tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14146381.post8053494038440405407..comments2023-10-22T09:19:29.996-04:00Comments on I Hate The New Yorker: ever so slightly spleenier than usualzoe p.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02535684589288030978noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14146381.post-79160539793410471792007-02-09T13:05:00.000-05:002007-02-09T13:05:00.000-05:00I think my convoluted writing style may have been ...I think my convoluted writing style may have been at fault, juniper. I meant to say that I'd rather have Friend write about television than about himself. And I like to have him write about television, regardless. <BR/><BR/>I actually think the whole "outsider" Jewish humor thing is historically impossible right now. I'd argue that Silverman is inhabiting an unstable identity and making fun of people who still believe in them (ie, people that think that "Lesbians" "are" anything - see Janet Malcolm on Stein this past November). All this based on that one little thing in TNY. <BR/><BR/>As for her being (looking like?) a woman . . . ? I'd add to the historical survey Lenny Bruce, obviously. Put that on your list, mzn. Or anyone who wants to pursue this . . .zoe p.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02535684589288030978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14146381.post-66488127244971444452007-02-09T10:44:00.000-05:002007-02-09T10:44:00.000-05:00isn't it better to have anyone writing about tv th...isn't it better to have <I>anyone</I> writing about tv than nancy franklin? she was abominable.<BR/><BR/>my feelings are mixed about sarah silverman. i have a hard time with gender humor, because i think a truly funny thing will be funny no matter who says it, and i don't think that's true of a lot of her jokes. many of them are "funny" because they're disconcerting statements delivered in a flat, serious manner, and they're disconcerting because she's a woman. some people, i guess, are relieved that someone is lightening the pc load--i've heard praise along the lines of, "it's about time someone made fun of this or that"--but is it really all right for anyone to joke about rape? really? <BR/><BR/>on the other hand, though, she does have a gift for highlighting the self-righteous absurdity of a lot of public "issues" (e.g., "i'm a member of a group, therefore anything that offends me is discriminatory against that group"). but it would be tough to pin it on her "outsiderness," because she takes equally measured swings at things she is directly related to and things she is not. but again, she wouldn't get away with most of it if she were a man. <BR/><BR/>none of this is stopping me from loving her show--yet. that bit where she tore through the weather map made me laugh almost until i dry heaved.juniper pearlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09940950405860078123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14146381.post-87809362853243486142007-02-04T10:28:00.000-05:002007-02-04T10:28:00.000-05:00: ): )High Power Rocketryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11537203640644706903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14146381.post-30577821545648078932007-02-02T14:05:00.000-05:002007-02-02T14:05:00.000-05:00Oh this sounds like an excellent project. I'll ne...Oh this sounds like an excellent project. I'll need a reading list though. I haven't read non-contemporary fiction in ages.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14146381.post-87754534413734150302007-02-02T11:59:00.000-05:002007-02-02T11:59:00.000-05:00I totally break with Emdashes on Friend. I'd so m...I totally break with Emdashes on Friend. I'd so much rather he wrote about ANYTHING rather than himself. And TV especially. <br /><br />There seems to me (unsolicited advice to follow) absolutely no way you could talk about the Jewishness of current non-network TV comedy without a real historical discussion; maybe the outsider thing is a familiar point, but how is it historically determined now? As opposed to other times, places, entertainment industries? The "move" I loved in the Silverman example is familiar from where, really? For me, its Stein and Hemingway and the "offensive" things they say - I once sat there in a class trying to explain that they were some kind of unstable identity shock-comedy team and everyone, professor included, stared at me totally unconvinced.zoe p.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02535684589288030978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14146381.post-60452900429704583402007-02-01T21:26:00.000-05:002007-02-01T21:26:00.000-05:00I think Sarah Silverman is brilliant in a dozen wa...I think Sarah Silverman is brilliant in a dozen ways. It doesn't hurt that no one else around is remotely like her.<br /><br />I might write something about the Jewishness of the Sarah-Larry David-Sacha Baron Cohen comedic avant-garde. The simplistic thing to say would be that an outsider identity facilitates a certain comic take on social proprieties, but that seems like too easy and familiar a point. Anyhow, there seems to be some common ground among these folks.<br /><br />Also, I am coming to terms with my positive feelings about Tad Friend. I think he's a good TV critic. I look forward to his pieces and expect to like them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com