It is without question these are two of the funniest women
of my generation. They aren’t just funny though. They are brilliant and funny!
They rocked the Golden Globes and in tribute to that they
were brought back for the Emmy’s to do a little skit. But if you were reading between the lines, which I do with
these women because (see above) they are not just funny they are brilliant and
funny, they were also making a statement.
Awhile back I blogged about Miley Cyrus and the epic
TWERKING EVENT OF 2013. I commented that I felt sad a talented girl felt she needed
to go to those lengths to get attention. Because in watching it I did feel she
was degrading herself as a person by becoming solely a sexual object. Now there
has been lots of back and forth on who is to blame. Some blame her, some the
producers, some Robin Thicke. Heck some will say it’s because Billy Ray is a
bad dad.
But Tina and Amy put the focus on where it should be. On the
Double Standard. They showcased what it looked like to have two women heckling
a man and telling him to take his pants off. Twerk, they told the host, Harris.
They come to award shows for twerking! When Harris said he wouldn’t twerk
because it would be degrading… their answer… “Yes, but we would be de-grateful.”
When he asked them, why are you wearing 3D glasses, Tina’s response was… “Because
I want to see your junk up close.” Amy’s quip… “Yeah, show America what you’re
working with.”
They were lewd. They were crass. They were completely
disgusting… and wasn’t it hilarious? From a comedic standpoint it works,
because you’re getting the unexpected. How shocking of these women to say such
things and isn’t that so funny. From a brilliant standpoint America just got
schooled on why Cyrus’s show became a national talking point for so many and in
essence who is really to blame.
US. Us for making a show like that okay. Us for accepting
that it’s perfectly acceptable for girls to get as naked as they can on
television for the entertainment of others. Tina and Amy put together a really funny skit, but Tina and
Amy also gave us a look at ourselves that again, if we’re reading between the
lines, maybe we didn’t like to see. Because frankly it’s not a pretty picture.
It’s not okay to put on a show that is going to be seen by a national audience and let a girl “degrade” herself just because it’s salacious and will boost ratings. And if women ruled the world and men we’re forced to put on a sexual display to garner attention and they were only judged by the size of their “junk” I’m fairly certain they wouldn’t feel comfortable in that role either. Unless they are a stripper, in which case they know what they’re doing and what they are getting paid for.
I can’t change the fact that some people think what Cyrus did, including herself, was no big deal. I can’t change the fact that often girls will put themselves in bad situations because they think this kind of attention is the only attention they can get. I can’t change men/boys from taking advantage of women in these bad situations because hey, it was the girl’s choice to do that wasn’t it?
But Tina and Amy… maybe they did. Maybe they got through to some people… you know, once everyone stopped laughing.
4 comments:
They were the funniest part of the show, and in general awesome..
and so crazy smart. I agree with your assessment, it was subtle, but there was a really interesting social commentary there.
I was reading the rolling stone article with Miley Cyrus and if you can get past the self-indulgent "I'm so different/leading edge/adult" parts, there is one section where she talks about taking all the flack for the performance and no one is giving Robin Thicke any crap for grinding against a girl easily ten to fifteen years younger than him.
Talk about a double standard.
I actually have heard people slamming Thicke for his behavior (and his song in general). Still, not anywhere near as much vitriol has been targeted at Miley.
Fey and Poehler are SO smart and SO funny. They make me look at myself and want to be a better person, but without ever being preachy.
They were one of the few great parts of that show. And I loved how they were sending up the objectification of women thing. They are who I want to be when I grow up.
I just really want to go out drinking with them. I can't imagine having that much talent and brains all at once.My head might explode.
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