Tina Fey calls Sarah Palin 'sexism' charges baloney!

Think for a moment about the unbelievable coincidence that Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin happened to look eerily like the funniest woman on TV, "Saturday Night Live's" Tina Fey.

Seriously, what are the chances?

Adam McKay, Will Ferrell’s writing partner in Hollywood who wrote the SNL sketch in which Ferrell’s fumbling W. gives Fey’s flirty Palin an endorsement, tells Vanity Fair: “It is the most ridiculous, borderline-dangerous thing that the Republican vice-presidential nominee happened to look like the funniest woman working in America. What if the next Republican presidential nominee looks exactly like Seth Rogen?”

For the record, Tina Fey doesn’t think her Palin impersonations were sexist. She thinks the accusations of the skits being sexist are what’s sexist.

Wait, let her explain. After she saw a TV entertainment reporter say that Palin had been gracious toward Fey, but Fey hadn’t been gracious toward Palin, she told Maureen Dowd in the Vanity Fair article:

“What made me super-mad about it was that it seemed very sexist toward me and her. The implication was that she’s so fragile, which she is not. She’s a strong woman. And then, also, it was sexist because, like, who would ever go on the news and say, ‘Well, I thought it was sort of mean to Richard Nixon when Dan Aykroyd played him,’ and ‘That seemed awful mean to George Bush when Will Ferrell did it.’ And it’s like, No, that’s not the thing. This is a comedy sketch on a comedy show.” “Mean,” we agreed, was a word that tends to get used on women who do satirical humor and, as she says, “gay guys.”

“I feel clean about it,” she says. “All these jokes were fair hits.”

What do you think? Did Fey’s skits play fair? Were they too mean? Was it sexist?

And was "30 Rock" star Tina Fey in some way responsible for the outcome of the election?

If so, where do we send flowers?

Photo credits: Getty Images, WireImage

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Comments

[Michael]

Satire ought to be part of the political process.

It might represent the only truth in it!

And yes, I agree. To the same extent that the Bush administration's remarks have been honest, Tina Fey's have been sexist.

Nuff said.

[Menorah]

Tina Fey in her efforts to gain popularity and money probably ruined a good women's career as a politician. I hope she remembers: What goes around, comes around.

[sunshine]

Why does Tina Fey like Barack Obama?

Because he has bigger ears than she does.

[opedanderson]

I am not a supporter of Palin. But to deny the sexism in Fey's portrayal of her is ignorant. Had Sarah been a man the whole "bimbo" routine would not have worked.....

[BENJAMIN SIEGEL HA HA]

I DON'T THINK SARAH NOR TINA IS RUFFLED MUCH OVER ALL THIS. THEY BOTH ARE SMART, STRONG LADIES. WORKING HARD WITH TOTS. FOR MOST OF US IT IS A PLEASURE TO YUK IT UP AS THEY PRESENT THE HUMOR IN THIS LIFE EXPERIENCE WE ALL ENJOYED. ONLY THE FISH WHO GO FOR THE BAIT ARE DISTURBED AND ALL RUFFLED.

[Tina Fey-lin to be honest]

Everyone has an agenda, even Tina Fey.

Her career was elevated to a whole new level from the Palin impersonations.

Of course Fey will deny sexism. Of course the Palin bits were horribly sexist. Duh.

We have lost tremendous respect for Fey, but she probably gained more fans than lost them. Sadly.

Women preying on women for personal gain is a terrible spectacle.

We are Democrats, btw.

[Sheldon]

In Gov. Palin's interviews with Katie Couric, she came off as dumber than anything Fey did in her SNL skits.

Sorry Fey-haters, but as Bill Murray once said, "That's the facts, Jack!"

[Mike]

How can anyone blame Fey for the "bimbo" routine? I think that's actually not an accurate description. "Dumbo" routine would descibe it better...Palin, just like Bush, gave these comics all the material they needed.

[Jeanne]

Tina Fey's Sarah Palin sketches were dead on -- some of the funniest TV in years.
And quit boo-hooing, SNL is 10x harder on Hillary -- and no one seems to mind.

[althusius]

Never noticed it before. Tina Fey looks old and haggard compared to Sarah Palin.

[v3hammer]

Tina Fey was right about one thing Palin is a strong woman, and certainly behaved above her critics or terrible impersonators. What she was obviously wrong about was saying there was nothing sexist about her stupid skits. How can implying that the only thing Palin had going for her was her good looks not sexism? Yes other comedians did make fun of other politicians, but when they did so, it was done more in the spirit of good natured fun. I don't call intentionally making the Governor of Alaska (who has been raising 5 kids, one being a special needs child), look like a fake bimbo, in an effort to denigrate her character in front of a nationally televised voting public good natured or fun or even in good taste. By the way, I could have imitated Chris Matthews talking about the chills Obama sent down his legs in a way that would have made Fey's impression of Palin look dull! The only thing remotely close about Fey's impression was the way the makeup artists were able to make Fey look like Palin. Other than that, her arthritic like hand gestures and her poor nasal whining accent were no where close to resembling the cool, calm, articulated speech of Palin's. I know. I went to a Palin rally, and Fey's impression was a gross injustice to the credit Sarah Palin deserves.

[J McCain]

I actually think that Sarah Palin is much more attractive than Tina Fey. I like Tina and she is funny, but Sarah looks alot nicer in a tight skirt. That's what really matters to me. Palin gets my vote in 2012!!

[DRE DAWG]

Palin started the "bimbo" routine, Fey focused on that quality of Palin's. W. Bush made bone-head remarks during his presidency, Ferrell focused on that quality. The brilliance of satire is that it takes a truth, a fact, something real and exagerates it to expose either an underlieing fact or sentiment (right or wrong). Stop treating Palin with kid gloves. She's a politician and a woman, not a porcelain doll. And I already sent my flowers to Tina long ago ;)

[jacqueline]

" Had Sarah been a man the whole "bimbo" routine would not have worked....."

Oh please. Had Sarah not been a startlingly dumb bimbo the skit never would have worked. It did because she was.

[KateN]

What nonsense! Of course the skits weren't sexist. Why is it sexist to use her own answers to questions?? Why is it sexist to play on the winking - in fact the winking Palin did was sexist.

[enuffawredy]

Hey, Michael!!! WAKE UP!!!

That Alaskan Moron ruined her own "career" because she's.....STOOPID! And because SHE wanted "money & popularity" much more than she wanted to contribute to her country's well-being.

GET IT??

[Matt]

There was nothing sexist about Fey's imitation of Palin. Several times Fey was simply repeating what Palin had said.

Was Palin's imitation damaging to Palin? Absolutely. And it will continue to be because, like our current president, Palin IS an airhead and doesn not deserve to be in a position of leadership. Period.

[Kelly Parker]

A LOT of hurtful things were said by both sides during the campaign, but... the Republicans clearly took the lead in that department. Even MCCAIN admitted, "... a lot of things are said during a campaign...". New rule #1: ANYTHING is fair game and you can call it what you want: sexist, unfair, mean-spirited, racist, inflammatory, stupid, swiftboating, or even BIMBO. New rule #2: Let's just call it CAMPAIGNING for President of the United States, because... that's what it is! A lot of polarizing CRAP that doesn't really win votes for either side in the long run.

If this "Palin" woman is not really stupid, she'll have plenty of chances to prove it. She's not doing turkey, I mean she's not doing too well so far.

[Big Sam]

Using comedy TV to push a political agenda undermines the equal time provisions that are usually afforded to opposing viewpoints.
Get back to your roots SNL, and drop the politics.

[v3hammer]

Hey Matt,
If Palin doesn't deserve to be president 'cause she's an airhead, Obama doesn't deserve to be President because he is a terrorist loving Marxist.

[Helen]

Sarah Palin is a walking, talking, winking joke of a public official. There is no way she would have walked into the bright lights of national politics with her pecadillos, her past and her personality and not been the butt of comedians' humor and late night patter. It comes with the territory, and she practically demands to be spoofed. If not Tina Fey, then another would have done it. Sarah Palin has twice tried to punitively fire people she had power over - and was twice denied. If she ever gets into real power, I would not put it past her to spend a great deal of time and effort trying to get Tina Fey fired somehow - third time is a charm, right?

By the way, it is on record that Tina Fey was at first reluctant to play the part and also not looking to return to Saturday Night Live. She already had a very well established and lucrative career in film and prime time television. This portrayal was successful, but did not "make" Tina Fey's career by any means. It exposed her to a lot more Republicans basically, who probably did not become fans - sour grapes.

Those of you who feel that a doll-like version of Sarah Palin should sail through the political process untouched by satire are in effect, true sexists. Sarah Palin, for all her foibles is by all accounts confident and radiant in person. Those of you who believe she should get special kid glove treatment in her chosen profession need to re-examine who/what you are supporting. It sounds like you are cheerleading a dream or an idol, rather than a real politician very much involved in the gritty world of real politics.

Sarah Palin is a public official who saddled a small town with millions of dollars of deficit spending which they had not recovered from when she left as Mayor. She is an irresponsible leader whose only public works project - a hockey stadium - was begun on land that was not legally obtained, and was over-budget and mired in legal troubles from the start - another big mess. She is a lady Governor who spun heads with the unprecedented levels of government pork she fed on and she is NOT someone who believes in lean government if you go on her record, not her speeches. Palin is an idealogue who tried (unsuccessfully) to ban books and fire a small town librarian - and the town demanded that the firing be reversed!

If she believes in the tenets of the church she professes to, she believes in teaching young children to fight Muslims through "spiritual warfare". She is a politician who lied her way through her initial acceptance speak at the Republican Convention, and created so many personal enemies in the McCain camp that the phrase "thrown under a bus" has enjoyed a new renaissance in the English language.

Wake up from the "Sarah Palin as Dollface Leader" dream folks. Please.

[Napa]

...fortunately, stupidity isn't sexist. What makes the whole thing so hilarious to viewers, is the simple fact that they didn't write it - she said and did those things. Think 'A Thousand Points of Light' and other presidential spoofs.
I don't understand what's meant here by "sexist"; I'm wondering if that word is being used incorrectly. Sexist would be if SNL specifically singled out women as targets of political satire, but not men.

"...ruin a good woman's career"? Uh, No.
If anything, it helped her!
Regardless of anyone's opinion of Governor Palin, the fact is that she LIKED it. It made her a celebrity with people who wouldn't have bothered to notice her; it jacked up her image a lot when she appeared herself; she got huge mileage from it in the media; she got a lot of strokes and absolutely enjoyed every bit of attention (good and bad); and come on now, really, how else could a woman like her ever expect to appear on SNL?!

[Mark]

To say that it was not sexist is a lie. There was a reason that SNL started doing "Extra" skits on thursdays leading up to the election; and that was to undermine the election process. SNL will never go after Obama the way they did Bush or Palin because they're bed wetting liberals and they do not want to be branded as racist; which is exactly what will happen. Tina Fey is a far far left Democrat and she knew exactly what she was doing in those skits and it had nothing to do with comedy. SNL will do what it always does; show Republicans as being stupid-Bush, Quail, Bush, Palin- and the Democrats as being flawed but very smart.

[Indie]

I just hope Palin runs and wins the primaries in 2012 so we can keep the Christian right out of office for several more years!

[lisamonteff]

Tina Palin is so right-Palin is such a jerk.
Thank goodness for Tina Palin to point out to the world what a world class moron Palin is...