“I can take a joke, but only 37% of disabled people are working, and I’m afraid that that kind of third-grade humor certainly adds to this atmosphere.” -Gov. Paterson on SNL’s recent parody of him.
from the Associated Press:
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A “Saturday Night Live” skit portraying New York’s blind governor as a bumbling leader didn’t get a laugh from Gov. David Paterson.
Paterson’s office said the skit ridiculed people with physical disabilities and implied that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.
“The governor is sure that ‘Saturday Night Live,’ with all of its talent, can find a way to be funny without being offensive,” Paterson spokesman Errol Cockfield said in a statement Sunday. “Knowing the governor, he might even have some suggestions himself.”
The skit that aired Saturday featured SNL cast member Fred Armisen as Paterson, who must appoint someone to replace Sen. Hillary Clinton. Armisen said he has three criteria for filling the job: economic experience, upstate influence and someone who is disabled and unprepared for the job — like himself. He held up a chart illustrating the state’s job losses upside down.
National Federation of the Blind spokesman Chris Danielsen said the portrayal suggesting Paterson as befuddled and disoriented because of his blindness is “absolutely wrong.”
No one from NBC, which produces SNL, could be reached for comment early Monday morning.
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choosing purposely not to link the video. black voices has it embedded it w/ a post about how the piece was both racist and ableist. questions around what is comedy and satire came up a lot this year with both the new yorker obama cover and the movie tropic thunder….this is definitely not it. maybe i would laugh more if media makers would recognize the power they have in shaping society and that this depiction is a reflection of the exact image that needs to be destroyed, not promoted.
(h/t to twitter friends like matttbastard, kai and blackvoices)
This all makes me miss George Carlin all the more.
:(
Posted by The Gonzo Girl on December 15th, 2008.
I like that Paterson’s response points out that you don’t need to lack a sense of humor to find certain attempts at humor not funny (and is more intelligent than my usual “I have a sense of humor, you’re just not funny”). I also like the spokesperson’s comment giving kudos to Paterson’s sense of humor, since there are a bunch of stories about him discussing his blindness humorously in ways that don’t undermine his professionalism (an example from here:
Paterson is known for dry wit and speaking off the cuff. Sharpton recalled Paterson’s arrest with his father at a New York City protest over the 1999 police killing of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant. Paterson quipped: “I’m going to tell the judge that I didn’t see where I was going.”)
Posted by Isabel on December 19th, 2008.