Deliciously good writing ...

 

The West Wing, S02E10, Noël

When Aaron Sorkin as good, he was very good. Here’s some patter from that episode, delivered superbly by Allison Janney as CJ, and Paxton Whitehead as Bernard Thatch. Just deliciously well written.

 

Assistant: C.J.

 

C.J.: Yeah?

 

Assistant: Bernard Thatch from the White House Visitor’s office is waiting for you inside.

 

C.J.: Yeah, I asked him to come see me.

 

[Assistant walks off, C.J. enters the Roosevelt Room, where Bernard Thatch is waiting, tall man with English toff accent.]

 

Bernard Thatch: Claudia Jean.

 

C.J.: How you doing, Bernard? [They shake hands.]

 

Bernard: I’m not at all well.

 

C.J.: That’s not unusual, is it?

 

Bernard: No.

 

C.J.: I understand there was an incident on a tour.

 

Bernard: There’s always an incident on a tour. People touch things.

 

C.J.: Well, you should punish them for that, Bernard.

 

Bernard: I’ve begged my supervisors to allow me.

 

C.J.: This had to do with a painting.

 

Bernard: Oh, yes. It’s all in the report. It wasn’t a problem.

 

C.J.: Yeah, but it made it to the Press Room, so I just wanted to check in.

 

Bernard: The guide was pointing out the Gustave Callioux hanging outside the Blue Room.

 

A woman began screaming completely incoherently.

 

C.J.: In English?

 

Bernard: If it was a language at all, its origin was unknown to me. I sent for the agent on duty, who attempted to take a statement, but not speaking whatever the language was, simply escorted her out of the building.

 

C.J.: Well, okay. Thanks for stopping by.

 

[Bernard turns to C.J.]

 

Bernard: C.J., your necklace is a monument to bourgeois taste.

 

C.J.: Thank you. [Smiles indulgently, fingers necklace.]

 

Bernard: You’re welcome.

 

[Exit room, walk and talk in corridor.]

 

C.J.: Listen, who is Gustave Callioux, and how long has this painting been hanging outside the Blue Room?

 

Bernard: Callioux was a contemporary of Courbet, who was considerably more gifted. This is a painting of the cliffs of Etretat, cleverly titled “The Cliffs of Etretat”. It is a minor work.

 

C.J.: What’s it doing here?

 

Bernard: It was on loan from the Musee d'Orsay to the National Gallery. The President, on a visit to the gallery, and possessing even less taste in fine art than you have in accessories, announced that he liked the painting. The French government offered it as a gift to the White House. [Both stop walking.] I suppose in retribution for EuroDisney. So here it hangs, like a gym sock on a shower rod.

 

C.J. [smiling broadly.] You’re a snob.

 

Bernard: Yes.

 

[Bernard leaves, C.J. still smiling broadly walks the other way.]

 

I have wondered more than once whether all of Aaron Sorkin's work since West Wing fades by comparison, and whether writers should be given special legal exemptions for suicidal cocaine habits.