-hood, and rarely using large plot twists in order to interrupt the unveiling. As with every story told, the writers (/actors/etc.) build a character that evokes a certain emotion for those viewing. With an established character, the writer can mold the story in a variety of ways.

Peggy Olson, one of the main characters, is a young, single woman, who started out as a receptionist but worked her way up in the company despite prejudices held against women. To me (and most others watching), she is infinitely likable.





Pete Campbell, another main character, is an ad man waiting for his chance to move up in the company. He does fine at his job but is extremely self-centered and overestimates himself. He is wholly unlikable.


The show often contains meetings held where the ad men try to sell advertising ideas to large corporations. Say, for example, they're meeting with British Airways. They would come up with a quick slogan printed beneath a picture of a well dressed man walking through an airport. The ad would not just be advertising airline tickets, it would be selling a certain quality of life and "cool" factor in attempts to draw the consumer in. There's a story in every advertisement that says to the consumer, "I'm fun and likable in one way or another, you can have this life too with my product." The ad men in Mad Men are experts at tapping into the human psyche in order to find what the consumer wants.

I realized that that's exactly what the show does (as do all stories). It builds a character that is likable, unlikable, or in between...-able. A good writer knows humans well. Well enough to create someone that I have strong feelings for, or against. When Peggy Olson (the one I like) does something, I almost always root for her. When Pete Campbell does something, I almost always root against him.

What I'm starting to realize is that a mark of a good critic is the ability to look outside of a character and start to see why that character is portrayed a particular way. The writer uses a certain criteria to develop characters and I want to get to the place where I'm not so much analyzing a certain character as I am analyzing why and how that character is portrayed the way he/she is.

So I don't want to just like Peggy Olson, I want to know why I like Peggy Olson. And conversely, I don't want to simply dislike Pete Campbell, I want to know why I dislike Pete Campbell.

Basically, I don't want to just buy the product because the ad man sold the product well.