Since I did all that typing over on Twitter, I thought I’d share this exchange I had with Bryan.
Me, seeing the Avenetti news roll in… pic.twitter.com/qvV2FF7iDS
— Bryan Caskey (@BryanCaskey) March 26, 2019
The reference only works if the person in question is getting his butt kicked by a girl. Is that what’s happening here? (Perhaps it is. I wouldn’t know, only having a vague idea of who this person is. Something to do with the porn woman, right?) #knowyourmemes
— Brad Warthen (@BradWarthen) March 26, 2019
It has to do with anyone getting their butt kicked. You’re construing the meme too narrowly.
— Bryan Caskey (@BryanCaskey) March 26, 2019
I’m an originalist. I ask myself, “What was Sorkin’s meaning when he wrote it?” The Schadenfreude experienced by Josh, and quickly communicated to Toby, is in part based in the fact that Sam was being humiliated by someone toward whom he might have felt condescension…
— Brad Warthen (@BradWarthen) March 27, 2019
… which is neatly and economically expressed in 3rd-grade playground terms. I submit that Toby would not have responded quite as enthusiastically had the key phrase “by a girl,” which completed Sam’s humiliation, been omitted…
— Brad Warthen (@BradWarthen) March 27, 2019
… the humor is enhanced by the subtle inclusion of irony: Neither Josh nor Toby would wish to be seen by their peer group, particularly by C.J., as harboring attitudes that could, and certainly would, be construed as sexist. The joke is made complete with those three words…
— Brad Warthen (@BradWarthen) March 27, 2019
Ainsley, look all demure as she kicks Sam’s butt…
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I remain unpersuaded. Sam perhaps condescended to Ainsley, not because she was a woman, but because she was a Republican.
“Get the popcorn” or the similarly related “Pass the popcorn” simply references someone’s enjoyment of an event. In this case it was my enjoyment of watching Avanetti being indicted by multiple federal prosecutors for different crimes almost simultaneously.
Well, she was a Republican, but I think the condescension came more from the fact that she was young and beautiful. Not just that she was a “girl,” but a member of a particular subset of that set. With a Republican who did not fit that description, I think Sam would have been more on his guard.
As she was later described by President Bartlet himself, “Yeah Ainsley, I wanted to say hello, and to mention, you know, uh, a lot of people assumed you were hired because you were a blonde Republican sex kitten, and well they’re obviously wrong. Keep up the good work.”
The evidence as to whether she was or was not “a blonde Republican sex kitten” starts 19 seconds in:
Whether this argument leads to a meeting of the minds is irrelevant. I could talk about Ainsley all day…
And were I President Bartlet, I’d have hired her in a skinny minute. And for the right reasons, I assure you…
Oh, and it’s not just a guy thing. I think C.J. Cregg might have underestimated Ainsley under similar circumstances. It’s just funnier when it’s a supercilious man getting his comeuppance….
And I don’t think Josh and Toby would have been nearly as delighted had C.J. been the one being embarrassed…
Speaking of sexism and kittens,Bryan C looks SO hot with that beard;still boyish yet a beast! (Twitter exacerbates ADHD)
https://juniorwells.bandcamp.com/track/snatch-it-back-and-hold-it
All right, enough of that! We boys have had enough of being rated on our attractiveness, and it’s time we stood up and said, “No!”
No, wait — wrong gender…