10 Aaron Sorkin Characters Who Aren’t As Heroic As You Remember

Aaron Sorkin is a master of dialogue and characterization, as seen in his many films and TV shows, but some characters are not as heroic as they seem.

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Writer Aaron Sorkin has a reputation for being one of the smartest writers of dialogue in Hollywood. The TV shows and movies he scripts consistently showcase smart, passionate people involved in legal or political struggles, using their wits and their resources to influence the world around them. Sorkin’s characters do not need to devolve into the usual cliches of action heroes. Their heroics and their struggles always feel human.

Sorkin’s critics claim he can get preachy with his moralizing characters. His fans love the way he shows flawed, believable characters being heroic. But many of these characters are not so moral on closer inspection. Here are 10 Aaron Sorkin characters who are less heroic than remembered.

10 Leo McGarry: The West Wing

The West Wing is probably the most beloved project Aaron Sorkin ever worked on. Its look at the inner workings of White House staff in the fictional Bartlet Administration offered audiences a smart, hopeful show about ethical people trying to make a positive impact in politics — something almost never seen on TV before.

The Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry, is practically worshipped by those who work under him. While he has a past with substance abuse, this is shown in the most sympathetic way possible. What is much harder to find sympathy for is his ties to many friends in the private sector, who profit from destructive behaviors, including corruption and destabilizing India’s agriculture. He also has lied to promote the use of coal and worked to further destabilize the Middle East. It is eventually revealed that he is guilty of war crimes.

9 Sloan Sabbith: The Newsroom

The brilliant economics reporter on The Newsroom is recruited by producer Mackenzie McHale to help explain financial issues to everyday people. Sloan is written as being an absolutely brilliant economist, but lacking in emotional and social intelligence.

Her lack of social skills can be forgiven. Less forgivable is her journalistic malpractice, as evidenced when she leaks information given to her off the record, lying to her coworkers, and costing a friend of hers both his job and his reputation. She is also guilty of insider trading.

8 Daniel Kaffee: A Few Good Men

The hero of A Few Good Men is a lawyer who tries to investigate the illegal killing of a marine stationed in Cuba. The whole film has a paradoxical relationship with military culture, simultaneously seeming to worship aspects of service member’s honor code while also critiquing the bigotry and blind loyalty found among any marine units.

Kaffee is meant to be a heroic foil, his clean-cut Ivy League education and good looks contrasting with the violence, jingoism, and machismo of the marines. However, Kaffee is introduced as a spoiled immature jokester who doesn’t take anything seriously. Later in the film, he drunkenly harasses and berates his co-lawyer, JoAnne Galloway. Finally, he badgers a witness, talking over them in a way that would muddy the record of court proceedings and possibly compromise his case.

7 Ainsley Hayes: The West Wing

The liberal-leaning show The West Wing introduced Ainsley in the second season as “a leggy Republican,” meant to compassionately show a character whose politics differ from those of her coworkers.

Unfortunately, Ainsley becomes a mouthpiece for some of Sorkin’s less-than-enlightened views. One episode focuses on her taking a stand in favor of workplace sexual harassment. In another episode, she reveals that she wrote a column attacking McGary for his medical history. She also lies to make her case in policy arguments.

6 Will McAvoy: The Newsroom

The hero of The Newsroom, Will McAvoy, is a jaded Republican news anchor who begins to challenge the hypocrisies he sees in his beloved country and his party. He uses his platform and his wealth to be a champion for the little guy.

Unfortunately, he is also a mean-spirited, irascible, narcissistic bully. He holds a grudge against his ex-girlfriend for cheating, but does far worse to her repeatedly, subjecting her (and everyone around him) to psychological abuse. He objectifies women, belittles a gay man with homophobic language, and endangers the life of his bodyguard. But his worst crime is one of class privilege. While his staff can barely pay rent, he has a multimillion-dollar-a-year contract which he uses to attack Occupy protesters fighting for economic justice.

5 Eduardo Severin: The Social Network

Eduardo Severin is a real person, but the version of him who appears in The Social Network is a fictional creation of Aaron Sorkin’s, so his appearance in the film is subject to critique as a character, rather than a reflection on the real-life individual.

In the film, Eduardo helps his best friend Mark Zuckerberg found the company that will become Facebook. He is one of only two sympathetic characters in the film. However, his obsession with joining a frat leads him to commit animal abuse and shows a shallowness as he tries to win himself a place in what is essentially a gang for corrupt crony capitalism.

4 Molly Bloom: Molly’s Game

Like with Eduardo, this is specifically about Molly Bloom as she appears in the film Molly’s Game. She is introduced as a Type A Personality and professional skier trying to get into the Olympics. After suffering a spinal injury, she moves to LA and starts working for a rich Hollywood figure who runs illegal poker games.

Molly hides the identities of people in her games, which is supposed to be something people respect. However, she vacuously covets power and wealth, showing a shallow callous superficiality. It is hard to like a person who only cares about wealth and power (and who fights to protect wealthy criminals from exposure).

3 MacKenzie McHale: The Newsroom

MacKenzie is Will McAvoy’s producer and ex-girlfriend on The Newsroom. She takes a job in his studio after returning from having been imbedded in Afghanistan with a group of marines.

A large part of the plot revolves around her being slut-shamed for having cheated on Will years ago, while other parts of the story focus on her work to redeem Will by convincing him to be a force for good in the world. For all the good she wants to do, her manipulation of Jim Harper’s emotions leads to conflict and suffering among her whole news team.

2 Josh Lyman: The West Wing

Josh is one of the lead characters in the Bartlet White House. As the Deputy Chief of Staff, Josh is more of a fixer than anything else — which is just another way of saying he is a bully. He often threatens and berates people, whether they are Congress members in his own party or his assistant, Donna.

Josh also is guilty of some really toxic machismo and bigotry. He lectures black characters on how to be black, lashes out at feminist leaders on the problems with women’s rights, and tries to tell Matt Santos how to behave as a Latino. Josh is verbally abusive and motivated by arrogance more than virtue.

1 Jed Bartlet: The West Wing

The President on The West Wing tries to be a good man, but he often falls short. He demonstrates sexist, racist, and homophobic attitudes throughout the show, despite preaching tolerance. He assassinates a foreign leader and fires his chief staff writer, Toby, for leaking information that saves lives.

Jed wants to do good, but he is often overruled by fear. Also, he repeated acts as a snooty elitist and uses his power to bully his staff.

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