Tina Fey on Women in Comedy, Olivia Munn & “Joan of Snark”.

 

From “Tina Fey on the Message of 30 Rock’s ‘Joan of Snark’ Episode” by Margaret Hartmann on Jezebel:

“That story [the controversy surrounding hottie Olivia Munn’s hiring by The Daily Show] is so loaded and complex that I was really glad that we did it and I think it has confused and sort of delighted the internet in a way because it sort of opens up more questions than it answers. For me it was about Liz is in the wrong. She thinks she’s doing the right thing by trying to correct this woman, by trying to say ‘you don’t have to be this way’ and at the same time, this girl has every right to be whoever she wants …

“It’s just such a tangled-up issue, the way that women present themselves—whether or not they choose to, as I say, put their thumbs in their panties on the cover of Maxim, and the way women judge each other back and forth for it. It’s a complicated issue, and we didn’t go much further saying anything about it other than to say, ‘Yeah, it’s a complicated issue and we’re all kind of figuring it out as we go.’

“In the episode we have a fake website, that we’re referring to a feminist website called JoanOfSnark.com that the women at Jezebel.com immediately recognized that it was their website basically. And it was a reaction to the way I saw Olivia Munn … treated on The Daily Show.

“… I don’t have the answer, but I find it interesting. That’s all I can say. I find it interesting that Olivia gets people who go after her sometimes on these sites—because she’s beautiful, I think is part of it. I think if she were kind of an aggressive, heavier girl with a Le Tigre mustache posing in her underpants, people would be like, ‘That’s amazing. Good for you.’ But because she is very beautiful, people are like, ‘You’re using that.’ It’s just a mess! We can’t figure it out.”

“Since Fey is probably the most prominent woman in comedy today, it can be frustrating when she raises thoughtful issues, then throws her hands up and says she just doesn’t know where she stands. It also seems she missed an important part of the discussion. People didn’t question Munn’s place on The Daily Show because attractive women can’t do comedy, but because she’s not particularly funny.”

Elsewhere: [Jezebel] Tina Fey on the Message of 30 Rock’s ‘Joan of Snark’ Episode.

Images via Jezebel, Complex, Daily Contributor.

TV: Paper Giants–The Birth of Cleo Review.

 

Asher Keddie has never been my favourite actress. So I wasn’t particularly looking forward to her portrayal of magazine mogul Ita Buttrose in ABC’s Paper Giants.

However, after watching both episodes online on Good Friday, I’m now a Keddie convert.

If you’ve read any of the myriad of positive reviews of the miniseries, you’ll know that Keddie gets the Ita lisp down perfectly.

But Keddie gives off a different air to Ita (granted, I’m only really familiar with The Morning Show and etiquette Ita, not the golden age of magazines Ita), though, and really makes the role her own.

Film-wise, the imagery embodies the ’70s perfectly (’cause I was alive then and all!) and harkens back to simpler times, when the printers baulked at having to change their formatting to accommodate the patented Cleo sealed section, saying it couldn’t be done!

Though the role of women was going through an upheaval at the time, and Cleo paved the way for women of that generation.

I found it funny and quite poignant that women like Ita and her assistant Leslie, played by Jessica Tovey, were working to change the status of women through their magazine, while privately their lives were in shambles: Leslie tries to take on the role of sexually empowered woman, experimenting with role play, fantasy and sex toys, but still stays with her unenlightened fiancé Muz, while maintaining an affair with a senior co-worker, who refuses to leave his wife for her. And before Ita’s husband, Mac, leaves her raising one child and pregnant with another, the film juxtaposes Ita arriving home from a long day at the office that included being rebuffed for a loan without the permission of her husband with asking Mac if he’d like onions with his steak, which she immediately begins making.

At this juncture, the Cleo girls raise the notion of Superwoman, and if she actually exists; a debate modern feminists are still grappling with.

My favourite parts of the miniseries, apart from Keddie as Ita, and Rob Carlton as Kerry Packer, was its ability to poke fun at the present day, such as a dig at Time Out magazine, and how it will “never take off” and a Cleo girl asking, “Who’s Paul Keating?”

Related: “Cultural Talking Points”: How Does Jackie O’s “Bad Parenting” Relate to Hunting?

Has Feminism Failed?

Images via Facebook, ABC.

The Problem with Glee.

 

From Jezebel’s Comment of the Day “The Troubling Dichotomy That is Glee by A Small Turnip/Margaret Hartmann:

Glee is the ultimate pop-cultural hate-fuck for me. It gets so much right, champions the unloved and unlovely, produces some genuinely sublime, can’t-stop-smiling coups de theatre, and is, when all’s said and done, one of the most heart-felt, funny and truly progressive shows on television today. Or ever.

“But FUCK ME if it isn’t also skull-poundingly awful, misogynistic, bi-phobic, atrociously plotted, bloated with its own sense of moral superiority and forever teetering on the edge of eye-clawing insanity. It drives me berzerk that I cannot stop watching it, even as I’m throwing things at the television and screaming ‘What the fuck do you mean “I’m relatively sane, for a girl”?! You’re just fucking with me now, aren’t you Murphy?’

“RM and Glee‘s Powers-That-Be have so far to go to make the show into a consistent, cohesive whole, but they keep falling back into dropped plots and contemptibly lazy characterisation. I keep waiting and waiting for them to pull it together, even for a single episode, and it never quite happens.

“And yet. And yet. I love it. I do. It’s so frustrating to hear Ryan Murphy’s hacky bloviations on his own self-importance, and his overweening sense of creative pomposity…Every time I think I’m out, they just keep pulling me back in. So if you’ll excuse me, I need to go lie down and think about Darren Criss’s dreamy, dreamy eyes for a little while.”

Related: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Original Song” Episode.

Elsewhere: [Jezebel] Comment of the Day: The Troubling Dichotomy That is Glee.

Images via BoobTube, YouTube, Megavideo.

TV: The Devil Works at W—Gossip Girl “Damien Darko” Review.

 

With Blair well on her path to becoming a magazine power woman, she nabs an internship at W. It just so happens that her frenemie Dan has been hooked up by Lily for an internship at the same magazine. Hijinx ensue.

The feel of the episode is very The Devil Wears Prada, and editor Stefano Tonchi’s assistant, Epperly Lawrence, brings this up when Blair fantasises over the fashion closet:

“I saw that movie too, but this is real life, not some Hollywood chick flick, where a girl with a scrunchie gets a makeover and triumphs in the end.”

But back to Dan VS. Blair, which includes a Chanel No. 5-spiked coffee, a dangerously close stapler incident, and culminates in Dan sabotaging Blair’s attempt to save the day by inviting her own author to W’s launch party for their blog. Phew! The softening of Blair’s heart is evident in the fact that she didn’t try to scheme Dan out of accompanying his own author to the event, and the hardening of Dan’s means that perhaps he’s spending too much time with the Queen of the Upper East Side.

The two end up getting fired from the magazine, but Dan takes pity on Blair, who won the internship on her own, without any help from her meddling mother, and calls Epperly to tell her the stunt (a full on brawl between Dan and Blair!) at the party was all his fault and she should hire Blair back, despite it being “easier to get a guy paroled than it is to get an internship in this town,” a reference to Ben’s release from prison.

On a side note, I do love Blair’s pink short ensemble, but it’s the middle of winter! Put some clothes on, girl!

Related: Come Together Right Now… Over Gossip Girl: “Gaslit” Review.

Gossip Girl Proves There’s No Such Thing As Wonder Woman.

Sexual Healing: Gossip Girl Takes a Page Out of John Irving’s Book.

Pretty But Dumb: Serena’s Tertiary Education Predicament.

Surfing the Third Wave: Second Wave VS. Third Wave Feminism on Gossip Girl.

The Last Tango… For the Season. Gossip Girl Season 3 Final.

Images via OVFile.

TV: Top 10 Grey’s Anatomy Moments.

I’ve recently re-watched every season of Grey’s Anatomy (but that wasn’t enough for me: I’ve gone back and started from season 4 again, so that the later seasons are on par with the first three, which I’ve watched copious amounts of!). So, to celebrate the greatness of Grey’s, here are my top ten moments of the show. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

1. OMGSW.

I’ve blogged about this ep a couple of times, but I cannot reiterate how shocking/sad/good it is. If you haven’t seen this, you can’t call yourself a Grey’s fan.

2. “It’s George!”

Equally as shocking. We all knew by the time the season five final aired that T.R. Knight was leaving the show, but I had no idea he was the John Doe who got hit by a bus.

3. Denny.

Ahh, Denny. He’s one of those characters that stay with you. Luckily, the Grey’s writers picked up on this, and he has literally stayed with us (albeit as a ghost) since his debut and tragic death in season two.

4. “Holy Mother Of…”

Meredith drowns. Christina gets engaged. Izzie drills burr holes with hardware. Alex discovers Jane Doe/Ava/Rebecca.

5. “I’m Here for You.”

Cancer and Denny hallucinations. I supposed that’s what you get when you complain about your storylines, Katherine Heigl. It was amazing how long it took for Izzie to realise that seeing her dead fiancé wasn’t normal. And how long it took Alex and George to realise something was wrong with her. For all Alex’s preaching about how he dealt with his crazy mum and crazy girlfriends, he didn’t think that Izzie talking to herself was out of the ordinary?

6. Code Black.

Also known as “Pink Mist”, this was the first episode of Grey’s I saw. I was so intrigued by the “Code Black” commercial that I had to see what it was all about: I’ve never looked back.

7. “I’m Addison Shepherd… And You Must Be the Woman Who’s Been Sleeping With My Husband.”

As the above entry would imply, I already knew about Addison before she showed up at the end of season one as McDreamy’s husband. That didn’t make it any less shocking when she accosted Meredith and her seemingly perfect neurosurgeon boyfriend, claiming to be his wife. OMG!

8. McSteamy.

No. Explanation. Necessary.

9. “Today I’m Accountable to Someone Other Than Myself.”

Alex finally makes good and marries Izzie. We all know that didn’t work out so well for him, but it was a beautiful gesture on the part of Derek and Meredith, who ended up getting married on a Post-It instead.

10. Jumping the Shark with Gizzie.

Again: this is what you get when you complain about your storylines, or lack thereof. George and Izzie getting together was a bit of an experiment, I think, as a means to an end for George’s marriage to Callie and Heigl’s plot discontent.

Related: Gunshot Wound to the Head: Grey’s Anatomy Season Final.

Top 10 TV Moments of the Year.

The Underlying Meaning in Grey’s Anatomy’s “Superfreak” Episode.

Images via YouTube, TV Rage.

TV: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Original Song” Episode.

 

Firstly, just let me say, what’s up with the pathetic episode title? Perhaps the writers could have taken a leaf out of the glee club’s fictional book and called the episode “Get it Right” or “Loser Like Me”, the names of the episodes two, um, original songs.

*

Quinn has brought up the whole prom thing with Finn a couple of times in recent episodes, but last night her plan to take out the title of prom queen and king with Finn was put into full force.

I found it very odd that Quinn, the girl who last season was ostracised from the Cheerios, the “cool group” and her own family when she became pregnant, reverted to the vapid character we were introduced to in the early days.

I’m not a big fan of Quinn’s in general, but I felt that she grew tremendously as a character over the course of a year, while characters like Mr. Shue and Rachel Berry (who—coincidentally?—happen to be Glee’s two most annoying characters) remain stagnant. But, as I said in last week’s review, this is Glee, and when have we ever expected storyline consistency from it?

When Quinn befriends Rachel in an effort to keep her away from Finn, we see her true aspirations: Quinn claims she wants Rachel to realise her full potential and become a star, while she manages a real estate company and Finn takes over Burt Hummel’s mechanics business. Quinn believes there’s nothing outside of Lima for her and Finn (I wonder how Finn feels about this; knowing his girlfriend thinks he has no potential?), which I don’t buy. I thought Quinn’s pregnancy changed her for the better; part of the reason she gave up her baby was because she couldn’t give it the life it deserved. Doesn’t Quinn deserve a good life, too?

Quinn’s pregnancy also proved she’s just a loser like the rest of New Directions, which was the theme for their regionals set. Blowing Sue’s Oral Intensity (what ever happened to Vocal Adrenaline?) and the Warblers out of the water with their original songs, the first of which was written and performed by Rachel, who finally grasped the craft of songwriting (but not without an initial slip-up this episode with the song “Only Child”. On the plus side, Brittany said “My Headband” was her favourite song!), using Quinn’s taunts about starving for a “schoolgirl fantasy happy ending” with Finn as fodder.

What started out with an irritating voiceover from wannabe queen bee Quinn and some fantastic digs at Blaine’s monopoly over the Warblers’ solos, ended nicely with some “original songs” for Glee to make a mint from, instead of giving all the royalties to the initial artists; the underlying message that we’re all just losers; and Blaine’s epiphany that Kurt’s “the one”—with a gay kiss to boot!

Related: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Blame it on the Alcohol” Episode.

How to Make a Woman Fall in Love With You, Glee Style.

Glee “Silly Love Songs” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Images via MegaVideo.

TV: Glee “Sexy” Review.

 

Never before have I been so offended by Glee. They’ve gone wrong a lot in the past season and a half: “Duets”, where everyone but the token gay Kurt got to sing with a partner; Mercedes’ eating disorder cured by Quinn giving her a granola bar; and the Justin Bieber episode in general, which I actually liked, but several of my friends voiced their concern over it. But this episode was so ignorant in addressing the theme of sex amongst the New Directions members that it made me want to hurl.

Firstly, Gwyneth Paltrow’s return as Holly Holiday was unnecessary, but obviously they’re going to milk the character for all she’s worth. She was derogatory, snarky and just plain annoying; worlds away from her first appearance on the show.

Holly insults guidance counselor Emma for still being a virgin four months after her marriage to Carl the dentist, when clearly the girl has intimacy and bodily fluids issues, amongst many others. Plus, she’s still in love with Will Shuester, which Holly takes pleasure in rubbing in her face by hooking up with him.

She heads up the celibacy club, which she makes a mockery of, even more so than Santana’s recent membership.

When Emma leads Carl, Puck, Quinn and Rachel in a rendition of “Afternoon Delight”, Holly Gleefully points out that an afternoon delight is a romp in the PM, not a dessert as Emma thinks it is.

She leads the kids in a leather-clad performance of “Do You Wanna Touch Me”, which completely undermines Mr. Shue’s previous efforts to protect the kids from singing songs by such risqué artists as Britney Spears. But, you know, this is Glee, where the storyline takes a back seat to big names and bigger songs.

But the most offensive part of the show was Holly and Will massacring one of my favourite Prince songs, “Kiss”.

The only redeeming quality of the episode was Santana’s heartfelt, yet obviously tormented, declaration of love for Brittany, who turned her down in favour of Artie.

Related: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Blame it on the Alcohol” Episode.

How to Make a Woman Fall in Love With You, Glee Style.

Glee “Silly Love Songs” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Images via YouTube.

TV: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Blame it on the Alcohol” Episode.

 

Blame it on the alcohol, indeed.

This week’s episode deals with McKinley High’s Alcohol Awareness Week, after Principal Figgins exclaims that there have been six alcohol-related suspensions in the past week due to the alcopop phenomenon and pop music promoting the consumption of alcohol.

So what better time for Finn and Puck to convince Rachel to have an unsupervised party at her house, right?

Body shots, Brittany getting her kit off, karaoke and spin the bottle ensue, creating a drunken love triangle between Rachel, Kurt and Blaine, where someone is bound to get hurt. And you can’t blame that on the alcohol.

In my experience, people don’t do things drunk that they don’t already want to do sober. It gives them liquid courage, if you will. Which, funnily enough, is what “Blame it on the Alcohol” is all about. Who knew that listening to Jamie Foxx would pay off?

But “the alcoholic teen-vomit fetishist” (Sue’s words, not mine!) Mr. Shuester doesn’t approve of their rendition of the song, so instead they perform “Tik and also Tok, by Key dollar sign Ha,” as Principal Figgins introduces it at the school assembly. And that’s so much better how?

But for all their seemingly sexual acceptance (Kurt, Blaine, Brittany and Santana and their “scissoring”), Kurt’s comment about bisexuality made me question how accepting the show really is:

“‘Bisexual’ is a term gay guys in high school use when they wanna hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change.”

Sounds a bit like Miranda’s reasoning that bisexuality is a blanket term for guys who turn out to be gay and girls who turn out to be straight, thus explaining the man-drought, on Sex & the City.

But it wouldn’t be the first time Glee’s ostracised their characters and potential audience members who may identify with them.

Related: How to Make a Woman Fall in Love With You, Glee Style.

Glee “Silly Love Songs” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Elsewhere: [Jezebel] Glee: New Directions’ Alcohol-Fuelled Bisexual Awakening.

[Jezebel] Glee: Everyone’s Duetting It (Except Kurt).

[Jezebel] Why Glee Still Needs to Work on Diversity.

Images via YouTube.

TV: How to Make a Woman Fall in Love With You, Glee Style.

 

Last night’s Glee episode dealt with Sam trying to win Quinn back by channeling Justin Bieber. “Who’s more rock ’n’ roll than Bieber?” he asked.

Well if appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone with accompanying comments about abortion and rape makes you “rock ’n’ roll”, then so be it!

There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding said comments, no doubt, with most of the blame placed on Bieber. Sure, he’s a 17-year-old (that’s right, Beliebers, it’s his birthday today! ZOMG!) male who will never know what it is to be a woman faced with an unwanted pregnancy and the question of whether to abort it. Not to mention the fact that he leads an incredibly sheltered life removed from the reality of everyday folk like you and me. But, seriously, what was the interviewer thinking when she asked Bieber those questions? They’re relevant how?

I feel a bit sorry for him, to be honest. He’s being ripped to shreds for these comments, when really, all he had to say was “no comment”. I’m sure as a teenage boy whose entire existence in the public eye depends on him being a “people pleaser”, he didn’t feel like he could say “no comment”. Well, I’m here to tell you, Justin: Just say “no comment”.

This episode was filmed before the Rolling Stone article went viral but, like those GQ photos, Glee’s never let a little controversy get in their way. And we already know they’re pro-life, with the absence of a proper talk with Quinn about her options when she finds out she’s pregnant.

But back to the episode at hand.

Sam’s other option to win back Quinn is to take her hunting. But according to guest blogger Andrew, this isn’t a feasible one:

“My dad always said there’re two ways to get a woman to love you: take her hunting, and rock and roll.”

Thank God it’s not theorized that the hunt must be successful. The chance of catching a deer with a heavily perfumed woman complaining audibly about the temperature, the undergrowth, the smell, the required lack of fashion sense and the cold canned food lunch trailing noisily behind you is practically zero. And any woman who doesn’t do these things is already taken.

But let’s imagine that said girl agrees to come hunting with me, and we do catch the proverbial Bambi unawares. And that she keeps quiet long enough for me to shoot it. Here’s what follows:

I’m holding down the beautiful, majestic animal as it goes through its death spasms, and blood begins to run over my hands and onto my clothes. The first romantic act in which the female must engage is an awkward dance around the carcass, designed to ward off flies. Whilst this dance continues, the deer’s stomach cavity is sliced open and, reaching up into its ribcage, I remove all the internal organs, getting its visceral matter all over my arms, coated in the smell of its innards. At this point I might turn around and ask for a celebratory hug, and to pose for a Facebook photo together!

Then, the second task for the female is required. She must peel back the folds of skin whilst I delicately remove it and the attached sinew from the cuts of flesh, and this must be interspersed over the next two hours with the aforementioned dance as I remove, and then debone, cuts of meat.

How exactly is this supposed to ignite the passions of a woman? Could it be walking, wading and climbing kilometres back to camp with mosquitoes everywhere, with parts of Bambi on her back, stinking up the place?

Nah, it must have been the tent sex the night before.

—Andrew Frank.

Related: Disturbing Behaviour: Terry Richardson Does Glee.

The Underlying Message in Glee‘s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Elsewhere: [MamaMia] Justin Bieber, Sex & Abortion. Connected How? Good Question.

[Jezebel] 6 Reasons Justin Bieber is Qualified to Talk About Abortion.

Images via Megavideo.

TV: Lumberjack Chic on Glee.

Geek chic, celebrity incognito and lumberjack chic are three of my favourite styles of dress. What are they, you ask? Allow me to explain.

Geek chic, noun. Combining a preppy style of dress with grunge. Think Marc Jacobs and Tavi Gevinson. NOT Rachel Berry. (Last night’s episode of Glee assured us that Rachel will never be seen as a fashion icon.)

Celebrity incognito, noun. Used to describe someone who is dressed like a celebrity on the run from the paparazzi. Any combination of oversized sunglasses, large takeaway coffee, layering à la Mary-Kate Olsen, and objects to obscure the face. Essentially, this is a term that cannot be described.

Lumberjack chic, noun. The advancement of traditional lumberjack garb, such as plaid and fur trimming, from the timber yard to the runway. DSquared² are a major proponent of this look.

Lumberjack chic, in particular, graced our screens on Glee last night as Rachel, Finn et al. belted out the “anthem” “Sing” by My Chemical Romance. Even Sue Sylvester got in on the action with a tartan version of her trademark tracksuit. Although I’m not so sure about Finn channelling his stepdad Burt Hummell with that red beanie…

Oh well; you can’t hold the plaid down.

[Girl with a Satchel] Cute & Chic This Week: Check, Mate!

Image via YouTube.