For the past 24 hours the film blog water cooler has been populated with chatter about Aaron Sorkin‘s response to the sexism criticisms against “The Social Network.” But I was very skeptical, for a few reasons. Even after I was told the blog belonged to a fellow TV writer it still didn’t make sense to me… Why would anyone feel the need to defend his work, let alone actually do so, on a relatively random Blogspot blog, to another commenter on that blog?
Random blog! Yes!!!
He finally chimed in on the comments section of Ken Levine's TV blog, of all places,
Of all places! What could make me feel more special than that?
Social Network writer Aaron Sorkin recently responded to criticism in the comments section of a small blog,
This person didn’t identify me but when you think “small blog” you naturally think of me.
When Ken Levine wrote his review of 'The Social Network,' he might not have expected Aaron Sorkin, the writer of the movie, would be one of his commenters. More importantly (and strangely), Sorkin chose this outlet to respond to the complaints about how women were portrayed in 'The Social Network,'
Yeah, when you think of strange occurrences, what could be more bizarre than someone of note contributing to this site?
Okay, to be 1000% honest, I'm not at all mad. I find this whole experience hilarious. All part of the viral ride and I'm enjoying every minute of it... even the ignominious ones.
And hey, I may not have ten million people but you’re reading this. And that’s good enough for me.
36 comments :
I'm not good enough for you. You should set your sights higher
I posted the link to the Playlist article on your Facebook page.
Here's what I think. All that matters is that Sorkin obviously thought your blog was the perfect place to respond, for whatever reason.
That's pretty good, right?
Kitty
(Sitcom Room alum)
I see what you did there.
Did you just change this post? I am looking for the paragraph that listed all the writers that have commented in this blog. Did I dream it? Did I lose it? Did you delete it? Man, I wanted to read it to my husband.
Can you fix the spelling of "random"?
-Dave
Congrats on the added exposure, Ken -- and just remember, there are no "small" blogs -- only small people who feel compelled to criticize them....
wv: deoick -- the procedure to remove one's oick...
Ah, I remember the day many years ago when I linked to Ken's blog and he thanked me personally. Now he's linked to by half of the Internet. But I bet they don't get a personal thank-you note.
Thanks, Ken, for all your stories. Obviously you haven't let the fame go to your head.
Those Friday numbers ought to be bigger now too, for Friday Questions.
You know if you keep working hard at this, you just might amount to someone.
Ken,
You're still big. It's the blogs that got small.
Raymond,
A personal thanks from me.
Jan,
You're not crazy. I did have a paragraph I deleted because in reading it over it felt too snarky. But the gist was other writers of note have also written pieces for this humble blog like Larry Gelbart, Allan Burns, David Lee, David Isaacs, Jane Espenson, Peter Casey, David Hyde Pierce, Phoef Sutton and others.
As soon as there's a controversy that involves me... I'm writing about it here first.
I want to learn about all these Brett Favre rumors, Will he be posting here soon too?
Just so long as this viral thing doesn't go to your head and you start releasing little videos of you singing, or with a cat.
;-)
I hope all this sudden praise and fame doesn't go to your head. I know what it's like. I remember the time that Daily Variety lavished praise on me with "...others in the cast include a small dog, that guy who always plays butlers, and Miss Tallulah Morehead." There was no living with me for a month.
And only today, I received this prestigious mention in a small, random blog: "...other writers of note have also written pieces for this humble blog like Larry Gelbart, Allan Burns, David Lee, David Isaacs, Jane Espenson, Peter Casey, David Hyde Pierce, Phoef Sutton and others."
I'm "... and others"! There'll be no living with me in the blogosphere. Sorkin will be dining out on his connection to me now for weeks.
Very funny piece. Wish I'd seen the overly-snarky paragraph.
Top two blogs in non-ranked order: "By Ken Levine" and "Joe Blogs" by Joe Posnanski.
The third best would be...
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way down here.
"...and others..."Paul Haggis too.
Apparently Aaron would rather respond to a post written by an Emmy Award winning colleague than one of the dim witted internet critics who write on their "little" blogs. Go figure.
Oh, Baby, don't listen to all those other bloggers...they're just jealous.
Oh, Baby...your blog is SO BIG! I can't believe it!
I'd get more pornographic, but you'd probably delete it (not that you won't anyway, but...)
Your blog is big enough for me, Sir! It's a vital part of my daily Webcrawl. Keep blogging, and I'll keep reading!
The feature of the Internet that is at once both the most liberating and the most annoying is the fact that it gives an equal soapbox and microphone to everyone who accesses it. In rare cases, this means that overlooked talents find a stage they never could have achieved otherwise. But in most cases, it means that a bunch of obnoxious pissants get to hurl boneheaded insults at their betters. (Does the name Perez Hilton ring a bell?)
As a writer of topical humor for radio, I have to surf the net searching for news to lampoon all day and all night, so I see a lot of blogs. The only one I read every day, and for pleasure rather than business, is this one. Of course, Aaron Sorkin would see you as an equal: he wrote the most highly-regarded TV drama of its time, and you wrote several of the most highly-regarded comedies. Let the gnats snark all they like; they know their resumes will never approach yours, and that Mr. Sorkin will never respect their accomplishments enough to deign to write anything on their sites. Just the fact that you quote anecdotes about one of my heroes, George Kaufman, puts you light years beyond most bloggers' feeble minds.
VW: Blarde - Word invented by Tina Fey, but "Blurg" tested better in the NBC focus groups.
I don't like the way Steve Jobs portrayed women in Snow Leopard. I also don't like the way Jon Stewart portrays women on The Daily Show. Or the way President Obama portrayed women in his last State of the Union address.
(waiting for it...waiting for it...)
I don't like the way Zach Galifianakis
Best at portraying women? Kids in the Hall or Monty Python.
Honorable mention to Uncle Miltie.
Yipes -- missing "portrays a woman".
Ken,
Thanks for letting me know that you did change the post, and thanks for putting the names back. And thanks for your respectful, intelligent, edifying, humorous and enjoyable blog. A blog by grownups for grownups.
Ken, I'm so glad I knew your blog before you made it big.
Too bad I now have to read other "small blogs" because I expect all the success to change your style forever.
Writing advice? Now we can buy your audio guide to writing on iTunes.
Travel Guides? I expect to find at least a decent plug of expedia.com every second sentence. And of course a lot more now that you get invited to "test" those locations for free.
General diretion? I expect at least one review of one movie by the same studio each week. Of course, you'll hint at possible problematic parts of the movie and expect your (not at all paid for) commenters to comment on them. Of course the director or producer will reply. You will post a flattering, 20 year old picture of them. And you'll be modest about it.
Oh and of course I expect a name change and guest bloggers. "KL with Tracy Jordan" maybe?
So we've had a sitcom inspired by Twitter and a feature about Facebook. Ken deserves a chance to pitch a show about, say, a blogger toiling away day after day who suddenly finds fame and fortune. Call it HOT BLOGGER or THE BLOG PRINCE.
Of all the blogs, in all the places, in all of the world, Aron Sorkin happened to wander in here.
It makes sense. If I were a big time writer, I'd rather discuss my craft on a site populated with like-minded people.
Now I've got commenter's performance anxiety. I don't think I can comment here anymore. I'll just lurk.
Now I'm confused, Ken. Are you saying that wasn't really Aaron Sorkin who comment on your blog???
RE: it being "random", It's not like Sorkin wasn't aware of you. If the writer of that article had done their research they would have known you two shared a blogsphere history, ala the great Studio 60 Debacle of Ought Six... obviously the man has kept interest in your blog since then.
I don't think you should be surprised that notables like Aaron Sorkin read your blog. I myself am extremely important... in my own mind.
Anyway, here's a probing question for one of your Friday blogs: How does Phoef Sutton pronounce her first name? I suspect it's something like "fuff," but I'm dying to know for sure.
I don't think it's a small blog, just one of the most interesting and funny ones out there.
"And hey, I may not have ten million people but you’re reading this. And that’s good enough for me. "
It better be. You don't have much choice.
:-)
Oh, KEN, too funny. It has been really fun for me to see all the hoopla so I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's almost like you might know a little about writing or something crazy like that?! Madness!!
Ian: That question has come up here before. It's pronounced "Feef," and she's a he.
If you're small, I'm microscopic. Oh well. Nice petri dish you got here. :)
WV - flexplit - A hyper-extended gymnastic split.
it's not just some random guy's blog, it's the guy who wrote Bioshock! that game was awesome!
This is one of my favorite cyber stops when I am trying to not do what I need to do. I'm a guy who draws funny pictures and writes kids books and graphic novels. I don't write TV comedy or films. But I find your blog entertaining, useful and interesting.
-Mark
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