Tina Fey has impersonated Governor Sarah Palin on 4 occasions. Once with "Hilary Clinton," once in a mock debate with "VP candidate Joe Biden," once in a mock interview with "Katie Couric," and two nights ago in a mock interview (Eventually the real Sarah Palin joined her on stage). These appearance have been such a huge hit due to Fey's excellent performances. The two look exactly alike and Fey has nailed her Alaskan accent. The skits have been filled with humor as the parodies include jokes on sexism, lack of knowledge and professionalism, and perceived naiveness. Some of her answers and comments have included her calling global warming, "God just hugging us closer," asking Katie Couric to use a life line (phone a friend), calling herself and John McCain "mavericks," and "I thought I found Osama Bin Laden driving my taxi in NYC."
The reactions have been mixed, while some angry and some humored, the skits have definitely turned heads. After the first few weeks Sarah Palin responded by calling them funny and humorous. She was not offended at all, she even announced her upcoming appearance on SNL for October 25th. Well this Saturday she was there and was right in the mix. She was made fun of to her face, she was able to make fun of Tina Fey, and I respect her for making the appearance. However, it seems that there are plenty of people can not take Palin seriously anymore. People can not remove Sarah Palin from her Tina Fey connection, and every time she speaks they hear Fey's impersonation and laugh. I wonder how much Tina Fey has helped or damaged Palin's campaign.
-Jeff
5 comments:
Jeff, you raised some interesting points here. I'd be curious to hear what our class has to say about the impact of poilitcal parodies and the role they will play in the current election.
it seems to me that these SNL parodies are modern day caricatures / political cartoons. I consider it a kind of transformation from the 2D to the 3D. Caricatures are still images; inanimate, silent and left to be intrepreted by the viewers. On the other hand, the SNL parodies are not still images, they are 3D and they involve spoken communication. I think these characteristics help to better engage the targeted audience. Also, i believe that live parodies will probably have a bigger impact on our generation than still images. With political cartoons / caricatures we only see, but with the SNL parodies we see and we hear.
For a generation so dominated by technology /new media forms, poltical parodies like the SNL ones seem more appropriate for us. With that in mind, I wouldn't doubt that Tina Fey and the SNL skits will have some influence on Palin's campaign. They definitely have poked fun at her and some of the comments she's said, so there's a part of me that wants to say Tina Fey has probably caused more harm than good. But at the same time, political satires are always poking fun at someone or something, so if we recognize that, can we really allow ourselves to be largely influenced by them?
-Adrienne
To quote a good friend, "With Tina Fey being so poular as Sarah Palin, I can no longer tell when I read something if it was something Tina Fey said or Sarah Palin."
That certainly hurts Palin if people believe that what Tina Fey is saying to be what Palin is literally saying. What needs to happen is people can look at the satire but still be able to know what the real person said. Satire comes second here.
I agree that satire comes in second here. As I watched some of the re-runs of the skit, I found it humorous and entertaining however, I do not take any of it to heart. No matter who the individual is, I feel they should not be judged from a satirical media form. So it does not really play an important role in my mind when considering serious issues.
Jeff, I definitely agree that it is hard to think about Sarah Palin and not mention Tina Fey as well. I think this damages her campaign because people will not take her views seriously and Tina Fey makes her look humorously incompetent. One big thorn in John McCain's side is Palin because America does not want a vice president who has already been heavily scrutinized. Also, being the reason for the resurgence of Saturday Night Live does not make you popular among working families.
-Abe
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