The Week UK - 28.03.2020

12 NEWS People

THEWEEK 28 March 2020

Sorkin’sliberaldreams

AaronSorkinissomething

ofanidealist,saysDavid

MarcheseinTheNewYork

Times–famousforwriting

filmsandTVshows(TheWest

Wing,AFewGoodMen)that

pandertoliberalfantasies.

Heacceptsthathiswork

oftenreflectshispolitics–but

hedoesn’tseewhythatshould

makeitanylessauthentic

thanotherTVdramas.

“Byandlarge,”hesays,“in

popularcultureourelected

leadersareportrayedaseither

Machiavellianorasdolts.”In

HouseofCards,forexample,

thepresidentisamurderer,

whileVeep’svice-president

ishilariouslyinept.Why,he

says,shouldn’tpoliticiansbe

depictedasessentiallydecent,

ifflawed,peoplewhogenuinely

wanttomaketheworlda

betterplace?“Ilikewriting

heroeswithout capes.Itmakes

us feel asthoughgreatnessis

achievable.” And though times

havechanged sinceTheWest

Wing(itended in2006),he

rejectstheidea that thepublic

isn’tin the moodforidealism.

“If anything,Ithink we’re

thirstyforit.”

FromDavid toDiana

In1993, the journalist David

Thomas wroteapolemicin

defenceof the patriarchy,says

JaneGordoninThe Daily

Telegraph. Now,though,

thatargumentative,rugged,

slightly domineering manis

gone, replacedbyasoft-faced

womancalledDiana.Becoming

Dianawasalong-held dream

–andshefeelsluckythatat 61,

sheisbeingable tofulfilit. It

hasn’tbeeneasy,though.So

far,shehashadtwofacelifts,

extensivebody hairremoval

(“awholenewworldofpain”),

andalotofhormonetherapy.

Ithascosther£ 5 0,000,butthe

resultisthatshecannowgo

outandfeelher“trueself”.

Recently,shewenttosupper

withsomeoldfriendsasDiana.

“Anddoyouknow,thething

thatreallytouchedmethat

nightwasthereactionofthe

guysIhadknownsinceIwas

18.Because,blessthem,they

cameinandsaid,‘Hi,Diana,”

andkissedmeonbothcheeks

inexactlythewaytheydidto

theotherwomenaroundthe

table.”Shesayssheisnot

readyforapartneryet.But

isn’tallthisatleastpartly

aboutfindingherprince?“Yes,

yesistheanswer.Yes,Ido

wantmyprincetocome.And

actually,Ithinkthatultimately

Iwouldmakesomebodya

reallygood wife.Ilovecreating

abeautifulhome–nothing

makesmehappier. Ihave

workedhard alltheseyears,

Ihaveearnedmyway forlong

enough, soyes, putapinny

roundmy neckandletmebe a

homemaker,please!Thereisa

lot ofnurturingin methathas

goneto waste,and there is alot

of lovethatisnotbeingused

up.”Besides,sheadds,witha

flashofherold self, she isquite

acatch. “Imeanlookatme–

longlegs,brand-new breasts,

knowstheoffsideruleandthe

LBW rule, and cantell agoogly

fromaflipper,and ifyouwant

to watch endless documentaries

aboutWorld WarII,bemy

guest!Ithink Ihavealot to

offeranyman,don’tyou?”

JulietteBinocheisreveredtheworldoverforacareerthathas

encompassedOscargloryandrolesinarthouseclassics.Andyet,

thereisoneFrenchactresstorivalLaBinoche:thefamouslygrand

CatherineDeneuve.Andnow,forthefirst time, the two stars are

appearing in the same film:The Truth(see page 32).For Binoche,

the thought of it was surreal. “She’s not just another actor,” she

told Kevin Maher in The Times. “She’s Deneuve, you know? She

has been my icon sinceIwas alittle girl.” In the film, Deneuve plays

afilmlegend, and Binoche her damaged daughter. The relationship

between them off-screen, says Binoche, is best understood in terms

of French grammar. “With Catherine, first of all you don’t go into

the ‘tu’,becauseshe has a‘vous’thatis verystrong, andthat comes

from her education. But it’s alsoaway of keeping her distance

emotionally. But she eventually allowed the ‘tu’withme, because

she knew we had to play daughter and mother. But after filming,

when we started texting each other, she went back to ‘vous’. And

Ithought, ‘Wow, it’s amazing. She just doesn’t want to get close.’

And thenIsaw heryesterday, for the first time since filming, and

she went straight into the ‘tu’, because it was something we were

able to knit together in the film, and also because she is loving

and she needs to work out the distance she wants to have with

someone, and the intimacy she wants to have too.”

Viewpoint:

Working from home

“Of all the prematurepredictions

abouthow this pandemic is going

to change society,the biggestfalse

prophecyist hat itis going to result

in more homeworking. Trust me,

after several months of getting

annoyedbyone another’s endless

booming conferencecalls andhabit of

eating Nutellastraightfrom thejar by

way of lunch,wewillall be desperate

to retu rn to the workplace.Imissmy

colleagues.Atleast, Imiss colleagues

whoare no tusing my ironingboard

as adesk.Whenthis whol ecrazy

thingiso ver,I’m looking forward to

two things. First,hugging myelde rly

parents again.Second,working in

the office, if they’ll have me.”

SathnamSanghera in The Times

Farewell

Lord Grahamof

Edmonton,former

Labour chief whip,died

21 March, aged94.

TerrenceMcNally,

Tony Award-winning

playwright, died

24 March,aged81.

Sir David Prosser,

former chief executive

of Legal&General,

died9March,aged 75.

Albert Uderzo,Asterix

crea tor, died24March,

aged 92.

Betty Williams,Peace

campaignerand Nobel

Prizeco-winner, died

17 March,aged76.

Book:MuchObliged,Jeevesby P.G. Wodehouse

Luxury:grandpiano *Choice if allowed only one record

Castaway of the week

This week’s edition of Radio 4’sDesert Island Discsfeatured

Dame Helena Morrissey, financier and campaigner

1*My Sweet Lord,written and performed by George Harrison

2 Polonaise in A-flatmajor, Op .53, “Heroic”by Frédéric Chopin,

performed by ArthurRubinstein

3 We’veOnly Just Begunby Paul WilliamsandRogerNichols,

performed by theCarpenters

4 Being Boring,written andperformed by Pet ShopBoys

5 Moon Riverby Johnny Mercerand Henry Mancini, performed

by Audrey Hepburn

6 Calm Down,writte nand performed by The Clementines

7 Condolence,writte nand performed byBenjamin Clementine

8 God Isby Kanye West, Angel Lopez, Federico Vindver, Robert

Fryson, Timothy Lee McKenzie,Victory ElyseBoyd andWarryn

Campbell, performed by KanyeWest