Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Sorkin is an American screenwriter and playwright.
Sorkinverse is a term is used by fandom to unite his work into one broader fandom. It is mostly used for the television shows Sports Night, The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The Social Network is not considered to be part of the Sorkinverse.
Fast-paced and often witty dialogue is known as a trademark of Sorkin's.
==Relationship to Fandom==
Sorkin is know for his contempt for fandom, a relationship which soured over time. The majority of his most contentious interactions with fandom stem from his time posting on the Television Without Pity forums.
Television Without Pity was a website know for accurate, cynical, often hilarious recaps of episodes, which had extremely active fandom and slash-friendly forums. Aaron Sorkin posted on the forum during the early years of The West Wing as "Benjamin," his middle name. Rob Lowe also posted under the name "Sam Seaborn."September 26, 2006 at 4:48:00 PM GMT-5 by Anonymous/mjforty
Sorkin's activity on Television Without Pity during the first three years of The West Wing is covered fully in the blog post The long back story of Aaron Sorkin, West Wing, Televisionwithoutpity and the "U.S. Poet Laureate" episode. There is also a timeline of his activity. At times "Benjamin" posted to defend Aaron Sorkin and at times Aaron's personal feuds played out on the boards. Throughout The West Wing's run, there are plot elements which clearly address internet culture or which can be interpreted as written in reaction to discussions on TWoP.
Notable events:
* September 2000: Aaron monopolizes acceptance speech time at the Emmys when he and co-screenwriter Rick Cleveland win "Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series." This is received negatively on TWoP.
* June 2001: "Benjamin" "disses" Rick Cleveland on TWoP. The comments are picked up by the media and the feud becomes public. The feud is resolved publicly on TWoP with Sorkin posting an apology and Cleveland accepting both on the boards. After the incident, Aaron says that there are people in his life prohibiting him from posting anymore for his own good.
* February 2002: The West Wing episode "Night Five" airs. In it Sam and Ainsley discuss workplace sexism and come to conclusions which many viewers disagree with and attribute to Aaron's male perspective; discussions on TWoP are critical. "Benjamin" posts, arguing that Aaron is not sexist, and tells other users, "Wednesday nights at nine there are like 168 things on television, you should watch something else 'cause I don't think this show’s your cup of tea."
* July 2005: Sorkin's assistant, Lauren, starts posting on TWoP as "Donniene."
* A number of episodes of the West Wing which seem to call out and/or insult fan culture.
From a post on a "Troll Tales" thread:
As summarized in 10 Absolutely True Stories About Writing For Television Without Pity, published March 31, 2014:
Fans have reflected on how Television Without Pity and these interactions changed the relationship between fans and TPTB:
As stated in Mutually Assured Destruction: the shifting dynamics between creators and fans, a 2014 article by Elizabeth Minkel:
==References==
Category:Industry
Category:PeopleCategory:West Wing