Kirstin Ringelberg, assistant professor of art history,is one of 11 authors whose essays on screenwriter Aaron Sorkin have recently been anthologized in the book, “Considering Aaron Sorkin: Essays on the Politics, Poetics and Sleight of Hand in the Films and Television Series.”
Ringelberg’s essay, “His Girl Friday (and Every Day): Brilliant Women Put to Poor Use”, considers the female characters of “The West Wing,” “Sports Night,” “The American President,” and “A Few Good Men.” Ringelberg determines that although seemingly positively depicted as strong, intelligent women with often feminist agendas–an unusual depiction in contemporary popular film and television–these characters bear a striking similarity to those of the post-Hays Code era of screwball comedies like “His Girl Friday” (dir. Howard Hawks, 1940)–films in which women like those played by Rosalind Russell and Jean Arthur could be smart and “in charge” up to a point, but whose eventual trajectory led straight to a limited supporting role in the male characters’ more significant lives.
Although the book was published in January of this year, it has only become available for public sale this week on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites.
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