yes, I'm going to be spammy today

[thedeadparrot]

I've been working my way through more of The West Wing. OMG WHY ARE WHITE GUYS DEBATING THE FUTURE OF TAIWAN AS IF IT'S THEIR PROBLEM? GOD. WTF.

(Obv, the US magically creating peace in the Middle East is possibly even more BS than this, but this issue is mine in a way that one isn't. Ughhhhhhhh.)

Comments

[roga]

The absurd is that no matter what they did or said about Israel, my immediate reaction to any kind of representation is WE'RE IN THERE! THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT US! Like, my heart would do a little twirl. I'm really happy Ziva is awesome, though I suspect I would have loved her character regardless just for being there.

Anyway :( What season are you watching? I barely remember season 5 and skipped a lot of season 6, and only really caught up again starting from about a third of the way into season 7, where things definitely improved.

[thedeadparrot]

It was season 6, right before the China summit, which is why the subject of Taiwan came up, and argh, it's just like the shittiest Cliff's Notes version of the conflict ever. And what frustrates me about having it appear on the show is that (a) it comes across as if the Taiwanese people are completely at the whims of the American government which, obv, is nowhere near true and (b) the whole subject turns into a political ping pong match between two white guys without letting, I dunno, a Taiwanese character actually express an opinion on the matter.

And I understand your happiness with hearing that the country exists! I get a little thrill whenever Taiwan gets mentioned, but obviously, I am not always pleased with the results.

[marina]

OH good, you got to THOSE seasons! The Middle East thing is obviously closer to me so I am just still fondly remembering the UTTER WHAT THE FUCK.

[thedeadparrot]

I have blocked the actual peace agreement OUT OF MY MIND because I was watching while coding, but I am sure that the whole thing was so ridiculously simplistic someone more familiar with the region would laugh themselves silly in an attempt to prevent themselves from ripping their own hair out.

[bell]

(I'm poking around! Hi! :D)

...I am glad I did not watch beynd s4 of the West Wing! The patronizing arrogance was annoying enough before, I see my mind would've exploded with these episodes!

[thedeadparrot]

(hi!)

Heh, I have a high tolerance for it, because I'm American and you know, predisposed towards being patronizingly arrogant, but ughhhhhhh. I would say that this isn't any worse than anything that happened in seasons 1-4, and some of the smugness has gone from the writing now that Sorkin's gone (though I still loathe Josh with every fiber of my being).

It's just. I'm in mainland China right now, working for my Taiwanese uncle, and therefore just not in the mood to see the complexities of the situation being turned into something for white dudes to slapfight over.