A Few Good Men was written by by screenwriter, producer, and playwright writer Aaron Sorkin. The story was inspired by a conversation he had with his younger sister Deborah. Coming from a family full of lawyers, he was used to hearing about murder and other extreme court cases. His sister, while on her way to Guantanamo Bay, called him and explained her situation. She was heading down south in order to defend a group of Marines that had continuously hazed and almost killed another Marine. At the time, Sorkin was working as a bartender at Palace Theatre on Broadway. Even though most of his story was written on cocktail napkins, it came together well.
Before the play was premiered, a man named David Brown showed major interest in Sorkin's piece and offered him a deal. Sorkin sold the rights to A Few Good Men yet due to a lack of star actors, problems arouse in the creation of the play. Nevertheless, the play was premiered with a noticeable success. Sorkin was a greedy man, always looking for more. He didn't stop at the premiere of only one play but instead continued to write and participate in The American President, The West Wing, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Social Network, and Moneyball.
In terms of social life, Sorkin spent his time with women and drugs. He admitted to dating Kristin Chenoweth and Maureen Dowd before marrying Julia Bingham, all in the course of 3 years. His marriage ended rapidly due to Sorkin's drug obsession. Bingham patiently waited with him during his rehab years but nonetheless, drugs were stronger than love. The man was known for having nervous breakdowns, but admittedly, he could have chosen a much more light refuge like... tea for example. Instead, he chose crack cocaine and marijuana. After being granted a new start in the beginning of 2001, Sorkin was caught in Burbank Airport. While passing through security, the police found a metal pipe in his carry-on bag, which also contained hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana, and crack cocaine. It was such an ironic public humiliation that even Saturday Night Live parodied the highly publicized event in a comedy sketch named The West Wing, available to watch in youtube.
"For me, the writing experience is very much like a date. It's not unusual that I'm really funny here and really smart here and maybe showing some anger over here so she sees maybe I have this dark side. I want it to have been worth it for everyone to sit through it for however long I ask them to," says Aaron on his writing.
Given his history, is it possible young Mr. Sorkin wrote A Few Good Men under the influence?