This week’s readings have been insightful, eye opening, and funny. I am most pleased with having become acquainted with the writings of Tina Fey. I had seen a few of her SNL skits and remember seeing her in the movie “Mean Girls”, but I was ignorant to any of her writing. She is really funny.
In her essay, “All Girls Must Be Everything”, Fey writes an ironic comedy that seriously critiques the expectations set upon women by society. Her ability to use ironic and witty comments to mock the society in which she lives reminds me a bit of my favorite author, Jane Austen. Prior to this week that is a comparison that I honestly would have never seen myself making.
I really appreciate the way in which she uses comedy to teach real life lessons. For example, her “Rules for Improv” translate into a more opportunistic and positive way of living. And her piece, “I don’t care if you like it,” addresses real life issues like sexism in the work place. These pieces have shown me that she is not just a comedian who wants to make people laugh. She has a purpose and wishes to affect actual social changes through her comic abilities. That is something I definitely admire.
One paragraph of hers that has stuck with me the most come from her work “All Girls Must Be Everything.” Towards the end of this essay, she writes, “I would not trade any of these features for anybody else’s. I wouldn’t trade the small thin-lipped mouth that makes me resemble my nephew. I wouldn’t even trade the acne scar on my right cheek, because that recurring zit spent more time with me in college than any boy ever did.” I love the serious lesson she is teaching, she is telling the reader to love themselves. But that last line about her zit spending more time with her in college than any other boy also really made me crack up. She mixes her comic sense in to make even the most serious of ideas a little more lighthearted, and because of this, I really enjoy her writing.
[This comment is from Cara. Cara is having problems posting her comments, so I am doing it for her. She emailed them to me.] I too loved the last quote you included. I chuckled and even shared the quote with my mom. She too thought it was humorous. I myself was also not familiar with Tina Fey's writing, but I was with some of her movies. I experienced the same thoughts and comparisons that you included in this post!
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