Why 'The West Wing' Is Like Being Multiple
Guest article by the Jinkies
Staying up so late last night accidentally got us into 'slumber party' mode, where we keep each other awake thinking silly things and making each other laugh [best insomnia ever!].And here's the result:
We've never been able to quite define just what it is that makes so many here feel so comfortable watching The West Wing, there's something so very 'validating' about it to us. So let's leave aside the storylines, the humour, the writing, the direction, the acting, the politics, the way it treats the viewers with respect and assumes they're intelligent and all of that and instead blame it all on multiplicity :)
- All the characters on The West Wing talk like characters on The West Wing and yet anyone can see that they each have their own traits, personalities, passions, character, likes, dislikes and so forth.
- Everyone on The West Wing works together combining their individual strengths to achieve common goals. They have strong principles and hold each other up to them.
- They seem to understand each other after only saying the first few words of a sentence, they often finish each others' sentences, have the same idea simultaneously or know exactly what needs to be done from having only heard a few words.
- They're very big on repeating things to each other in order to propagate ideas. They have an uncanny knack of all repeating the same response to someone's question when they can't possibly have consciously coordinated this.
- They do a lot of communication, planning and working things out while walking between places. In fact they always seem to be talking to each other, this said, when they do stop talking they still seem to know what each other are feeling.
- They relate to each other with comfort and show this through humour. Admidst stressful and important situations they consider themselves and each other with irony and humour but everyone understands that when it comes to the crunch they're deadly serious.
- Everyone we've talked to about The West Wing reports that they think they've found their favourite character right up until the next one speaks. When it comes down to it, it's really not any individual character who's best -- we like them as a system.
:)
Jinkies
