Why Tina Fey Hates Sarah Palin
Going Rogue and Going Rouge are not the only books coming out about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. The Weekly Standard's Mathew Continetti has written The Persecution of Sarah Palin, a "226-page defense of Palin and slap-down of the media coverage she has faced." U.S. News & World Report pulls out a few excerpts. Here's my favorite.
Liberal-leaning feminists, especially comic Tina Fey, the 30 Rock star who portrayed Palin on Saturday Night Live, were jealous of Palin. "Palin's sudden global fame rankled those feminists whose own path to glory had been difficult. To them, Palin was less a female success story than she was the beneficiary of male chauvinism," writes Continetti. He holds out Fey and her TV character for special criticism. "It was telling that Fey should be the actress who impersonated Palin. The two women may look like each other, but they could not be more dissimilar. Each exemplifies a different category of feminism. Palin comes from the I-can-do-it-all school. She is professionally successful, has been married for more than 20 years, and has a large and (from all outward appearances) happy family. And while Fey is also pretty, married, and has a daughter, the characters she portrays in films like Mean Girls and Baby Mama, and in television shows like 30 Rock, are hard-pressed eggheads who give up personal fulfillment-e.g., marriage and motherhood-in the pursuit of professional success," he writes.
Okay, so they're both attractive married breeders with major achievements in their chosen fields, but they could not be more dissimilar. Because Tina Fey plays a different type of character on the TV than Sarah Palin does. Man, those different categories of feminism are full of fine distinctions.
Balk, can you be a little more specific on Mrs. Palin's "major achievements" ?
Governor of the largest welfare state in the union? Decent bikini body for a lady with that many children? Half-ass, multi-state women's collegiate basketball career? Tons of kids?
uh, did she really include that bikini pic on her resume? Because it was totally photoshopped.
"Jealous."
Yeah who wouldn't want to be a national joke.
I see them (Sarah and Tina) as more like the Frank Gorshin characters in the classic Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield."
Doesn't Matthew Continetti understand that it doesn't make sense to compare apples and oranges? It would have made more sense to compare Palin to liberal female polititians rather than a comedic actress.
And writer.
They're both comedic actresses, just one is unintentionally so.
How is it possible to be 'jealous' of Sarah Palin, who was nothing but the fart of right-time/right-place opportunism that rose through the jacuzzi of current events?
Clearly this guy is from the high school cheerleader school of thought: "Whatever, all those people hate me because they're like JEALOUS."
"and (from all outward appearances) happy family."
Precisely, Mr. Continetti.
At exactly what point did that parenthetical comment wander into this book, I wonder.
If Sarah Palin is ever cast to play an "egghead," I suggest Meryl Streep not make a film that year.
It would be kind of like that James Bond movie where Denise Richards played a nuclear physicist.
That magnitude of speciousness must be pretty hard to keep up for 226 pages.
It's like a bizarro 'The Patty Duke Show'!
did tina fey quit her job?
THEY COULD NOT BE MORE DISSIMILAR.
Thank God.
I question the base premise that Sarah Palin is a feminist / "exemplifies a different category of feminism."
I'm not exactly rooting for Sarah Palin to do anything other than go away forever, but I do subscribe to my own brand of 'practical' feminism and I think it's important for women achieve real success (like being governors) even if you don't agree with their political/philosophical views.
I think/hope that everyone aspires for women to achieve that kind of success, but I don't think every woman who is successful should be labeled as a feminist. Hillary Clinton yes, Sarah Palin no.
In some ways (e.g. relative intellect) Sarah Palin is successful in spite of herself.
I question whether the success of any Republican politician who succeeds with any historical structural impediment resulting from race or gender actually accomplishes any goal that might accurately be described as advancing either gender or racial equality. It seems more accurate to me that Republicans like Michael Steele and Clarence Thomas because their presence on the platform justifies racial discrimination in other areas — they are the proverbial "black friends" that the Republicans have. Similarly, attractive white ladies who used to be cheer leaders or pander to sex appeal, like Kay Bailey Hutchison, Palin, and that crazy lady in Minnesota, allow Republicans to feel less sexist, as long as they can vote for hot chicks with good legs.
The book, judging from the excerpt, seems to have all the intellectual heft of an IMDB message board flame war. Haters? THEY'RE JUST JEALOUS.
See, books are still getting published during the recession!
"books" are still getting published during the recession.
If Mr. Confetti or whatever is trying to defend her, why would he use that photo on the cover, because AHHHHHHH.
doesn't Continetti tear apart his credibility on speaking about feminism when he says at the end: "…who give up personal fulfillment—e.g., marriage and motherhood—in the pursuit of professional success," ? isn't it possible that personal fulfillment come from professional success? republican men talking about feminism should be the indicator that this book might be, well, uninformed…
Balk, love the use of "Man" to open a sentence about feminism.
Before Sarah Palin quit her job as Alaska's Governor, she appointed a man named Frank Bailey to a number of government posts. He was a bungling thug and eventually found himself under her bus. He is reported to have his own book in the works: "Renegade, Sarah Palin's Hatchet Man". He claims to have documentation to back up what are expected to be less than complimentary accounts of the ex-Governor's short lived stint as Alaska's CEO. I surely hope and pray that Palin runs for national office again. I applaud Mr. Continental's attempts to convince the voters that such a do-over is appropriate.
Where can I get the spellcheck plugin?
Ellitist snobe.
Does that Tina Fey ad come as a package whenever you post a picture of Sarah Palin?
Ooh. Now there's a NewsMax ad. Go Awl.