Fred Armisen as Gov. Patterson. Image couresy of SNL.
O.K. I admit it. Sometimes I might not have the best sense of humor and take things a bit too seriously. I've even been called the P.C. police.
Though I have loved Dave Chappelle for years, I did not find some of the sketches on his Comedy Central show very funny. I didn't enjoy the film Something About Mary at all. I also don't think the Weekend Update segment featuring a sketch of New York Gov. David Patterson played by Fred Armisen very funny.
Images of the Gov. David Patterson and actor Fred Armisen.
Patterson is legally blind and though he is known for using humor when it comes to his disability in both his public and private life, he also feels that Saturday Night Live crossed the line last weekend. Chris Danielsen from the National Federation of the Blind also feels the same way. The SNL skit used derogatory language through out the skit. When refering to Paterson's job of selecting a senate candidate to replace Sen. Hilary Clinton, Armisen said he should choose from the "freak bin" and possibly picking a candidate with a "gamey arm". Later on Weekend Update, Armisen "Patterson" wandering into the shot during Amy Poehler's goodbye speech.
Not funny. I love the comic but I'm saddened by this skit.
SNL's talented group of writer's often push the envelope with their show and that's why I love the show. They have lasted so long because of this. But rarely to they cross the line as they did last Saturday night. Of course, some will argue that those offended are trying to force everyone to be P.C. which to me is simply untrue. The SNL sketch to me was buffoonery and mocked the disabled population as a whole. Of course, there is such a thing as free speech, but SNL's team of writer's could have chosen not taken the easy way out and resort to buffoonery.
Next time, let's hope they get it right.
From today's New York Times article by Jeremy W. Peters:
Speaking to reporters on Sunday night at the Waldorf-Astoria, where he was addressing a group from Yeshiva University,
the governor was somewhat circumspect about the skit and avoided
mentioning it directly. When asked if it had offended him, he kept any
anger or embarrassment in check and deflected the question with an
answer about high unemployment among the disabled.
“There is
only one way that people could have an unemployment rate that’s six
times the national average — it’s attitude,” he said. “And I’m afraid
that the kind of third-grade depiction of individuals and the way they
look and the way they move add to that negative environment.”
“I
run the place that I work in so I don’t have to worry about being
discriminated against, I think,” he said. “But the point is that a lot
of people who don’t get promotions and don’t get opportunities and
don’t even get work are disabled in our society.”
