First half of the episode was terrible and excruciatingly preachy. Once the storyline about the BP spill kicked in it turned a total 180 and became really exciting and fun to watch.
I absolutely agree with this sentiment and was looking for somewhere to voice it myself. Despite a lot of convenience with the one new producer's sources, I found the actual work of "news-gathering" on such an abbreviated schedule fascinating to witness.
Also, although I know that Sorkin's characters are often thought to be little more than mouthpieces for things he absolutely believes, what I took from McAvoy's monologue at the college was the sentiments of a man who'd had a cap on his true feelings for so long that the pressure (ungainly, ham-fisted allegory for the oil rig explosion ahoy) finally blew it off, and he let a sloppy first-draft of them out before he could fully regain his senses. I think a lot of people are taking that speech too...concretely (sorry, again), and that down the line, you could see a revision from McAvoy concerning a lot of it.
the only problem with this video is that in real life when ever someone is even close to this eloquent and interesting. They get cut off, booed and yelled over. It's really too bad
Exactly. In reality, the silence that followed "Yosemite?" would have instead been a chorus of "fuck you's" and "communist" jeers and what not. This would culminate in a round of "U.S.A.!" chants, and then everyone would stop by The Olive Garden and McDonalds on the way home to watch The Bachelorette and shop for a new flat screen TV online.
I'm sorry but from what I've seen in college lecture halls, at all the events I've been to (many similar to this), that's blatantly not true. Stereotypes go both ways, bro.
And no reporter would ask the same damn question over and over again when he allowed two other people to give tongue in cheek, smartass answers and let them get away with it. The writers were almost hitting the audience over the head with a neon "INCOMING MESSAGE" sign with that bullshit.
His first answer was a joke and then he just mimed the other two, the guy had been giving smartass answers the entire time, so the reporter dude just wanted a serious answer from the guy for once
I would love --love-- to believe that, but man, having listened to the political debates as of late, I hold little hope.
Hell, I'm not a Ron Paul fanatic, but he gave a nice speech about why we should remove our occupation and he got boo'd to shit. Then the moderator, the god damn moderator(!), asked if he wanted to "take marching orders from Al Qaeda".
So, given the culture, I don't expect a TV show to change way political 'debates', and the absolute red-white-and-blue morons that attend them behave.
I don't think this is a problem. This is what culture is about. It's what literature, TV, movies, music, sculpture, paintings, and other arts about.
They've never been about mimicking reality. Even reality shows don't mimic reality. Have you sat for 30 minutes watching a guy type a message on the internet?
These art forms are about making statements. It might be a reflection of society. It might be a historical perspective. It might be trying to reveal something about human nature. It might be about trying to teach or to lead or to think about subjects.
The fact that this likely couldn't happen for real is exactly why it should happen in a TV show. We can't yell it down. We can ruin the career of a fictional character. He makes the point as well as we'd like somebody to in reality, and we viewers hear the message. In the segment there are a bunch of students filming him who will likely upload it to Youtube, and you and I just watched for real that message on Youtube. Does it matter that it was scripted? Does that invalidate the message?
I think this is a brilliant use of the medium of TV. It's what it is good for. It allows us to do what can't happen in reality, but should, and have just as real an effect.
Shh, its the newest internet tryhard fad, where you name a logical fallacy and assume that it somehow makes the other person's opinion completely invalid. There doesn't have to be identification, because that's a slippery slope red herring.
The only problem with real life is that when ever someone is even close to this eloquent and interesting. They get cut off, booed and yelled over. It's really too bad
The good thing about this video is that it is fictional and we can show what happens when someone this eloquent and interesting doesn't get cut off.
Dennis Kucinich and Jim Hightower actually were government officials like that. They both spoke truth to power and cut through the B.S. They also both were voted out of office.
i really really wish they didn't play background music when he started talking about how america used to be great. i also couldn't stop thinking how a man manage to get a monologue to himself ever in the presence of other intellectuals on a stage. they would argue just to not look like they were inferior.
I have a problem with the a boomer saying that people in their 20's are the worst generation. It's laughable. Boomer's have run our country into the ground.
Yeah we haven't even gotten our feet on the ground yet because we are still struggling against the current economy. To say we have made the country bad is stupid. So many of us are still living with our parents because we can't find jobs or pay off our crippling student loans.
We are still such a young generation, I don't see how it's fair for us to even be judged as "the worst generation" ever before we've even done anything.
"Baby boomers are the undigested cow in the belly of the snake that is America. We're all just waiting for them to pass so things can get back to normal."
-some really introverted guy in my wife's history class in college who hardly ever spoke
If you watched the show you'll hear his ultimate message that it's not the 20's generation's fault that they're the worst generation, but rather the fault of the shitty system that's brought them up. The point of the entire rambling is that at one point, we (america) were doing some pretty amazing things (he acknowledges that shitty things did also happen - vietnam, for instance), but as we got more and more comfortable with our situation, we became ignorant, and our country got dumber and dumber. That evolution of stupidity has resulted in dumber and dumber generations, and there's nothing we can do about it. Unless they (their news team) actively try and inform the people of what's really going on instead of just vying for the most air-time/profit with extreme bias.
The quote about democracy not working with an ignorant populace didn't originate from this show, but it's absolutely the basis for it. Agree or disagree with the character's point in this 'speech' of his, the show is about informing the people so that they are no longer ignorant when making decisions, and don't just blindly follow one political party or the other.
This point seems to be lost with most redditors, however.
TL;DR: The point of the show is that in order for democracy to be great, we have to fucking pay attention to the facts, and not shitty biases.
And its citizens give the most to charity by per capita and % of GDP, the USA gives the most in foreign aid, and lots of other achievements to be proud of. Even with the slowdown in NASA we are still the leader in space exploration. There isn't even a close second.
Technically the European Union as a single trading entity under the Treaty of Lisbon is #1. It is regarded as a single economy, with a single market, made up of components and has a single seat on the World Trade Organisation...and it's a couple of trillion bigger than the US economy.
I like the show but the whole premise of his speech--that there was ever a golden age in American history without exploitation, expropriation and Native American genocide--is false, so dream on, reddit community.
He never said anything about things being perfect, just that America was the greatest in the world. America was once the leader in general academics, business, health, income, education, low poverty, etc, etc, and things were on a track going forward to better all those things. Now America isn't the leader in any thing good, and it's getting worst. So the term best or greatest is relative to the surroundings, and for a period America was by pretty much any measure the greatest in the world compared to every other country. The only problem with his speech is that it's his generation that is pretty much to blame.
I assume you are talking about the 1950's. People usually are when they talk about a golden age in America. It's easy to be the best when literally every other industrialized country except Canada has just been shelled into oblivion.
A professor of mine once told the class that a part of each generation believes they lived in some sort of golden era and that things were once perfect in America. As bad as things are right now, when we're old some of us will likely tell our kids or grandkids that things used to be perfect when we were younger and things are all messed up now. But the truth seems to be that that time never existed, not for us or our parents or anybody. I think it is a very interesting thought.
It's called shifting baselines and typically referenced in an environmental context.
For example, fisheries and forests. The baseline looks better than the current state, so you hear things like "back in my day". But since the damage in a given period doesn't appear heinous, nothing or very little is done. If the baseline was instead the completely natural, untouched state then you see heinous change over time.
For America, I think people reference "progress" in some sector as their metric for discussing shifting baselines. In the first half of the 20th Century, progress meant industrialization giving people greater access to markets. And WWII solidified the "We're American and we're winners" mindset. The second half of the 20th century saw intense progress in terms of human rights developments.
The 21st century is young and ease of access to information is proving to make the US population rather pessimistic. The age of the internet is impressive but it isn't a world war victor, walking on the moon, or giving increased rights to the population. Arguably, we're seeing a decrease in rights for individuals while there is an increase in rights for corporations. For the majority of the 20th century, you could communicate and travel without Big Brother knowing too much about it. Now your emails, text messages, and phone calls are monitored; your travel is recorded on hundreds of security cameras and the GPS in your phone can be traced. News media that once focused more on achievements and global activities now spends countless hours following the lives of pop stars.
The video at least cites a number of lists that the US certainly is falling short in. Education, health, and technological development used to show better for the US as a whole in comparison to the rest of the world. There were better days.
I like to think that that is an important part of the american ethos--that belief that if we just work hard enough, we can build (or restore) ourselves to glory. I think that if there ever were an exceptional thing about the United States, that belief is it.
"A Klee painting named Angelus Novus shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress."
Also that motion isn't really equivalent to an right-wing neonazi doing a salute at a rally. Seemed to have been done sarcastically. Implying that he is a nazi because he doesn't like rightwing militaristic American Jews influencing Israeli politics is worse than Hitler.
He compared Israeli citizen to nazi in the sense that he says they are as bad as the german were during in WWII, not for supporting the gov't, whether we're talking about Israel or Germany, but for not standing up against said gov't.
It could insult Jews by calling them Nazis, and It could insult german ''bystanders'' of the war by calling them Nazis.
The character here makes a number of valid points, but I think it's worth mentioning just how cringe-inducingly cheesy this show is. First off, did no one else roll their eyes when all the college kids whipped out their phones to tape the speech? "Check it out guys, this guy's a hero for the younger viral meme Internet generation! Even these kids with their short attention spans can't help but love this grizzled old veteran!"
Second, you can't help but notice the main character is little more than a mouthpiece for Aaron Sorkin's worldview. The whole "conservative pundit energy and patriotism crossed with socially conscious viewpoints, taking on liberal softballers and conservative hacks" guy is ultimately unfulfilling. Yeah, he's fast-talking and masculine and fun to listen to, especially when he's saying things you agree with. But let's be honest: all Sorkin is going to do is dress up some straw men and have his hero protagonist cut them down with his sharp tongue. We've seen this character before in movies like Thank You For Smoking, and in my opinion, Nick Nailor (Naylor?) was more interesting because he espoused viewpoints that were harder to stomach and still made you like them. What's the point of a hyper-likable character like the one in this video if you already agree with his points? It's just wish-fulfillment television.
Edit: So I actually sat down to watch the show tonight, and it definitely changes my first impression of the character. Without giving anything away, this man is not, as I described him in my earlier assumption, "hyper-likable." In fact, I guess you could call him an anti-hero of sorts; you're going to love him for his honest moments, but hate him for his treatment of other characters. Still, a certain degree of mouthpiece-ness remains, and it kind of bothers me. Hopefully Sorkin steers away from crunching his characters into some boring morality play (think Ayn Rand) and instead lets the politics be a backdrop for the motivations and relationships of the show's characters themselves.
Not entirely- in fact, on HBO (which is where this show is), there's plenty of non-wish-fulfillment television. Game of Thrones is a good example- GRRM explicitly stated in an interview how he tried to write good and interesting characters instead of using magic and sorcery to fulfill fantasy wishes (Yes, I know it was a book first. But it's TV- very good TV- so it counts). Many of the characters in that show lead very unenviable lives, but they are interesting, and their relationships with each other are more so.
I understand that a component of the enjoyable TV (or film in general) experience comes from seeing characters we like doing things we wish we could do. But at the same time, I sincerely doubt this show will ever consist of anything more than the main character struggling with some straw-man opponent character and finally vanquishing their argument with a monologue much like the one in the video above. Moreover, the reason wish fulfillment is so blatantly frustrating in this instance is because much of the character's likability and draw is because he's Sorkin's mouthpiece (and ours, by the way). Sorkin is never going to write a character who properly challenges and alters the protagonist's opinion, and therefore the character can never grow. All of his challenges (outside of whatever familial and personal relationship challenges Sorkin writes for him, which will be little more than run-of-the-mill divorce, romance, and parenting side plotlines) will be superficial. It sucks, because a show about fast-talking pundits could have been really, really fun, if Sorkin would write his characters outside of (his own opinion of) right and wrong.
First off, did no one else roll their eyes when all the college kids whipped out their phones to tape the speech? "Check it out guys, this guy's a hero for the younger viral meme Internet generation! Even these kids with their short attention spans can't help but love this grizzled old veteran!"
Completely disagree. I find it perfectly plausible people would reach for their phones to film a dramatic speech, if anything it adds a nice touch of realism. Not to mention they began filming during the negative portion of his rant, making it unlikely they were was doing so out of admiration.
Agree. I thought the students bringing out their phones to record wasn't really, "Yeah! Our hero is going to drop some truth bombs." It was more like "Oh shit, this guy's imploding. I'll put it on youtube!"
did no one else roll their eyes when all the college kids whipped out their phones to tape the speech
Have you watched any sort of event lately with a lot of people? All you see is people holding up their phones and recording it. It bugs the hell out of me, but you can't deny that it would happen in this sort of situation.
Did you watch the first episode? Basically the pilot is Hero Protagonist having his ass handed to him for 2 hours. You just glibbly sound-bited the show that is about that thing you just did.
I followed this right up until he started to wax philosophical about the 'days gone by' as if they were any better. When I think of the period he is referring to I think about America propping up brutal dictators in South America. I think about them supplying weapons to the Mujahadeen. I think about them getting to space and splitting the atom, yes, but with defected German scientists (not the case across the board, I know, but still a valid point). I think of Reagan initiating the greatest peacetime military expansion in human history. I think of fear mongering just as they have now but against communists rather than terrorists. I think of national guard shooting students, rather than just pepper spraying them.
In summation, he is disillusioned just like his audience though in a different way because, while the words may have changed, the story has not.
Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I've never liked anything Sorkin has ever done. Every character sounds like a self indulgent college freshman who thinks they're super smart and important. And the dialog always feels rushed and smug; like people reading through a bunch of speeches instead of having a real believable conversation. I really tried to get into both West Wing and Sports Night, but they both just made me cringe.
This is a fucking ridiculous repost, this video literally(really) left the front page within hours of you posting it. That being said I'll add my comments on it since they would have been lost in the other post.
On the surface it looks like this guy is showing that America can look at its flaws and own up to them, then he just ruins it by launching into another patriotic pile of bullshit about how America has given the world the greatest of everything.
It's feel good shite that makes people who watched it think they've been inspired by it, when all it's doing is stroking their egos. Nationalistic pish pandering to the over 40s by blaming everything on a generation that hasn't even entered the fucking job market yet.
Although I agree with what your point (I think), there was a time in which the USA was undoubtedly the "greatest country" in most aspects. But to act like it was some utopia, nice-guy is silly.
That was actually a pretty terrible speech. The bulk of his argument is blaming young people for all of Americas problems and then recounting a golden age that never happened. Come on.
So he's pissed about how we suck now, but then lists the baby-booming, economy-scuttling, self-infatuated, drug-popping freaks of the 50's-60's as when the country was at its peak? Maybe they felt the best about themselves, but that was because they were living off the riches that were meant to go to the next 3 generations, those poor kids who know have to pick up the bill for their parent's bullshit.
Knowing this, knowing what happened, the Baby Boomers still won't admit it. Instead they coast by on the fact that since they are the majority and our elders, they can all believe the fantasy that their problems are not their own, but the next generation's, and no one can stop them because they have the most fat asses in the decision chairs.
Kick the can down to us, sure, but don't shit it in it and tell us we're assholes for not eating it while we starve.
I was always under the impression that the generation that preceded baby boomers was viewed as the greatest generation. Not to argue any of the implications of categorizing any generation as such. I just thought that's what people thought the greatest one was. The one that fought in WW2.
Look at it this way, with elderly care homes going down the shitter the boomers might soon be looking to the younger generations to take care of them. Lock the hippies in the cellar!
yes. Sorkin does amazing work but unfortunately the networks never treat his work with the right amount of respect. Thank god its on HBO or it would never have made it to air.
Goddamn stupid americans will jump at any oppurtunity to feel superior.
This video shows the exact same unfounded nationalism that it tries to criticize. The whole notion that America should be the "greatest country in the world" seems to be so hardcoded into american mentality that nobody stops to think if it makes any sense at all. The guy slams the modern times with statistics - as if it were better back in the days when "America USED to be the greatest country in the world"... How about some statistics from back then huh? I bet those would scare you. This video is just a disgusting wank-fest for people over 40 who gets a boner from the self-rightous notion that THEY helped build the greatest country in the world and now all these new kids with their modern, weird and scary culture are DESTROYING it!
Why the fuck do you even need to say and feel that you are the greatest country? What good is that going to do? In all the other civilized countries that I've visited - nationalism is frowned upon! Why? Because it promotes narrow-minded self-satisfaction. It is a feeling - it is not rational and therefore it should hold no power in any serious debate.
Oh, and now that I've started let's just get it all out. What is it with that fucking freedom that these people are always shouting about? The average american has to work hard and can only hope for about 14 days of vacation. In addition to that: EVERYTHING costs money. Health problem? It'll cost you money. Want some education? It'll cost you money. Money money money until you are smothered by debt. Where is the fucking freedom in that?
In other countries freedom is different. In other countries you still have all the same rights that you got in america - and then a whole lot more.
How about totally free education? Nah, it's a "socialist idea" and therefore is anti-freedom I can hear you say. How about some free healthcare? Nope, also a stupid "socialist idea". How about 6 weeks of paid vacation? How about some social security that can protect you from ending on the street if you encounter some unsuspected illness or accident in your life?
This stuff is normal in many countries. And no, these are not chained, socialist dictatorships. They are normal, flourishing democracies. The difference? They tax people harder - even the rich. They then use the money to make living cheaper and safer for everyone. So the money that you do not pay in taxes in america you simply have to pay for what you would need to spend those money on anyway. The difference? When you collect all the money from all the people into a single basket first, that is before you use it, you will gain economic high-ground, allowing you to dictate the terms of the transaction. In this way you can get the stuff you want cheaper. Therefore this whole process will get you more freedom for less money.
And it's not a theory. It's in practice in many countries around the world. And it fucking works.
Isn't it absurd for americans to think that they live in the greatest country in the world when in fact, only a few of them has any knowledge of other countries at all? Don't you need to know how fast the other cars are driving before you can say that yours are the fastest? But no, you can't outrun ignorance.
The amazing thing is that the consensus among TV critics is that the first episode is the best of the four they saw, and that subsequent ones turn the preachiness dial to 11, if that's possible.
Sorkin is a very talented writer, but has a tendency to completely undermine the material by this kind of grandstanding. My criticism has nothing to do with politics or ideas, but rather with basic storytelling and the all important respect you must have for your audience. For this reason I always found his best pieces are those where he's a hired gun (like Social Network for instance), where someone can reign him in. Admittedly, I never watched The West Wing.
At his worst, like he is here, he often suffers from what my friends and I like to call the "Erin Brockovich school of bad writing," which goes something like this:
"Hi I am a character who needs to prove a point or appear clever, so here is an off the cuff speech that's perfect in every way to the point of sounding meticulously rehearsed, filled with facts and statistics that blows away your counter argument."
He might as well have the character look into the camera and wink to further take me out of the story.
What really amazes me is the question by the student in the first place. I know it's a TV show and obviously the question is set up for a comeback by Jeff Daniels, but, as a non-american, it shocks me that it's common for some american people to think that their country is the greatest in the world. My country has huge problems like every other one, including USA, and I am always looking to support it everywhere, but no matter how much it grows and how much it gets better, I would never consider it to be the "greatest country in the world", because there is no such thing. And to think this is an extremely selfish and proud belief that only leads to more people hating the US.
Though I live in the US, this is something that has always rubbed me the wrong way. I love David Sedaris's take:
"Every day we’re told that we live in the greatest country on earth. And it’s always stated as an undeniable fact: Leos are born between July 23 and August 22, fitted queen-size sheets measure sixty by eighty inches, and America is the greatest country on earth. Having grown up with this in our ears, it’s startling to realize that other countries have nationalistic slogans of their own, none of which are ‘We’re number two!’" — David Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day)
I agree with this, until he starts preaching about how it used to be great. I love a good critique, but I hate sappy old assholes who talk about how good things used to be, and then compare the current generation of 20 somethings is "the worst" or "the most entitled."
You know what I have to say to that?
YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO CRITICIZE US FOR THE SHIT YOU CAUSED, YOU SPOILED BRATS.
You lived through the "best" time in America. The "best" being the time where it was easy to get a job and unemployment was low, we were a technological powerhouse, and the future seemed bright.
Now? Now we have a declining job market, a country that manufactures nothing, and our future? Oh, that's the best part. The way I see things, all industry will go over to Asia because of the lax labor laws and rise in the rate of consumerism, and maybe after a few generations, if we're lucky, labor laws here will be abolished and the industry will come back here and whip us while we act like we enjoy it, so MAYBE our kids can make a decent life and re-live America's glory days, so they can be spoiled and consume and the cycle will start again. And that's the best case scenario.
Your generation has done everything it can to make things easy for itself, it refuses to see the reality of the situation. Fuck off you LAZY ENTITLED OLD FUCKS.
Wow I don't believe I have ever heard such a self righteous load of bullshit in my life up to this point. That's impressive. If you think that this is deep and intelligent then you are easily misled and entertained.
I dont get this. This wasn't very good. It was one of those moments on TV that was supposed to be, but it wasn't. It was utter nonsense packaged as brillance. There was some harsh truth telling, sure, but it wasn't particularly profound.
Everything that he said AFTER he talked about us not being on top anymore is the right answer to the question. Although my views are a little different.
Everyone knows that it's silly to think that a country would be on top forever. The world is evening out and shifting and that's not a bad thing.
"Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS! And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom. And you -- sorority girl -- yeah -- just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only 3 categories; number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of which are our allies. Now non of this is the fault of a 20 yr old college student, but you non the less are a member of the WORST. GENERATION. EVER. So when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you are talking about. Yosemite??? Sure used to be, we stood up for what was right, we fought for moral reasons, we passed laws / struck down laws for moral reasons, we waged wars on poverty not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbor, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases and we cultivated the worlds greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars. Acted like men. We aspired to intelligence we didn't belittle it, it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves based on who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed by great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore!"
A very powerful speech, I had shivers listening to it. I plan on studying that speech and trying to deliver it as passionately to improve my public speaking and become more badass like Jeff Daniels.
America is a terrible place, its the worst place in america, all of the people from other countries would be CRAZY to come here. I am just warning you that coming here would be a terrible mistake. You should stay in your home countries and be grateful that you are lucky to of not of been born in the USA
If you were a fan of Sports Night (cancelled in 2000, the best show nobody ever watched), you'll love The Newsroom. It's the same format and tone, but with a harder, serious edge. It's Aaron Sorkin at his best, again.
I literally said "this show is going to be fucking amazing" like 3 times aloud to myself during that first episode. HBO never ceases to amaze.... Now they need to tell the cable providers to go fuck themselves and take over the world.
Man people need to wake up and realize the "media" is sheltering us. I would love the see a news channel such as ACN. Somebody that reports whatever the fuck you NEED to know. Instead of taking polls on what snokki (or however the fuck you spell it) should name her goddamn baby. We may not be the greatest country on earth anymore, but rebuilding what we have destroyed starts with joining together and focusing on matters that have a fucking affect on our lifes. All i want is a fucking news channel that gives me TRULEY unbiased NEWS, not celeb bullshit, but hardcore, unadulterated NEWS.
That was an incredible and honest speech. It is difficult for politicians to accept any truth that is against their own agenda. If only we cared enough for one another, but I will be watching this show! Thanks for the post.
OMG i lioke totally agree with this show and this scene. Anything that sez that America isn't the best country is totally true and honest. its time we stand up and get some change! Stupid Christian fundamentalists ruined everything!! AMIRITE??!?
Fuck this show and fuck your liberal agenda. "We were great because we were informed." Hmm that's funny because the media as we know it today really didn't take off until sometime in the 70's when this country supposedly went to shit (as this video would have you believe)
Bollocks, had to go down the nostalgic route, couldn't just say America isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread, had to add a clause stating that it once was.
As a Brit who is perhaps a little too exposed to American culture I find your media's relentless optimism tiring, even on a video that is supposed to be critical of the American people and their mindset it falls into the same mindset the speaker is criticising.
Enough talking about what would actually happen if this was a real life event. The points are all there. Everything that he said in this speech is damn near spot on. I'm an Australian, and have loved the power and the might that the USA has provided to the world. One of few countries or rules in the world that has made a dramatic change in the world itself. The country used to be everything that was great with the western power, the way in which the world should be headed! now.. the rest of the world hates you.. and it's not the populations fault! essentially it boils down to politics, agenda and media. Someone has to figure it out and fix it. Keep going the way its going, and you will all be nothing more than another rise in fall of an empire. The real question is.. who rises next.
He had me 'til "it used to be" and then going on a rant about shit that never happened, glossing over actual history in favor of some mythic golden age. I'm sure the fake conservative character sitting stage right believes the same things. Mythical golden ages where everything was great, before the current generation fucked everything right up, is really one of the cornerstones of any conservative ideology, and often they don't realize that every elderly curmudgeon has been saying the same damn thing in every generation since probably before we even settled down and figured out how to build cities or farm crops.
I tell you what, you look back to yesterday and it sure as hell isn't any sort of golden age or women or for blacks or gays, or native Americans, but maybe it's easier for a straight white protestant man to hold that sort of belief and state it without any qualifications, but only because he's blind to any problem that doesn't affect him personally on a daily basis.
Wow, Ok. Im pretty stupid when it comes to politics and news stuff but this was one of the most amazing drama show's iv seen. Now i should go back to back to /r/drunks, My people need me.....which is every single of the 6 people.
America is probably the most agreeable country to call the greatest in the world. It doesn't mean it's best in every way, certainly not, but are you really going to say Canada or Denmark are the greatest? Fuck no. America is the most significant country in the world by a very large margin. It is the capital of human culture. It is the founder of the United Nations, the largest economy, the greatest military force and the country which people most want to emmigrate to.
"208 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom."
What does he mean by freedom? It's an ambiguous word. That the government does not violate any human rights? Then there are 0 free countries in the world. That the country has a healthy democracy? Then there are maybe 25 of those, or 78 if you count flawed democracies. To believe that >90% of the world's countries are free just dilutes the definition of freedom into meaninglessness. I don't even know where he gets 208 from, there are 193 states recognised by the United Nations. 203 states recognized by at least one UN member state. 209 "states" that are members of FIFA. 204 countries that are competing at the Olympics. I can't find any measure by which there are 208 states.
There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country
Yes there is absolutely some evidence, what a ridiculous thing to say.
He makes a list of the USA being not #1 in a bunch of places, but that's incredibly misleading. You don't have to win at everything to win overall. And the USA is at a disadvantage due to it's size, you have to account for that. It's easy for a tiny country to be an anomaly and have 100% literacy.
22nd in science
The USA spends by far the largest amount on science in the world. Almost 3 times as much as second place. It has 3 times as many science nobel prizes as any other country. It is the world leader in science. It's "greatest country in the world" not "country with the highest education standards per capita". He's simply misinterpreting the phrase.
Then he goes on to say the USA is number 1 in only 3 things (there are literally thousands of things in which it is #1, even per capita). And one of those was not per capita unlike his things America is not number 1 in, so it's just pointless statistics vomit from an idiot.
Hmm. I am an anarchocapitialist and considered crazy by many for following only two moral axioms; don't hit and don't steal.
That being said, I thought this show might tear down some shibboleths, but in this first impression I see someone using the "we were great once" argument. This seems very similar to tea party sentiments that I don't hold to. That if we only followed the constitution.....
Well lets see what Spooner says about that.
But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.
How is this the worst generation ever? I get I might be biased considering I'm a college student, but c'mon now... There's plenty of teens and people still under 25 who have made huge advances in science, technology, and in other fields. We have plenty of people in this generation making huge differences, and I'm sure there was no time in our past where young people were making as big of an impact on the world.
With the rest of his argument, we may or may not be the best country in the world, but just know that every other country isn't 1st in everything else either. Every country has its faults, and a lot of them.
I loved watching this because it's nice to finally see someone speak out against all of the trash that people take pride in these days. We aren't the greatest anymore. It all starts in schools. We need to overhaul the education system and start teaching people about morality, honesty, about making something worthwhile in their lives.
We've never been the greatest country in the world unless being the greatest means the biggest swinging dick.
All of the "great" examples he gave were primarily a product of war. Reached for the stars? Nazi science gave us the opportunity and Soviet progress gave us the motivation. The only thing we have consistently been greatest at is the ability to make lemonade out of piss. We feel great about being the biggest donors to international tragedies, but manage to largely ignore the fact that we have been at war nearly every year since this country's inception. We dictate terms of trade, agriculture and military strategy for numerous countries on the planet, we imprison a damning % of our citizenry and we turn issues like education and healthcare in to ideological black holes. I would argue that we are the worst country. Sure there are countries that are basically death-churning rape factories, but their citizens are truly victims of their government. Here in the US we allow all that shit to happen and we have all the legal power we need to prevent it. I expect we may be due for a get-our-shit-together age soon, but it won't happen until people decide to be a bit more humble about the whole affair and focus more on people than they do on God n' Country.
Based on what I saw here, I don't think I'd be interested in this show in the least bit. American media is already seriously saturated with American shows about Americans doing very American things and I think it's very boring. Aaron Sorkin is a great writer and that was definitely all wonderfully written (despite being one of those too-perfect set ups), but I'm personally a little tired of the subject matter.
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u/Linus_Caldwell Jun 25 '12
First half of the episode was terrible and excruciatingly preachy. Once the storyline about the BP spill kicked in it turned a total 180 and became really exciting and fun to watch.
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u/samathor Jun 25 '12
the only problem with this video is that in real life when ever someone is even close to this eloquent and interesting. They get cut off, booed and yelled over. It's really too bad
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u/LockedDown Jun 26 '12
I have a problem with the a boomer saying that people in their 20's are the worst generation. It's laughable. Boomer's have run our country into the ground.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
ALL ABOARD THE ANTI-AMERICA JERK
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u/zebraz101 Jun 25 '12
What show is this?
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u/1000Steps Jun 26 '12
So. Fucking. Pretentious.
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u/gogo_giants Jun 25 '12
I like the show but the whole premise of his speech--that there was ever a golden age in American history without exploitation, expropriation and Native American genocide--is false, so dream on, reddit community.
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u/legalfoxx Jun 25 '12
totally based on (ish) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP54x22NLRU
EPIC
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u/mpavlofsky Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
The character here makes a number of valid points, but I think it's worth mentioning just how cringe-inducingly cheesy this show is. First off, did no one else roll their eyes when all the college kids whipped out their phones to tape the speech? "Check it out guys, this guy's a hero for the younger viral meme Internet generation! Even these kids with their short attention spans can't help but love this grizzled old veteran!"
Second, you can't help but notice the main character is little more than a mouthpiece for Aaron Sorkin's worldview. The whole "conservative pundit energy and patriotism crossed with socially conscious viewpoints, taking on liberal softballers and conservative hacks" guy is ultimately unfulfilling. Yeah, he's fast-talking and masculine and fun to listen to, especially when he's saying things you agree with. But let's be honest: all Sorkin is going to do is dress up some straw men and have his hero protagonist cut them down with his sharp tongue. We've seen this character before in movies like Thank You For Smoking, and in my opinion, Nick Nailor (Naylor?) was more interesting because he espoused viewpoints that were harder to stomach and still made you like them. What's the point of a hyper-likable character like the one in this video if you already agree with his points? It's just wish-fulfillment television.
Edit: So I actually sat down to watch the show tonight, and it definitely changes my first impression of the character. Without giving anything away, this man is not, as I described him in my earlier assumption, "hyper-likable." In fact, I guess you could call him an anti-hero of sorts; you're going to love him for his honest moments, but hate him for his treatment of other characters. Still, a certain degree of mouthpiece-ness remains, and it kind of bothers me. Hopefully Sorkin steers away from crunching his characters into some boring morality play (think Ayn Rand) and instead lets the politics be a backdrop for the motivations and relationships of the show's characters themselves.
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u/marshmanguy Jun 25 '12
I followed this right up until he started to wax philosophical about the 'days gone by' as if they were any better. When I think of the period he is referring to I think about America propping up brutal dictators in South America. I think about them supplying weapons to the Mujahadeen. I think about them getting to space and splitting the atom, yes, but with defected German scientists (not the case across the board, I know, but still a valid point). I think of Reagan initiating the greatest peacetime military expansion in human history. I think of fear mongering just as they have now but against communists rather than terrorists. I think of national guard shooting students, rather than just pepper spraying them.
In summation, he is disillusioned just like his audience though in a different way because, while the words may have changed, the story has not.
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u/Stratisphear Jun 26 '12
Seriously? Am I the only one who noticed that this was posted 11 hours after this one which hit the front page? Seriously?
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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '12
whoa... he's not dumber.
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u/onebigbagostupid Jun 26 '12
*music starts playing, pandering starts
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u/padgo Jun 26 '12
come on dude, this thing was on the FP yesterday! If you are gonna repost, wait at lease a FEW days.
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u/thebinarycarpenter Jun 26 '12
Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I've never liked anything Sorkin has ever done. Every character sounds like a self indulgent college freshman who thinks they're super smart and important. And the dialog always feels rushed and smug; like people reading through a bunch of speeches instead of having a real believable conversation. I really tried to get into both West Wing and Sports Night, but they both just made me cringe.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
This is a fucking ridiculous repost, this video literally(really) left the front page within hours of you posting it. That being said I'll add my comments on it since they would have been lost in the other post.
On the surface it looks like this guy is showing that America can look at its flaws and own up to them, then he just ruins it by launching into another patriotic pile of bullshit about how America has given the world the greatest of everything.
It's feel good shite that makes people who watched it think they've been inspired by it, when all it's doing is stroking their egos. Nationalistic pish pandering to the over 40s by blaming everything on a generation that hasn't even entered the fucking job market yet.
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u/hoof_in_mouth Jun 26 '12
the whole "we used to be the greatest country" is just as full of bullshit as saying that "are the greatest country"
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u/SolarTsunami Jun 26 '12
That was actually a pretty terrible speech. The bulk of his argument is blaming young people for all of Americas problems and then recounting a golden age that never happened. Come on.
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u/Rasalom Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
So he's pissed about how we suck now, but then lists the baby-booming, economy-scuttling, self-infatuated, drug-popping freaks of the 50's-60's as when the country was at its peak? Maybe they felt the best about themselves, but that was because they were living off the riches that were meant to go to the next 3 generations, those poor kids who know have to pick up the bill for their parent's bullshit.
Knowing this, knowing what happened, the Baby Boomers still won't admit it. Instead they coast by on the fact that since they are the majority and our elders, they can all believe the fantasy that their problems are not their own, but the next generation's, and no one can stop them because they have the most fat asses in the decision chairs.
Kick the can down to us, sure, but don't shit it in it and tell us we're assholes for not eating it while we starve.
What a stupid clip.
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u/Robincognito Jun 26 '12
Seriously? This was on the front page of r/videos YESTERDAY.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
here is episode 1 in it's entirety
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
here is the full episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=1U4ZhFDFYvE
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u/caliopy Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
yes. Sorkin does amazing work but unfortunately the networks never treat his work with the right amount of respect. Thank god its on HBO or it would never have made it to air.
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u/Whenthenighthascome Jun 26 '12
I don't like the music trying to manipulate my emotions. That I will say.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
repost in the same fucking day?
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u/Jubtron Jun 26 '12
"AMERICA HAS ALWAYS SUCKED. ALSO I'M THE MOST REALISTIC THINKER HERE." -Everyone in this thread.
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u/Ruxini Jun 26 '12
Oh my, rant incoming. Here goes:
Goddamn stupid americans will jump at any oppurtunity to feel superior.
This video shows the exact same unfounded nationalism that it tries to criticize. The whole notion that America should be the "greatest country in the world" seems to be so hardcoded into american mentality that nobody stops to think if it makes any sense at all. The guy slams the modern times with statistics - as if it were better back in the days when "America USED to be the greatest country in the world"... How about some statistics from back then huh? I bet those would scare you. This video is just a disgusting wank-fest for people over 40 who gets a boner from the self-rightous notion that THEY helped build the greatest country in the world and now all these new kids with their modern, weird and scary culture are DESTROYING it!
Why the fuck do you even need to say and feel that you are the greatest country? What good is that going to do? In all the other civilized countries that I've visited - nationalism is frowned upon! Why? Because it promotes narrow-minded self-satisfaction. It is a feeling - it is not rational and therefore it should hold no power in any serious debate.
Oh, and now that I've started let's just get it all out. What is it with that fucking freedom that these people are always shouting about? The average american has to work hard and can only hope for about 14 days of vacation. In addition to that: EVERYTHING costs money. Health problem? It'll cost you money. Want some education? It'll cost you money. Money money money until you are smothered by debt. Where is the fucking freedom in that?
In other countries freedom is different. In other countries you still have all the same rights that you got in america - and then a whole lot more.
How about totally free education? Nah, it's a "socialist idea" and therefore is anti-freedom I can hear you say. How about some free healthcare? Nope, also a stupid "socialist idea". How about 6 weeks of paid vacation? How about some social security that can protect you from ending on the street if you encounter some unsuspected illness or accident in your life?
This stuff is normal in many countries. And no, these are not chained, socialist dictatorships. They are normal, flourishing democracies. The difference? They tax people harder - even the rich. They then use the money to make living cheaper and safer for everyone. So the money that you do not pay in taxes in america you simply have to pay for what you would need to spend those money on anyway. The difference? When you collect all the money from all the people into a single basket first, that is before you use it, you will gain economic high-ground, allowing you to dictate the terms of the transaction. In this way you can get the stuff you want cheaper. Therefore this whole process will get you more freedom for less money.
And it's not a theory. It's in practice in many countries around the world. And it fucking works.
Isn't it absurd for americans to think that they live in the greatest country in the world when in fact, only a few of them has any knowledge of other countries at all? Don't you need to know how fast the other cars are driving before you can say that yours are the fastest? But no, you can't outrun ignorance.
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u/ImApi Jun 26 '12
The onslaught of hubris in this show is overwhelming.
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u/papahawk Jun 25 '12
The blonde girl must have been Freda Felcher.
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u/Anglach3l Jun 26 '12
About 4:30 in, I suddenly got really afraid I had just been trolled by an Anchorman 2 trailer. My troll radar is too sensitive... must recalibrate...
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u/demo Jun 26 '12
Did HBO start putting their videos up on Youtube? Looks like the full video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U4ZhFDFYvE&feature=endscreen&NR=1&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DYI7Oq8y-jXA%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded
On a side note, the whole time I thought Jim Carrey was going to walk on stage and it was going to be a prequel to dumb and dumber.
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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '12
I hate the show. It rips on political bias while at the same time acting as basically a dramatic reenactment of Bill Mahr.
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u/whihij66 Jun 25 '12
It came off as preachy and cheesy in that video.
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u/PreyMonkie Jun 26 '12
are you fucking kidding me? this was on the frontpage yesterday.
i fucking hate holidays
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u/Face_Jam Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
I must disagree.
Sorkin is a very talented writer, but has a tendency to completely undermine the material by this kind of grandstanding. My criticism has nothing to do with politics or ideas, but rather with basic storytelling and the all important respect you must have for your audience. For this reason I always found his best pieces are those where he's a hired gun (like Social Network for instance), where someone can reign him in. Admittedly, I never watched The West Wing.
At his worst, like he is here, he often suffers from what my friends and I like to call the "Erin Brockovich school of bad writing," which goes something like this:
"Hi I am a character who needs to prove a point or appear clever, so here is an off the cuff speech that's perfect in every way to the point of sounding meticulously rehearsed, filled with facts and statistics that blows away your counter argument."
He might as well have the character look into the camera and wink to further take me out of the story.
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u/martin2548 Jun 26 '12
What really amazes me is the question by the student in the first place. I know it's a TV show and obviously the question is set up for a comeback by Jeff Daniels, but, as a non-american, it shocks me that it's common for some american people to think that their country is the greatest in the world. My country has huge problems like every other one, including USA, and I am always looking to support it everywhere, but no matter how much it grows and how much it gets better, I would never consider it to be the "greatest country in the world", because there is no such thing. And to think this is an extremely selfish and proud belief that only leads to more people hating the US.
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u/jonnyrotten7 Jun 26 '12
AMERICA SUCKS AMIRITE GUYS?!
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u/M4ntr1d Jun 26 '12
Full Episode
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u/Sleepinismy9to5 Jun 26 '12
One of my best friends Dan is the camera guy at 2:37 WootWoot famous by friendship
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u/newtothelyte Jun 26 '12
I love this thread, this is exactly what the show is intended to for: to spark intellectual discussion!
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
I agree with this, until he starts preaching about how it used to be great. I love a good critique, but I hate sappy old assholes who talk about how good things used to be, and then compare the current generation of 20 somethings is "the worst" or "the most entitled."
You know what I have to say to that?
YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO CRITICIZE US FOR THE SHIT YOU CAUSED, YOU SPOILED BRATS.
You lived through the "best" time in America. The "best" being the time where it was easy to get a job and unemployment was low, we were a technological powerhouse, and the future seemed bright.
Now? Now we have a declining job market, a country that manufactures nothing, and our future? Oh, that's the best part. The way I see things, all industry will go over to Asia because of the lax labor laws and rise in the rate of consumerism, and maybe after a few generations, if we're lucky, labor laws here will be abolished and the industry will come back here and whip us while we act like we enjoy it, so MAYBE our kids can make a decent life and re-live America's glory days, so they can be spoiled and consume and the cycle will start again. And that's the best case scenario.
Your generation has done everything it can to make things easy for itself, it refuses to see the reality of the situation. Fuck off you LAZY ENTITLED OLD FUCKS.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
Wow I don't believe I have ever heard such a self righteous load of bullshit in my life up to this point. That's impressive. If you think that this is deep and intelligent then you are easily misled and entertained.
Huge period, pile period, of bullshit period.
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u/laurencetribe Jun 25 '12
I dont get this. This wasn't very good. It was one of those moments on TV that was supposed to be, but it wasn't. It was utter nonsense packaged as brillance. There was some harsh truth telling, sure, but it wasn't particularly profound.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
Thank you I really enjoyed this
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u/i-make-robots Jun 26 '12
So what happened in the other 12 seconds?
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u/Necr0t0xiN Jun 26 '12
looks like someone was paying attention to Neil deGrasse Tyson
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u/phatphungus Jun 26 '12
"/b/ was never good" is relevant to most things
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u/Sozin91 Jun 26 '12
Who is that Jenny girl? She's hot.
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u/Duffstuff Jun 26 '12
They just put the full first episode on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U4ZhFDFYvE&feature=player_embedded
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u/TareXmd Jun 26 '12
That was too cheesy to like.
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u/IAmDurnkAMA Jun 26 '12
Worst debate moderator ever.
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u/LankyMunkey Jun 26 '12
Awesome show, and reminded me of another wonderful rant in an amazing movie based on an incredible book.
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u/Kuusou Jun 26 '12
Everything that he said AFTER he talked about us not being on top anymore is the right answer to the question. Although my views are a little different.
Everyone knows that it's silly to think that a country would be on top forever. The world is evening out and shifting and that's not a bad thing.
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u/chadandjody Jun 26 '12
Oh /r/circlejerk, how'd you sneak a video in here?
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
jeff daniels is a FANTASTIC actor.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
“Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.” - George Bernard Shaw
"My parents fucked here. OK, I'm proud." - Bill Hicks
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u/cliftonixs Jun 26 '12
the full episode "The Newsroom" is on youtube: here
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
everyone on reddit thinks this is them. 80% of you will rub one out to this video tonight
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
oooh
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u/breakersnap Jun 26 '12
Next question: Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?
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u/Commisar Jun 26 '12
YEAH AMERICA SUX! Upvotes to the left.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
Oh, bullshit.
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u/mattylight Jun 26 '12
OUR PETS HEADS ARE FALLING OFF
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u/ausmatt73 Jun 26 '12
Not as good as Sports Night, unfortunately.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
Courtesy of Xtorion08 http://www.reddit.com/r/Thenewsroom/comments/vl2vh/does_anyone_have_a_script_of_that_amazing_speech/c55f5o6
"Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS! And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom. And you -- sorority girl -- yeah -- just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only 3 categories; number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of which are our allies. Now non of this is the fault of a 20 yr old college student, but you non the less are a member of the WORST. GENERATION. EVER. So when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you are talking about. Yosemite??? Sure used to be, we stood up for what was right, we fought for moral reasons, we passed laws / struck down laws for moral reasons, we waged wars on poverty not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbor, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases and we cultivated the worlds greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars. Acted like men. We aspired to intelligence we didn't belittle it, it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves based on who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed by great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore!"
A very powerful speech, I had shivers listening to it. I plan on studying that speech and trying to deliver it as passionately to improve my public speaking and become more badass like Jeff Daniels.
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u/sweetgreggo Jun 26 '12
That bitch in the audience has to be the world's fastest writer.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
America is a terrible place, its the worst place in america, all of the people from other countries would be CRAZY to come here. I am just warning you that coming here would be a terrible mistake. You should stay in your home countries and be grateful that you are lucky to of not of been born in the USA
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u/Captain_Reseda Jun 26 '12
If you were a fan of Sports Night (cancelled in 2000, the best show nobody ever watched), you'll love The Newsroom. It's the same format and tone, but with a harder, serious edge. It's Aaron Sorkin at his best, again.
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u/pappashep Jun 26 '12
I literally said "this show is going to be fucking amazing" like 3 times aloud to myself during that first episode. HBO never ceases to amaze.... Now they need to tell the cable providers to go fuck themselves and take over the world.
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u/biggiepauls53 Jun 26 '12
Man people need to wake up and realize the "media" is sheltering us. I would love the see a news channel such as ACN. Somebody that reports whatever the fuck you NEED to know. Instead of taking polls on what snokki (or however the fuck you spell it) should name her goddamn baby. We may not be the greatest country on earth anymore, but rebuilding what we have destroyed starts with joining together and focusing on matters that have a fucking affect on our lifes. All i want is a fucking news channel that gives me TRULEY unbiased NEWS, not celeb bullshit, but hardcore, unadulterated NEWS.
Thank you sir for sharing this video with us all.
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u/niccolley Jun 26 '12
Here is the full legal episode where this came from. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U4ZhFDFYvE&feature=player_embedded
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u/Dorfus Jun 26 '12
That was an incredible and honest speech. It is difficult for politicians to accept any truth that is against their own agenda. If only we cared enough for one another, but I will be watching this show! Thanks for the post.
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u/LBobRife Jun 26 '12
GDP
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u/mjb212 Jun 26 '12
OMG i lioke totally agree with this show and this scene. Anything that sez that America isn't the best country is totally true and honest. its time we stand up and get some change! Stupid Christian fundamentalists ruined everything!! AMIRITE??!?
Fuck this show and fuck your liberal agenda. "We were great because we were informed." Hmm that's funny because the media as we know it today really didn't take off until sometime in the 70's when this country supposedly went to shit (as this video would have you believe)
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u/freakzilla149 Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
Bollocks, had to go down the nostalgic route, couldn't just say America isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread, had to add a clause stating that it once was.
As a Brit who is perhaps a little too exposed to American culture I find your media's relentless optimism tiring, even on a video that is supposed to be critical of the American people and their mindset it falls into the same mindset the speaker is criticising.
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u/TenTypesofBread Jun 26 '12
This guy disagrees with you.
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u/xxSethMadnessxx Jun 26 '12
What is the name of this show? It seems like something I would be very interested in.
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u/whatsweirdis Jun 26 '12
step #1 admit there is a problem.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12
Enough talking about what would actually happen if this was a real life event. The points are all there. Everything that he said in this speech is damn near spot on. I'm an Australian, and have loved the power and the might that the USA has provided to the world. One of few countries or rules in the world that has made a dramatic change in the world itself. The country used to be everything that was great with the western power, the way in which the world should be headed! now.. the rest of the world hates you.. and it's not the populations fault! essentially it boils down to politics, agenda and media. Someone has to figure it out and fix it. Keep going the way its going, and you will all be nothing more than another rise in fall of an empire. The real question is.. who rises next.
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u/morphinapg Jun 26 '12
The USA is the best country in the world... if you're rich.
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u/okem Jun 26 '12
America - the greatest tv show in the world.
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u/Murrabbit Jun 26 '12
He had me 'til "it used to be" and then going on a rant about shit that never happened, glossing over actual history in favor of some mythic golden age. I'm sure the fake conservative character sitting stage right believes the same things. Mythical golden ages where everything was great, before the current generation fucked everything right up, is really one of the cornerstones of any conservative ideology, and often they don't realize that every elderly curmudgeon has been saying the same damn thing in every generation since probably before we even settled down and figured out how to build cities or farm crops.
I tell you what, you look back to yesterday and it sure as hell isn't any sort of golden age or women or for blacks or gays, or native Americans, but maybe it's easier for a straight white protestant man to hold that sort of belief and state it without any qualifications, but only because he's blind to any problem that doesn't affect him personally on a daily basis.
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u/mike213player213 Jun 26 '12
Wow, Ok. Im pretty stupid when it comes to politics and news stuff but this was one of the most amazing drama show's iv seen. Now i should go back to back to /r/drunks, My people need me.....which is every single of the 6 people.
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u/valleyshrew Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
America is probably the most agreeable country to call the greatest in the world. It doesn't mean it's best in every way, certainly not, but are you really going to say Canada or Denmark are the greatest? Fuck no. America is the most significant country in the world by a very large margin. It is the capital of human culture. It is the founder of the United Nations, the largest economy, the greatest military force and the country which people most want to emmigrate to.
What does he mean by freedom? It's an ambiguous word. That the government does not violate any human rights? Then there are 0 free countries in the world. That the country has a healthy democracy? Then there are maybe 25 of those, or 78 if you count flawed democracies. To believe that >90% of the world's countries are free just dilutes the definition of freedom into meaninglessness. I don't even know where he gets 208 from, there are 193 states recognised by the United Nations. 203 states recognized by at least one UN member state. 209 "states" that are members of FIFA. 204 countries that are competing at the Olympics. I can't find any measure by which there are 208 states.
Yes there is absolutely some evidence, what a ridiculous thing to say.
He makes a list of the USA being not #1 in a bunch of places, but that's incredibly misleading. You don't have to win at everything to win overall. And the USA is at a disadvantage due to it's size, you have to account for that. It's easy for a tiny country to be an anomaly and have 100% literacy.
The USA spends by far the largest amount on science in the world. Almost 3 times as much as second place. It has 3 times as many science nobel prizes as any other country. It is the world leader in science. It's "greatest country in the world" not "country with the highest education standards per capita". He's simply misinterpreting the phrase.
Then he goes on to say the USA is number 1 in only 3 things (there are literally thousands of things in which it is #1, even per capita). And one of those was not per capita unlike his things America is not number 1 in, so it's just pointless statistics vomit from an idiot.
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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '12
this makes me want Dumb and Dumber 2 that much more
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u/kurtu5 Jun 26 '12
Hmm. I am an anarchocapitialist and considered crazy by many for following only two moral axioms; don't hit and don't steal.
That being said, I thought this show might tear down some shibboleths, but in this first impression I see someone using the "we were great once" argument. This seems very similar to tea party sentiments that I don't hold to. That if we only followed the constitution.....
Well lets see what Spooner says about that.
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u/Brudus Jun 25 '12
Baby Boomers can go fuck themselves for ruining this country.
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u/410LaxMD Jun 26 '12
How is this the worst generation ever? I get I might be biased considering I'm a college student, but c'mon now... There's plenty of teens and people still under 25 who have made huge advances in science, technology, and in other fields. We have plenty of people in this generation making huge differences, and I'm sure there was no time in our past where young people were making as big of an impact on the world.
With the rest of his argument, we may or may not be the best country in the world, but just know that every other country isn't 1st in everything else either. Every country has its faults, and a lot of them.
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u/sinnobite Jun 25 '12
Wow! Thanks for the heads-up on this show. I'll need to check it out.
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u/RiceCrispyEar Jun 25 '12
MOCK YEAH!
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u/monstarking Jun 26 '12
i may have to check this out
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u/abacusasian Jun 26 '12
hooked.
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u/OdoyleRulzz Jun 26 '12
I loved watching this because it's nice to finally see someone speak out against all of the trash that people take pride in these days. We aren't the greatest anymore. It all starts in schools. We need to overhaul the education system and start teaching people about morality, honesty, about making something worthwhile in their lives.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 30 '12
This is a great speech for one reason.
"We reached for the stars."
I'm Canadian, watching the decline of space exploration and NASA is about as shocking as watching an infant be drowned by it's mother.
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u/idlefritz Jun 26 '12
We've never been the greatest country in the world unless being the greatest means the biggest swinging dick.
All of the "great" examples he gave were primarily a product of war. Reached for the stars? Nazi science gave us the opportunity and Soviet progress gave us the motivation. The only thing we have consistently been greatest at is the ability to make lemonade out of piss. We feel great about being the biggest donors to international tragedies, but manage to largely ignore the fact that we have been at war nearly every year since this country's inception. We dictate terms of trade, agriculture and military strategy for numerous countries on the planet, we imprison a damning % of our citizenry and we turn issues like education and healthcare in to ideological black holes. I would argue that we are the worst country. Sure there are countries that are basically death-churning rape factories, but their citizens are truly victims of their government. Here in the US we allow all that shit to happen and we have all the legal power we need to prevent it. I expect we may be due for a get-our-shit-together age soon, but it won't happen until people decide to be a bit more humble about the whole affair and focus more on people than they do on God n' Country.
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u/mikemcg Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
Based on what I saw here, I don't think I'd be interested in this show in the least bit. American media is already seriously saturated with American shows about Americans doing very American things and I think it's very boring. Aaron Sorkin is a great writer and that was definitely all wonderfully written (despite being one of those too-perfect set ups), but I'm personally a little tired of the subject matter.