I love Aaron Sorkin's, now canceled, NBC dramedy "Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip". If you're unfamiliar with the show - it's a fictional look at the behind-the-scenes of a late night comedy sketch show, think "Saturday Night Live". It starred Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, Sarah Paulson, Steven Webber and D.L. Hughley. Having worked in TV for a few years now, I can tell you that people do not behave as they are portrayed in Sorkin's world. Actually, people in general don't behave as he portrays them, which I guess is the magic of TV. In Sorkin's world TV executives act with class, dignity, kindness, compassion. Actors aren't insecure children who act out more off camera than on. Executive producers aren't overpaid geeks still trying to get the popular girl to look at them in high school. In Sorkin's world people do the right thing, they don't hold grudges and they're not punishing just because they can be. They look at a friend on the ground and instead of kicking the person, they offer a helping hand. I can tell you for a fact, this is not the norm in TV. And unfortunately, it's not the norm in life, at least not in Los Angeles.
People often complain to me that they hate LA. They say it's a hard town. They say it's a hard town for good people. I admit, I've had my fair share of run-ins with people who are inscrutable, who'd sell their mothers to get ahead. When I first moved here I definitely got burned by people I thought were friends. I've had to put up a defense, I'm not as open and I'm definitely weary of new people. This is not to say I'm bitter, embattled or hateful. I still give people more than the benefit of the doubt, I've just learned to protect myself a little better. I enjoy meeting new interesting people all the time. I've been fortunate in finding many good friends in this town. I think there is more good, than bad. But after a few years out here I'll admit, this town can be a tough place for good people. Especially, when the people you know are good, sometimes are bad.
I've got a friend. I've done many nice things for this friend over the years. My behavior towards this person has always been consistent. Which is to say, I'm generally thought of (and try to be) as easygoing, laidback and gentle in demeanor and disposition. Additionally, I think my character is such that seeks to see the best in people, sometimes in the face of evidence proving otherwise, chooses kindness at ALL times, seeks compassion and prays for understanding in the face of cruelty. I believe kindness is the only thing that matters no matter what. Everything else doesn't matter and it falls off me like water off a tarp. To put it another way, if you're not going to think of it on your death bed, chances are it's really not that important. Someone cuts you off in traffic -oh well. People deride your soccer skills behind your back - whatever, I know I try hard. I promise these are not things I'm going to think about lying on my death bed. I'm hopefully going to thinking about the people I loved and who loved me and the reciprocation's of those acts of love in my life.
I show up for my friends. I support my friends. I love my friends. Despite ALWAYS acting in the aforementioned ways towards my aforementioned friend, this person forgot all this and assumed the very worst about my character recently. Despite my years of consistent patience, years of consistent kindnesses, years of consistent understanding, years of consistent acting in what is right and honorable, this person assumed the worst at the slightest suggestion of anything otherwise from someone, who over the years has proven time and again they are not a person of great character. I am disappointed. "Studio 60" makes me long for a world in which it's assumed EVERYONE acts with honor and character, but in life it seems the opposite more often than not.
What will I do regarding this recent offense? I'll forgive this person, as that is my nature. It's also my hope that if you read this and a situation in your life arises where you're called upon to be understanding, patient, kind and honorable in the face of someone who has acted opposite of these ideals that you, too, will seek strength to do so.
ELSEWHERE
If you're in Chicago, you may want to check out the Sears Tower and walk on the sky.
And for my fellow newspaper men/women visit The New Yorker and check out Malcolm Gladwell.
GLADWELL V. ANDERSON
At a hearing on Capitol Hill in May, James Moroney, the publisher of the Dallas Morning News, told Congress about negotiations he’d just had with the online retailer Amazon. The idea was to license his newspaper’s content to the Kindle, Amazon’s new electronic reader. “They want seventy per cent of the subscription revenue,” Moroney testified. “I get thirty per cent, they get seventy per cent. On top of that, they have said we get the right to republish your intellectual property to any portable device.” The idea was that if a Kindle subscription to the Dallas Morning News cost ten dollars a month, seven dollars of that belonged to Amazon, the provider of the gadget on which the news was read, and just three dollars belonged to the newspaper, the provider of an expensive and ever-changing variety of editorial content. The people at Amazon valued the newspaper’s contribution so little, in fact, that they felt they ought then to be able to license it to anyone else they wanted. Another witness at the hearing, Arianna Huffington, of the Huffington Post, said that she thought the Kindle could provide a business model to save the beleaguered newspaper industry. Moroney disagreed. “I get thirty per cent and they get the right to license my content to any portable device—not just ones made by Amazon?” He was incredulous. “That, to me, is not a model.”
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