Aaron Sorkin, I can't understand why you're single.

[annakovsky]

So I haven't seen The Social Network and don't have too much desire to (especially now), but I saw an interview with Aaron Sorkin about it on the Colbert Report last week. Here is an excerpt:

Colbert: Can I ask you something about the ladies in it?
Sorkin: Sure. Yeah.
Colbert: Okay. You've got the opening scene which a lot of people have heard about, it's very crisp. It's Zuckerberg and his girlfriend, the one who broke his heart, that led him to make --
Sorkin: The girl who would start Facebook, yes.
Colbert: Exactly. She's super smart and she definitely gets the best of him.
Sorkin: Right.
Colbert: The other ladies in the movie don't have as much to say because they're high or drunk or BLEEPing guys in the bathroom. Why are there no other women of any substance in the movie?
Sorkin: That's a fair question. There is one other woman, Rashida Jones who plays a young lawyer in the deposition room --
Colbert: That's true, that's true, I apologize, she does not do anything in the bathroom.
Sorkin: She's a trustworthy character, she's a stand-in for the audience. The other women are prizes, basically.
Colbert: Are women at Harvard like that? That's what I want to know.

(The interview then digresses a little bit, letting Sorkin give a super misogynistic example when asked about the actual website Facebook, and then Sorkin goes on to reiterate that it's just that in this particular story, women function as prizes, with no indication that he sees that as any kind of problem.)

So let that be a lesson to you, ladies. You might get into Harvard with your "brains" and your "talent", but that doesn't make you any less of a prop. Maybe you should've been an asshole who did something so important to humanity as ~*~FACEBOOK~*~ if you wanted anyone to treat you like a human being.

I am both super impressed with Colbert, an actual male human, for noticing that this is problematic and having the balls to ask about it, when no other review I've read has mentioned it, and super unsurprised that Aaron Sorkin sees no issue with treating half of the human race as slutty furniture.

Comments

[sainfoin-fields.livejournal.com]

SLUTTY FURNITURE

Yes, exactly, yes.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY. I'm also so sick of "in this particular story" as though this story is an isolated incident unrelated to how ALMOST EVERY OTHER MOVIE IN OUR CULTURE TREATS WOMEN SIMILARLY.

[flaming-muse.livejournal.com]

Ugh.

Yeah, that's all I've got.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

I feel so gross. >:{ On the other hand, it's been quite awhile since I've been furious at Sorkin, so I guess I was due.

[doctor-denmark.livejournal.com]

Ugh! Maybe I won't see this movie then.

What an ass!

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Haha, I know, reading all these reviews about how great it was made me be like, uh, I guess maybe I should see it, if it's awesome? And then Sorkin made me see the light. THANKS, AARON.

[heather.livejournal.com]

Linked here by a friend and THANK YOU for bringing this to my attention.

Ugh, Sorkin.

A+++++ STEPHEN.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

YOU'RE VERY WELCOME. Ugh, I was so grossed out and angry.

Stephen is THE BEST.

[peopleareshapes.livejournal.com]

HOW ARE YOU SO CONSISTENTLY THE MOST WONDERFUL, STEPHEN COLBERT.

And just, god, so much word to everything else.

and then Sorkin goes on to reiterate that it's just that in this particular story

I am so tired of seeing this in every defense of the film. There is never any excuse to not have decent female characters and/or use them as props. NEVER. ANY. EXCUSE.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

STEPHEN COLBERT OWNS MY HEART. First with the migrant workers and the least of these brothers, and now this. Big month.

UGH, I AM SO SICK OF IT TOO. Because seriously -- isn't one of the indictments of Zuckerberg that he is a misogynistic asshole? Wouldn't having an actual female character be a good way to point that out???? But I guess if you get a misogynistic asshole to write it, he might not think of that.

(Also, since apparently the movie is basically totally fictional, there is no excuse in the WORLD for making those choices.)

[onelittlesleep.livejournal.com]

:/ Yeah, I'm already not seeing this movie because I HATE that they made this ~INDIE ART film about the dickwad who made Facebook. UM, he basically came up with the prototype for facebook to HUMILIATE and harass a woman who wouldn't give him the time of day. It's just another one of those...WOMAN OWES THE GEEKY SMART GUY HIS DUE. HE DOESN'T GET IT? WOMAN IS A *BITCH*...etc etc.

I am SO TIRED of srs movies about dudes who are whiny little entitled boys.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I know, the very existence of this movie has been making me completely furious for weeks, and I didn't even know that it was actually also extra misogynistic ON TOP OF THAT. It's nice how being a dude means you can be a stalker asshole to a woman and have that make you into a billionaire.

I am SO TIRED of srs movies about dudes who are whiny little entitled boys.

GOD SERIOUSLY.

[blueandbrady.livejournal.com]

Ughhh. All I know is I loved that movie more than I have loved any other movie in a LONG TIME. I really liked the story and relationship between Mark and Eduardo with the mixture of Sean. It's not exactly about what everyone thought it'd be about, idt. Mark is a DOUCHEBAG. And they make that CLEAR in the movie.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Oh, David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin are both very talented, so I'm sure the movie is entertaining and well-made. But I'm also pretty sick of being treated like a non-human by the media -- not to say that you can't enjoy this movie, because it is totally valid to enjoy the good points of things while noticing what's problematic, and if I cut out all media that had problems with sexism and/or racism I would not have anything to watch. But still.

[typicrobots.livejournal.com]

That is my #1 reason for not paying to see this movie. (I'll probably eventually get my hands on it somehow. Thanks, internet!) It's so ridiculous because I heard Zuckerberg got together with, or was already involved with, his long-term gf when all this happened, so it wasn't like his sad, rejected, half-erect dick was what motivated him to start all this. And that Facesmash or whatever had both men and women on it, so it was equal opportunity cyberbullying all around. AND there are a few pretty important women working at Facebook, so it's not like Facebook is all dudes, all the time. The fact that Sorkin actually consciously decided to make all the women in this movie into coke and blowjob slutbags (ESPECIALLY THE ASIAN ONES) is pretty fucking disgusting.

I also hate how it's all: FACEBOOK HAS ~CHANGED~ THE WORLD. Other than all the awful privacy invasions and cyberbullying, all Facebook has done in my eyes is make it easier for people to invite me to parties. I do like parties.

I do love Colbert for calling him out on that. I really wasn't expecting anyone to.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

it wasn't like his sad, rejected, half-erect dick was what motivated him to start all this

lolololol omg. Ugh, and the pretty-ladies-who-are-bitches-and-reject-poor-dudes as a motivation for doing anything is also SO TIRED AND CLICHE, GROSS, SORKIN. But man, I didn't even know about all the inaccuracies like that and the other stuff people are telling me down below, so apparently Sorkin actually deliberately changed the story to make it MORE MISOGYNISTIC, which is just, OH MY GOD, FISTS OF RAGE, SORKIN I HATE YOU SO MUCH.

(ESPECIALLY THE ASIAN ONES)

UGH, I HAD ALSO HEARD ABOUT THIS AND IT MADE ME WANT TO GO TAKE A SHOWER IN BLEACH. D: D: D:

And seriously, Facebook is not that momentous. It's a MySpace ripoff probably nobody will be using anymore in ten years.

[cereal.livejournal.com]

Jezebel picked this apart, too (it's here) and pointed out that Zuckerberg's COO is a woman, his sister is a big part of FB and that he's had the same gf since 2003.

[peopleareshapes.livejournal.com]

Ooo, ty for the heads up. That was a great read.

[daysprings.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I wish Sorkin would start getting high again, because his writing was so much better (I mean: the first four seasons of The West Wing versus Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? NO CONTEST, OVER IN ONE ROUND). Even on my favorite Sorkin shows, though -- early TWW, Sports Night -- there would, despite his smartass "progressivism," creep into his male characters' mouths things I did not appreciate hearing as a woman. And it pissed me off because I KNEW that was Sorkin talking, it had to be; it just had the sound of an old familiar rant he chose to give to one of his favorite boys.

I saw this article yesterday, for more on the subject. Yeah: NOT thrilled with Brenda Song's character. I often complain about the lack of Asian faces in American films, and their stereotyping/marginalization when they are present. This is not exactly progress.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Ugh, ikr? Going off cocaine has made him really cranky -- Studio 60 was SO TERRIBLE. I mean, not that I don't enjoy a show that consists of rants about how much Aaron Sorkin hates 1) women, 2) bloggers, 3) women bloggers. D: D: And I knoooow, TWW and Sports Night were so good, but there really were these things that would creep in that were just so gross. (Haha, once we were watching one of his shows and someone was going off in a clearly-Sorkin's-mouthpiece way and my roommate whispered at the TV "Aaarooooon! Take off your wig!" Which made me lol forever and now I always think of it when he does that.)

Man, that article was really good -- I had heard that the treatment of Asian women in this movie was incredibly gross, and it's so nice to hear that that was not at all exaggerated! :(

[fodian.livejournal.com]

MAUREEN DOWD.

Hahahahaha, I don't know why I can't let that go.

Well, I don't think you get it. It's just in this particular story that women are primarily represented as prizes. As in, women ARE prizes, obviously, and this story is about an instance in which they are prizes. Duh.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

OH, MAUREEN DOWD.

Heeee, I know, I don't know why all those bitches get so upset when Sorkin writes stuff about how reality works! He threw a lady lawyer in there! And women should be grateful they're so super important that they motivate dudes to do things, God!

[greenfish.livejournal.com]

The marginalization of women as a general topic has been bothering me lately, particularly since I've been spending a lot of internet time on sites that (I assume mainly men) peruse and therefore feature a lot of women in various states of undress, etc. And it bothers me that it's so easy to obtain this type of entertainment, where it's easy to yawn and say, "Oh, another one?" and not consider the circumstances or where they're coming from and what's going on. I also similarly don't understand the need for Hollywood to marginalize female characters constantly, as in the case of this movie. Not to say that there aren't women who do stupid things or that there aren't shallow women, but most of us ARE NOT LIKE THIS and this does not represent the majority! It's frustrating.

This was not an issue I had considered when thinking about whether to see this movie, but now it's definitely going to color my perspective if I do see it. I am not a regular watcher of the Colbert Report, but it does say something about his talent as a journalist in that he thought to ask a question that hadn't really been asked yet. It takes a certain amount of talent to see things in someone's work that most people either didn't see or ignored and then inquire about it. Fascinating.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Ugh, yeah, seriously, the constant catering to the male gaze is just so super depressing. I hadn't really been thinking about it in terms of this movie either, but this interview was totally killer -- way to be a better journalist than real actual journalist, Colbert!

[mardia.livejournal.com]

I kind of want someone to write a long article about how Sorkin's writing has gotten MORE misogynistic, not less, as the years have gone by. Like, it is kind of super astonishing to me. And yeah, I'd heard so many good things about this movie, until someone had finally mentioned, "By the way, it is SUPER SUPER SEXIST". Ugh. God, I kind of want to take a shower now so I CAN WASH THE CREEPY DOUCHEBAG OFF ME. (Like, yay, Sorkin I already kind of knew you were an asshole, but thanks for continually offering new proof!)

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Ugh, it REALLY has gotten worse, and I don't know what the deal is with that -- you'd hope dudes would grow OUT of their misogyny, not into it. But to go from CJ Cregg to Studio 60 to this?? Grosssssssssss, Sorkin, gross.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Some shit went down on FB itself while Sorkin was writing the movie, and his Sorkin has shown himself to be a HUGE asshat in recent months. I can't go into a lot of it publically, but it has to do with his own actions on FB over the past year, and how he's ridiculed people publically, esp women. HORRID.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Oh man, is that true? Ughhhhh, I wouldn't put it past him at all, that's terrible.

[swmbo.livejournal.com]

At least this reaffirms my complete undesire to watch this movie. Even as I rage. Also, I love Colbert.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, ikr? Ugh, Sorkin. Haaaaaaaaaate. AT LEAST THERE ARE COLBERTS IN THE WORLD.

[zarahemla.livejournal.com]

Stay classy, Sorkin!! I am sending CJ Cregg around to kick your ass.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha, seriously, right? How did he even write someone as awesome as CJ and then descend to this? UGH.

[poshcat.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha, you posted this while I was at the movies watching The Social Network. You were so close, Kovsky, but I slipped through the cracks. I'm posting a review so I won't blather on here, but I will say that although I agree with what you're saying...I don't completely agree. You're probably going to unfriend me on Facebook now, aren't you? ::hangs head in shame::

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Heee, IRONY. Well, I haven't seen the movie, so I can't comment on anything about that actual experience, I can only comment on how Sorkin is a HUGE ASSHAT for thinking "In this story women are prizes!" is at all an appropriate way to treat women or a good excuse for not writing female characters. Siiiiiiiiiiiigh.

[honey-wheeler.livejournal.com]

I do so love the circular logic of "the movie isn't a documentary, geez, also girls are slutty, it's a fact, so the movie's just being realistic."

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

It's really impressive how they can pull that rhetorical move off, isn't it? UGH. NOT OKAY, SORKIN.

[frey-at-last.livejournal.com]

Aaron Sorkin...

I've always love/hated The West Wing, and the other month I tried to watch Sports Night, because it's supposedly the other of his good ones, but oh man, I just thought it was (1) SO NINETIES (2) like proto-30 Rock except not at all funny (3) about dudes and their inspirations, and don't forget (4) proving to the world that pot is okay and I just couldn't handle more than three episodes. His effusive self-righteousness always bugged me, but at least in TWW it was about politics and society and I could at least pretend it was sort of important, but watching oh so smart ~sports media elites~ pontificate about marijuana was just too much for me. Maybe I didn't watch enough of it and it does get better, but overall I just felt like the show had totally aged itself into insignificance.

But I am not show bashing, just Aaron bashing. Hahaha.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was never a huge Sports Night person because I didn't watch it until a few years ago, and it really is very 90s, though I still like it pretty well. But oh God, whenever he does his pontificating thing -- the thing with marijuana, just. AARON. STOP IT. THIS IS NOT A SOAPBOX. WRITE A GODDAMN TV SHOW, NOT A PERSUASIVE ESSAY, BECAUSE IT IS NOT EVEN VERY PERSUASIVE. Haha, what a gem.

[leatherteal.livejournal.com]

It didn't bother me QUITE as much since there's his ex-gf who, at the beginning of the movie and then later on, COMPLETELY shuts him down for being such a massive tool. ("you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a tech geek. I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole." I almost clapped, because god, it felt like a big fuck you to every "geeky guy gets the hot girl" movie ever.) Then at the end of the movie he's sitting there, pathetically refreshing her fb page to see if she accepted his friend request.

I like to think that he sees their girlfriends as prizes because a giant dillweed like him would. He's the perfect personification of every assface who would go home after having been jilted and make a misogynistic post about his ex, and immediately after, a dumb misogynistic site that rates girls' appearance.

Their girlfriends are Harvard girls, that he met at a Bill Gates speech. ~Those dumb bitches!~ And like, it makes sense for this awful guy to have such an awful view of women, but 1) why was Eduardo, the sympathic character, ALSO seeing them as batshit crazy/moronic "groupies" (DIRECT QUOTE) and 2) even if all the misogyny DOES suit the POV, it's TOTALLY UNNECESSARY. Particularly since as someone pointed out, it's based in no way on reality -- just Sorkin's stupid need to turn the movie into a cliché rise and fall story.

So... I would still recommend the movie since it's crazy entertaining and well-made, outside of the stupid-ass sexism, but I fully support anyone wanting to boycott that shit. And I refuse to associate with anyone who didn't see Mark's character as a villain. Good lord.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I haven't seen the movie at all, so I can't speak to actual sexism in the movie itself, I can only speak to the sexism in this interview, haha.

it's based in no way on reality -- just Sorkin's stupid need to turn the movie into a cliché rise and fall story.

Yessssssss, exactly. And I feel like this whole "Well, he's the villain" excuse on Sorkin's part is like -- well, so you've chosen to tell this story about this terrible guy who treats women like objects while you yourself functionally treat women as objects by WRITING THIS STORY THAT DOES SO, but you also get to feel smug about how awesome you are because you're condemning your hero? Uh, NO. If you really want to condemn assholes who treat women as objects, then do so BY TREATING WOMEN AS PEOPLE. God.

Haha, anyway, but yeah, I can totally believe it's interesting and well-made, I just wish more critics/interviewers were asking these same questions Colbert is.

[londondrowning.livejournal.com]

You know what's hilarious? This movie is actually REALLY RIDICULOUSLY BAD, too. All the brilliant reviews of it? This is the biggest Emperor's New Clothes situation I can think of, because it can't POSSIBLY be bad, because it's SORKIN and because it's FINCHER.

Ugh. I am so glad I had the Sorkin goggles pulled off my face a couple months back with his horrible fucking "Now I now Chenowith made some good points, but sit down and let the men talk about what this is REALLY about, honey" editorial. He is a douchebag.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM.

Ugh, yeah, one of my friends wrote a review of the movie and it sounded SO CLICHED AND DULL AND IDIOTIC, so I am inclined to believe you and her over all the stupid pro reviewers who thought it was so awesome. Like, look, guys, I know that you're desperate for anything with even vaguely clever dialogue, but I don't think that excuses the kind of bullshit this is.

[smithereen.livejournal.com]

Aaron Sorkin is a dick.

And this video is not really related, except that it just popped up on my friendslist and I was like... I feel kind of better now. THANK YOU, YOUTUBE!

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

HEEEEEEE. Oh my God, that video is amazing. BRONTESAURUS. I DO feel better now!

AINSLEY HAYESSSSS

[cleversimon.livejournal.com]

Remember how the Equal Rights Act isn't necessary because a rich straight educated white woman already believes she's equal to men?

Re: AINSLEY HAYESSSSS

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

AARON SORKIN, YOU ARE SUCH A SMART CLASS ACT IT JUST MAKES ME WANT TO KISS YOU ON THE MOUTH. WAIT, DID I SAY KISS, I MEANT PUNCH.

[feministyogini.livejournal.com]

well ranted

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Heeee, thank you!