The Witchy Power Of Aaron Sorkin

So word is that Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip is on its last leg. Wouldn't know if that's a good or a bad thing because I've never seen it. But I would have to say I'm a bit surprised. Why? Because Aaron Sorkin has some kind of power. A deep, dark sinister power. A power that I can neither put my finger on, nor shake.

What other reason can I give for watching The American President over and over and over again. If I'm flipping through the channels and I see it on TV, I will stop. I will not take note of it and come back later. I will stop on that channel and watch the rest of it. It doesn't matter if I saw some of it last week. I will watch it again. It doesn't matter if there's just 15 minutes left, I will watch the rest of it. It doesn't matter if most of the dialogue that comes out of Michael Douglas' mouth bugs me because of it's flippancy.

President Shepherd: Seven trillion dollar communications system at my disposal, and I can't find out if the Packers won.

I will watch that again and again. Why? I wish I knew. Is this one of my favorite movies of all time? No, but you would think. I think I've seen it more than most movies and certainly more than movies that I say are my favorites.

The same is true of A Few Good Men. Never mind that I don't care two squats about Tom Cruise and that a lot of the dialogue in this movie is preachy:

Galloway: Why do you hate them so much?

Lt. Weinberg: They beat up on a weakling, and that's all they did. The rest is just smokefilled coffee-house crap. They tortured and tormented a weaker kid. They didn't like him. So, they killed him. And why? Because he couldn't run very fast.

Lt. Weinberg: Why do you like them so much?

Galloway: Because they stand upon a wall and say, "Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch."

I chronically watch this movie, too. Why? I wish I knew. But again, if it comes across my TV screen, I'm stopping and watching the rest of it. And what's worse is that I own this movie. I watch it on DVD and on TV. It creeps me out. It's like an out of body experience. I'm watching me watching The American President or A Few Good Men and I'm thinking why am I watching this movie again. I've seen it about 50 times, and here I am again. For the fifty-first time.

I can't be the only one that suffers from this. Why else would TBS or TNT run these movies about every other day.

Maybe I watch them because when Sorkin hits, he hits pretty hard. Yeah he's preachy and too self-concious and pretty arrogant, but the man can write some dialogue.

Col. Jessup: There is nothing on this earth sexier, believe me, gentlemen, than a woman you have to salute in the morning. Promote 'em all, I say, 'cause this is true: if you haven't gotten a blowjob from a superior officer, well, you're just letting the best in life pass you by.

Or

President Shepherd: America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've got to want it bad, because it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil who is standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the 'land of the free'? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the 'land of the free.'"

Maybe that's it, maybe not. So many questions but no answers.

Maybe beneath the preppy, slightly greying hair is an evil, evil man who will not rest until I cannot rest because I'm up watching The American President or A Few Good Men all the time.