I have become strangely obsessed with The Newsroom. Each week I fall a little bit more in love with the characters. I adore Maggie and Jim and the sexual tension that keeps them apart each week. Will is like a lovable big child who sulks when he can’t get what he wants, including the love of his life.
But MacKenzie is my favourite. She is bright, confident with her work, takes charge of any situation and wonderfully caring towards her team. She doesn’t flatter easily, appears to have a great sense of the absurd and is quite frankly slightly nuts, which I find endearing.
So you can imagine how delighted I was when my team told me that I share a few similarities with the fictitious news show’s executive producer. I’m not going to try to unpack that to find out which parts of her I am like, just in case it’s the slightly nuts part.
The season ended this week and I am already feeling at a loss. I never get time to watch the show in its scheduled timeslot on Soho. I IQ everything. Series link is my reliable assistant. At the end of a long day and evening, I like to curl up on the sofa in my PJs with my iPad and an episode of a favourite tv show. Apart from The Newsroom, I also like to unwind with The Good Wife, The Lowdown and Hamster Wheel. The iPad is so I can write the next day’s Daily Juggle in my most relaxed state.
As you can see I lean towards dramas featuring strong female characters and insightful comedies. It’s the story of my life. When I am faced with a career challenge, my most common thought is ‘if you can’t laugh about it then time to move on’. Consequently, I find myself laughing (fortunately mostly on the inside) a lot, even at inappropriate times.
People can be genuinely funny, often without trying. Laughter is the best defense against frustrating situations. I’ve grown to control my emotions and at some point in the last couple of decades humour became a weapon against anger and my migraines subsided.
I suspect the tipping point may have coincided with motherhood. I could never remain upset with my sons for long when they were little. One of them would always do something to make me laugh and five minutes later the incident would be history.
But if I have to fight for something then I will do that too. Aggressively. I rarely lose hope until hope is lost. And so it is too with my current small screen heroine. The best MacKenzie line from the final episode in the current series was: “You’re coming back if I have to chop you up in a duffle bag.”
It pleases me that Mack doesn’t give up easily either. Hopefully that’s what my team meant when they said there were similarities between us.
Is there a character from a TV show or movie that you particularly relate to?