As far as female comedians go, people consistently miss the mark. Every year, someone dredges up the archaic "are women funny?" question and people discuss it as if it were a valid question in the first place. It would be easy enough to just write it off as another whimsical attempt of Fox News to act like journalists but the truth is these kinds of articles appear in all sorts of publications. It isn't just Fox News.
Literally, every year, some publication writes some variation on the "are women funny" question. Another gem: "can pretty women be funny?" Or maybe an article that questions whether a female's insecurities hinder her from being great at comedy. Or why aren't there any female Richard Pryors?
This article managed to fuse all of these points together to create some sort of amazing supernova of idiocy which made me feel obligated to say something.
1) "Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Ricky Gervais all lost their jiggles, but kept their giggles."
First off, that rhyme is insipid and awful. Whoever penned it should be stripped of their journalism degree and publicly shamed. I would say that it is nice that she didn't imply that those men became unfunny when they slimmed down (another ridiculous delusion some people have) but she follows it up with "but they're still not what one would call exactly sexy." Jeez. Way to twist the knife.
2) "Some of our favorite "old-skool" sitcom stars like Jennifer Aniston, Jane Krakowski, and Julie Louis-Dreyfus have transformed themselves in recent years from somewhat awkward to stylish sex symbols."
I just want to say, that I didn't mispell "old-skool." That is exactly how the author of the article spelled it. Perhaps I was premature in assuming she had a journalism degree.
Anyway- the above statement is false. Jennifer Aniston was never awkward. None of these ladies were ever awkward. So there was no "transformation" to speak of. They were always gorgeous.
Even if there were some glorious transformation that took place. This article kind of implies that their becoming "stylish sex symbols" somehow affected (read: enhanced) their comedic performance. These ladies have consistently delivered hilarious performances. Aniston had "Friends" and rocked films like "Office Space", "Bruce Almighty", and "Horrible Bosses." Julie Louis-Dreyfus made a name for herself on "Seinfeld" but has continued to deliever on "New Adventures of Old Christine." Even her guest spots on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "30 Rock" have been hilarious. Jane Krakowski is still amazing on "30 Rock" but everyone knew she was hilarious back when she was on "Ally McBeal."
All of these careers reach back more than 10 years. Always beautiful. Always funny.
Two. Separate. Thoughts.
3) "For women, frump isn't funny any longer. The new female comedian has to be the sexual aggressor, sexually provocative, dominant and successful."
This gem is a quote from Patrick Wanis. He is simply billed as an entertainment expert.
Women comedians have never really aspired to be frumpy. If there was a generic formula for funny- looking unsexy was never part of it.
It's more that women are consistently portrayed as frumpy. It isn't as if before this "glorious renaissance of female comedy" women aspired to be shrews (or dowdy or insecure or blah blah blah). Those were simply the parts everyone wrote for them.
People are going bananas over Melissa McCarthy right now. Melissa McCarthy is hilarious and has been hilarious ("Gilmore Girls", "Samantha Who","Mike and Molly").
Her success, however, has little to do with what she looks like. The reason she is enjoying the spotlight right now is that someone recognized that she is hilarious and wrote a part for her that showcased her talent.
4) Wanis also says funny women who aren't all that sexy may struggle in the new comedy landscape. "Rosie O'Donnell and Janeane Garofalo will be relegated to playing the female versions of Chris Farley."
Are. You. Serious?
They aren't struggling because they aren't funny. They are struggling because there are "experts" like Wanis who don't write parts for them or don't think they can carry a movie.
The truth is there are many people like Melissa McCarthy just waiting to be discovered.
Also- the idea that O'Donnell and Garafolo will be "relegated to playing the female versions of Chris Farley" is a ridiculous statement.
First off, how dare you, David Wanis. I hope Janeane Garofalo cuts you.
Second- don't make them sound like naive/green comics that just stumbled onto the scene. Garofalo and O'Donnell have been around (working and doing stand-up) for years. Show some respect.
Third, Chris Farley was a leading man in several movies so the comparison is ridiculous. You are just name-calling now.
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I should have expected that Fox News couldn't possibly write a good analysis on female comedians. But, again, I also want to reiterate that there are a lot of (mainstream!) publications that consider articles like these to be a valid argument.
Women can be funny.
It's just a fact.
Ugh. That was exhausting.
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*This entry was kind of serious... so here is a funny link to take the edge off.
Is Funny Sexy? (15 second video clip with Tina Fey and Kay Cannon)
