Originally Posted By ecdc <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/nyregion/15skit.html?hp" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12....html?hp</a> What do you think? Nasty insensitivity on the part of SNL? Political correctness run amok by those who can't take a joke? Or somewhere in between? Personally, I thought Paterson's statement was pretty thoughtful, and I can see why he might be bothered by the portrayal. It's one thing to mock George Bush for being an idiot, or Bill Clinton for being a horn-dog, but entirely another thing to show Paterson as a buffoon solely because of his blindness.
Originally Posted By Mr X Nasty insensitivity. There's no call for mocking the disabled, that's just mean spirited. I also found it interesting to learn from the Governors comments that blind folks have 6X the unemployment rate in comparison to the rest of the country! That's not cool.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>There's no call for mocking the disabled, that's just mean spirited.<< The more I think on it, the more childish and clumsy the whole skit seems. There's certainly a place in comedy for exploring taboo topics and sensitive issues. But the best comedy does so by looking at the social reaction to the issue, spoofing social discomfort, etc. Shallow comedy simply mocks and makes fun of "the other." Take, for example, an episode of 30 Rock where Tina Fey's character goes out with a black man, played beautifully by Wayne Brady. Fey goes out on one date and finds she's horribly bored by the man and that they have nothing in common (he doesn't like food and doesn't own a TV). She tries to break up with him but quickly backpedals when she's accused of being a racist. Throughout the episode there's hilarious references to cultural stereotypes and politically correctness. The point is that Fey isn't mocking black people. She's mocking our PC culture, our expectations, our over-the-top attempts at sensitivity, and our insistence on going out of our way to show just how tolerant and NOT racist we are. It was clever, funny, and insightful. The SNL sketch of David Paterson was the equivalent of a sketch of black men who were sex addicts, sitting around speaking in ebonics as they ate fried chicken and watermelon. Nothing clever, nothing insightful, and not really funny.
Originally Posted By dshyates I thought parts of the skit were very funny. Mostly the dialog. When I first heard this story it was on satellite radio. I thought it was hilarious. But I didn't get to see any of the sight gags. I was wondering what everyone was upset about. Then I saw it when I got home online, and I was like "Ohhhh. OK." Some of the stuff was pretty mean spirited. But the stuff about unexpectedly falling ass backwards into the Governorship was hilarious.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 <<What do you think? Nasty insensitivity on the part of SNL?>> "Insensitivity"? That's letting the writers and actors off WAY too lightly. The skit was juvenile, mean-spirited, and -- uh? hello! -- grossly offensive. I was slack-jawed as I watched it. I could not believe what I was seeing. People on TV were ridiculing a person for being blind. Paterson gave the writers tons of legit material to work with. He was a druggie. He cheated on his wife. Yet the aspect that SNL decided to emphasize -- in a PAINFULLY protracted gag -- was the fact that he is blind. I was mortified and embarassed to watch the skit live. I love it that SNL pushes the edge. I hate spurious accusations that someone has been "politically incorrect." But... There's no way around this one. SNL groveled for cheap laughs by making Hellen Keller-type jokes. That's reprehensible.
