IntenseDebate - themyskira

10 years ago @ Mark Reads - Confirmed Books for th... · 0 replies · +4 points

Yesss! Runaways is wonderful.

10 years ago @ Mark Reads - Confirmed Books for th... · 0 replies · +6 points

Seconding the Black Magician trilogy! I love that series.

10 years ago @ Mark Reads - Confirmed Books for th... · 0 replies · +3 points

OH HELL YES. Posterchildren is amazing.

10 years ago @ Mark Watches - Mark Watches 'The West... · 0 replies · +3 points

I think, though I could be wrong, if you never earn over the threshold then the debt ends up being written off. I'm not too clear on that. At the moment the repayment threshold is around $51,000 (it gets adjusted every year). It used to be that you could pay your fees in full or in part upfront and get a discount, but that's recently been abolished.

10 years ago @ Mark Watches - Mark Watches 'The West... · 5 replies · +7 points

God. I forget sometimes how incredibly lucky we are in Australia. I won't have to start paying back any of my undergrad degree until I'm earning over a certain amount (at which point the payments get deducted from my pay through the tax system).

And my college application process involved me listing the degrees I wanted to apply for by order of preference, and that was it.

10 years ago @ Mark Watches - Mark Watches 'The West... · 1 reply · +7 points

The horrible Sam storyline, for those who don't know, is yet another instance of Sorkin being called out on something and then delivering a rebuttal through his characters.

Bascially, Sorkin had been posting and answering fans' questions in the Television Without Pity forums around 2001, at a point when fans were becoming increasingly critical of issues of sexism in the show (among other things). The sexism bit in Night Five seems to be Sorkin trying (rather ineptly) to counter fans' criticisms. A few days after the episode aired, Sorkin briefly returned to the boards (having been inactive for the better part of a year) to argue with posters that he wasn't sexist. The actual posts are gone, but among other things he told posters that if they didn't like the show then they should consider watching something else, and that they should get outside more. Sooooo... yeah. Nicely done, Sorkin.

10 years ago @ Mark Watches - Mark Watches 'The West... · 0 replies · +6 points

AGREED. This episode just-- ughh. Ugh. One of the few West Wing episodes I just flat-out won't re-watch.

10 years ago @ Mark Watches - Mark Watches 'The West... · 1 reply · +2 points

Not only was Evan Handler on Sorkin's Studio 60, but he played Ricky Tahoe, a character based on former West Wing writer Rick Cleveland. And when I say "based on", I mean Sorkin had a public falling out with Cleveland and maturely decided to get revenge by writing Cleveland into his new show as an idea-stealing, talentless hack of a writer.

10 years ago @ Mark Watches - Mark Watches 'The West... · 0 replies · +6 points

Hmm, I think my reading of Jed and his father's relationship was slightly different than yours. I think it's Mrs Landingham who was coming to see that other side of Dr Bartlet, while Jed was already very familiar with it. Jed doesn't call his father "sir" out of a desire to avoid preferential treatment. That's his excuse, and like the best of lies it's got a seed of truth in it, but I imagine he was calling his father "sir" before he even started at the school. Because that's the kind of relationship they've got. Dr Bartlet's not a warm, loving parent-- he's a cold, emotionally distant (and physically abusive) authority figure. Mrs Landingham's beginning to see that, too. When she asks why Jed calls his father "sir", she's already guessed the answer.

And Jed, oh Jed, he wants so desperately to please his dad, to earn the approval that's always been withheld. He still does, after all this time, caught between doing what's popular, taking the path of least resistance-- and standing up for what he knows is right, making bold choices and risking a slap in the face.

ANYWAY. Favourite, favourite episode of The West Wing. One of my favourite episodes of anything ever. Smashes my heart to pieces every time.

10 years ago @ Mark Watches - Mark Watches 'The West... · 0 replies · +1 points

I get the feeling that that awful line from Sam is Sorkin trying to defend his own crappy habit of using the word "girl" as an insult. The guy's not above restaging arguments in fictional settings just so he can win them (see also: that time when he based a pair of characters on himself and his ex-girlfriend) and he's constantly using "girl" and "woman" in a derogatory context.

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