Things I understand about the West Wing now: Airports, Dirksen and Valedictorians

I've been meaning for ages to write a blogpost for each West Wing episode, especially for people who have as much knowledge of America and its politics as I had before I became obsessed with both. Problem is, like my other projects - the Donna Moss diary, the list of exterior locations to check out when I am next in DC - it tends to fall by the wayside as I get into the storyline, the writing, and the close-ups of Josh Lyman.

Still, though, I'm going to give it a go with tonight's episode, "Guns not Butter". I love this one, because Donna is my favourite, and she is brilliant here, when she tries - and almost succeeds - to find a Senator to whom the President urgently wants to speak.

In doing so, she walks straight into the baggage claims area of National (Washington National Airport, known by some people as Ronald Reagan Airport, though never by anyone on the West Wing, firstly because Reagan didn't exist in their world and secondly, I would guess, because Democrats only refer to it as "National"). Walk straight into baggage claim! With no passport! No flight to catch! Everywhere I've ever been you go through baggage claim before customs, and only then do you get to come out and meet your enthusiastic placard-holding greeters.

But not on American internal flights. I was very confused by this when I flew into LAX from Dulles. (Sorry, that's me showing off with my "I'm so knowledgeable about America" insider speak. LAX is Los Angeles' main airport and Dulles is one of Washington's.) Baggage claim is a bit of a free for all. Anyone can walk in. Which is one of the many things I found disorientating over there.

At one point, she also tries to call "Dirksen". This is a reference to one of the three buildings where Senators have their offices - Russell and Hart being the other one. And as for Will being an Eaton valedictorian, that means he gave the speech at high school graduation and was probably the highest ranked student in his year. And it's nothing to do with Eton College - it wouldn't have surprised me if Will had been educated there, but I'm glad Aaron Sorkin did not make the mistake of placing an American tradition in a venerable British education.

All clear now? Good.

A West Wing wedding...

For those of us who follow the West Wing characters on twitter, yesterday was a lot of fun.

Charlie and Zoey got married in Manchester, New Hampshire. There was much merriment, despite the drama when Donna thought she was going into labour eight weeks early. Overcome with the excitement of it all, Josh forgot about his sensitive system and thought it would be fun to ride one of the Bartlet horses. Not having any clue how to make a horse stop, he then had to be rescued by secret service agents. Meanwhile, Gail the Fish stayed behind in DC and amused herself by swapping round the letters on the keyboards.

They also took the opportunity to highlight a couple of charities that people might want to donate to, in honour of Charlie and Zoey: the National MS Society and Missing Kids.

This morning, they are all hungover and perhaps a little grumpy.

Check out the #bartletyoung2011 hashtag. For those who doubt the reality of it all, there's a photo of Zoey in her wedding dress, and another of CJ and Danny arriving together.

Makes you wonder who these people are, running these accounts, though. Do they not have lives? Are they all separate people? Did they coordinate beforehand? Will Aaron Sorkin give them all jobs in his next show? We can but hope.

Bradley Whitford makes me cry!

I've taken a big step in the last few weeks: I wouldn't exactly call it having reconciled myself to there being no more West Wing, but I'm coming to terms with the fact that if if I want to see more of Bradley Whitford, I will have to cross back from fiction into reality and remind myself that he is not only Josh Lyman. That he is, in fact, an actor, and appears in lots of other stuff. It turns out, actually, that he's in quite a lot of films, but often films available only in the US, and often not as the lead (though quite why baffles me, but that's another story).

What I didn't count on was how much he would make me cry.

And not just because I am so in love with him.

Little Manhattan was wonderful, and it's a film I would never have discovered were it not for my twitter friends (do we call them friends?) and my obsession (yes, I think we can call it an obsession) with all things West Wing, and with the beautiful Brad in particular. A film that's right up my street, and not just because the book I'm writing has as its heart not only childhood sweethearts, but also that eternal question of whether it is really better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all. I'm still not sure I have the answer, and I don't know whether my character (Kate) does either. (Oh, and the hero is called Brad and has fluffy hair and dimples, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence.)

A lovely, cute film, funny, full of quotable lines, sweet moments, great acting even from children (I think Josh Hutcherson has a bit of Bradley Whitford in him, so it's fitting he played his son) and lots of New York (which I have also fallen in love with of late, along with all things American. Oh Aaron Sorkin... you have a lot to answer for.). I cried, a bit. But it was a feel-good film, and I'll be watching it again, soon.

And so the tradition was established: every weekend I go on Amazon, find a random film with Bradley Whitford in that is probably cute and harmless (so, not Cabin in the Woods) and then I order it and have it ready and waiting for when I get home from work on Fridays.

This week, in my enthusiasm, and my confusion at now having two separate Amazon accounts, I accidentally ordered two copies of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. (If anyone would like a copy at a bargainous price, let me know, though I may be about to put you off it.) A winner, I thought: in an attempt to fill the void left by the end of the West Wing, I've been working my way through Gilmore Girls, and am getting into it, though, as I'm sure I will be expounding upon in another blogpost, it's made me realise that one of the things I love most about WW is the way that romance is subtly blended into a much bigger metanarrative. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I love Alexis Bledel and her blue eyes (I would like her to play me when I am famous please - her or Melissa Fitzgerald, since Janel Moloney is perhaps too blonde).

So, I thought - Bradley Whitford, Alexis Bledel, and a happy film on the theme of friendship. What's not to like?

Nothing's not to like. It's a great movie. (Movie? Film, I mean. Oops.) I was particularly impressed with Alexis Bledel, because she most definitely wasn't Rory - and as noted elsewhere, in a post also on a loose Bradley Whitford theme, that is one of the signs of a great actor. A lesser adolescent actress would surely have been Prototype Teenage Girl Part Two - but she holds herself different, has different mannerisms - I was ticking off all those personalisation techniques in my head.

Of course, Brad is great too. He even had me unconsciously closing my eyes when he said grace! So you see, I have trouble with the fact/fiction boundary. Which is why I was probably always destined to be a writer.

The problem is, no one told me I was going to cry. Not like oh-wow-Josh-finally-kissed-Donna or I-want-Matt-Santos-to-be-my-President slight teary eyedness, but proper bawling.

This is not my definition of a feel-good film.

I'm sure someone out there will tell me it's because I also grew up a long way from my dad, but Brad's character is nothing like him, and nor were our circumstances.

Part of me, the more I read about Brad and Jane, also feels very sad that they divorced when they seemed so in love and happy and ideally suited. But come on, I am not that altruistic. I'm sure that's not what has me crying like that.

Maybe it's because I never had the kind of friendship these girls have as teenagers, and always wanted it. But that pain feels a long way away too.

The story of each girl was touching, and I found Tibby and Bailey's the most poignant. (Well, that's what I'd like to think; actually it was Carmen and Al's, but that would be admitting that the psychologists are right about pain from childhood and the like.) My point is this: I defy you, whatever your history, not to find something in this film that you will identify with deeply on some level.

Go ahead and watch it. Especially if you're a fan of any of the actors, sunny Greece, young men who turn out not to be losers after all, and friendships that prevails over all.

Just don't say I didn't warn you about the need for tissues and Haagen Dasz.

Spiritual lessons from the West Wing, part one of many

One of the scenes that never fails to have me reaching for the tissues and another spoonful of Haagen Daz does not, as you might expect, involve Josh and Donna or even a rousing speech by Jed Bartlet or Matt Santos.

It’s towards the end of the whole thing, when CJ is trying to work out how she can share her life with someone, now that the West Wing adventure is over and it may turn out that there is more to life. (Hard to believe, I know.) She has, she says, “missed the window” – that mythical point in a youngish person’s life when they are flexible enough to learn to make decisions in partnership with someone, to consider how to accommodate them in their choices.

She hasn’t.

So Danny assures her. He doesn’t want to make her decisions for her, as she had thought he was implying. He wants her to speak to him about them – because, and here’s that killer line:

He loves the sound of her voice.

While I was journaling this morning, when I wasn’t really making any decisions, wasn’t really asking for God’s help for anything (I came to that later), or pouring out my soul about any heart-wrenching pain, was in fact beginning to suspect I was just rambling, I thought I heard Him whisper something to me.

He loves the sound of my voice.

That’s why he wants me to share everything with Him. Not so I can beat myself up when He tells me I’m not holy enough; not because He wants to force His way into areas of my life I’m finding it hard to hand over to him.

“What else?”

That’s Danny’s phrase. “What else?” Keep going. Tell me. I want to know everything, down to the typo Toby found in the constitution. A comma. So insignificant! (Well, to some people, anyway.) But it’s part of her day, and so he wants to know.

Because he loves the sound of her voice.

Think you’ve forgotten how to share your life with Someone? That maybe there was a time in your youth when you could get excited about God, when you could strum your guitar for hours or cry into your pillow asking Him for help, but now you’ve forgotten what intimacy with God feels like, and it’s time to settle for the superficial appearance of respectable religion? Think you’ve missed the window?

You haven’t.

He wants you to talk to Him.

Because He loves the sound of your voice.

Belgium and the West Wing

For a tiny country, Belgium gets mentioned a lot on the West Wing.
So I thought, you know, in the interests of expat research, or something, I would start listing those mentions.

Let Bartlet Be Bartlet (season 1?) - Donna and Josh are discussing the issue of "English as a National Language". Donna just wants to check: "Are we for it or against it? I mean we’re not in favor of making another language the official language, are we? Like Dutch or something..."

Series 2, episode 7 - CJ is annoyed with Danny and quips, "well, I certainly hope we don't accidentally send your luggage to Belgium on the way back". Classic.

Series 2, "In this White House" - CJ again, she is obviously a fan! "I rode the Lifecycle this morning for an hour and a half. If it was a real cycle, I'd be in Belgium by now."

Series 3, episode 8 - countries who were partners in a UN mission are no longer taking part. Albie Duncan excuses "Belgium and the Netherlands"... because "they've got cheese and chocolate to make, I suppose"...

Series 3, "Dead Irish Writers" - Abbey Bartlet, about to get drunk with Amy and CJ: "The wine is a '95 Old Vine Zinfandel from Hog Cellars, which once belonged to King Baudouin of Belgium"...

Series 3, H Con - 172, Leo: When the British Ambassador told the German Foreign Minister that they were going to war over Belgium's violation of the neutrality treaty the German Foreign Minister said "You're going to war over a piece of paper?" (erm, I'm a bit hazy on what exactly he was referring to here, but anyway!!)

Series 5, I think - there are issues over the trip to Brussels because there are "tractors clogging up the Place de Brouckere". Which makes me smile every time I pass it on the metro.

Series 6 - Josh tells Santos' campaign staff: "Don't let him change the official language to Flemish while I'm gone." I've got to ask though, is there a reason why the only language that is ever named in the West Wing as possible contenders for the national language (other than English) is Dutch/Flemish. Odd that....

Series 7 - Josh goes on holiday (with Donna - everybody say aaaahhhhh) leaving employing future members of staff a week, because "it’s not like they’re going to take director of cabinet affairs jobs in Benelux countries" . Well I dunno Josh, Belgium is a pretty interesting place politically! No, really! You thought the US was complicated...!!

Why I love the West Wing... (well, some of the reasons!)

- Bradley Whitford: so intense, so brooding, makes me melt in that part of the credits where he raises his head and looks straight at me
- Janel Moloney: beautiful, attractive, brings Donna to life so beautifully. If I were in the least inclined towards women, I would have a massive crush on her.
- Rob Lowe. I’m still smarting form his treacherous departure from a show which suffered its loss, but the fact that this is the case is testament to how much he brought to it.
- Allison Janney. Her character is a role model. Strength, intelligence, femininity. Wonderful acting. My favourite for a long time.
- The chemistry between Bradley and Janel
- Josh as a character – I would marry him in an instant!
- Donna as a character and her many little quirks
- The increasing romantic/sexual tension between Josh and Donna
- The understated way in which it does romance and weaves it into the plotline – never forced, and often doomed or difficult!
- The characters – so believable all of them, so lovable most of them. That’s part acting, part writing I guess. I feel I really know them as my friends.
- And speaking of writing. Oh the writing. Aaron Sorkin please be my mentor.
- The pithy one-liners
- The big storylines
- The tiny storylines
- The mini, one-episode storylines Donna gets in series 1 – they’re all brilliant. I love it when Josh falls of his chair just as she is talking about the intelligence of people who work there.
- The trivia you learn: dwell, dwindle, dwarf – the only three words in the English language that start with dw
- The Latin you learn: Post hoc ergo propter hoc – I love that. Desperately seeking a way to get it into every day conversation. Or at least a book
- The music. Oh the music is so good. I am desperate for the sound track of everything, including everything by Snuffy Walden – so brilliant. So well used. “Body and Soul” at the end of episode 713 being a perfect example – the words are so pertinent and it’s worked so well into the scene.
- The intelligent women!!
- It has made me so interested in and intrigued by the great nation that is the US. And you would not have got me saying that a year ago.
- It is not smutty: you turn off the TV feeling good about what you have just watched
- You also turn off the TV feeling more intelligent and educated
- That’s if you turn off the TV at all. I became increasingly unable to watch just one episode
- It gives me hope in politics in an age when, quite frankly, as a left-wing Brit, well you get the picture...
- It make me laugh and gasp and cry and shout things like “But Josh should be with Donna!!!!!” or “you evil Republican” or just “Aaaarrrrghhh!”
- It speaks to me spiritually. Seriously. For example, the fierce protectiveness of Jed Bartlet towards his family reminds me of God’s Father heart towards us and his “secret service” of angels at his disposal to protect us...
- It inspires me to write
- It gets my creative juices flowing
- And last but definitely not least: it inspires me toward greatness. I’m not sure how this translates yet, but it will.