Did 'SNL' go too far with its Gov David Paterson skit?

[RiverStone]

Poll question: Did 'SNL' go too far with its Gov David Paterson skit?

Gov. David Paterson didn’t think the "Saturday Night Live" skit poking fun at his blindness and admitted drug use was very funny at all.

The skit had "SNL" cast member Fred Armisen doing a scarily spot-on impression of the governor during the show's "Weekend Update" segment. Seth Meyers had to help him turn his chair to face the cameras. Armisen’s Paterson later returned to wander in front of the camera during Amy Poehler’s farewell.

"I can take a joke," Paterson told the Daily News on Sunday. "But only 37% of disabled people are working, and I'm afraid that that kind of third-grade humor certainly adds to this atmosphere."

In the skit about the governor's choice of a replacement for Sen. Hillary Clinton, Armisen's Paterson pointed out that he became governor after Gov. Eliot Spitzer's prostitution scandal.

"Whoever is appointed senator must -- like me -- be caught totally off guard and be comically unprepared to take office," he said. "Come on, I'm a blind man who loves cocaine who was suddenly appointed governor of New York. My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie."

A spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind also slammed the "SNL" skit.

"The biggest problem faced by blind people is not blindness itself, but the stereotypes held by the general public," spokesman Chris Danielsen said. "The idea that blind people are incapable of the simplest tasks and are perpetually disoriented and befuddled is absolutely wrong."

Paterson's spokesman Errol Cockfield Jr. said "the governor is sure that 'Saturday Night Live,' with all of its talent, can find a way to be funny without being offensive."

NBC declined to comment on the show and the skit. Natch.

What do you think? Did "SNL" go too far in making fun of a blind politician? Or is everyone fair game?

link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/12/gov-paterson-di.html

Do you think SNL went too far and/or did you find the skit offensive?

p.s. IMO, it was kinda funny, particularly when Fred Armisen (in character) was wandering in front of Amy's goodbye speech. :) And yet, I thought making fun of someone's physical disability was in poor taste. I work in a school with a number of physically disabled students, and we teach other kids NOT to make fun of their disability. I believe the same rule should apply to adults.


ON EDIT: added IMO

[WI_DEM]

1. Was this done last Saturday?

[Idealism]

2. Its not meant to be taken seriously, and I'd like to believe

the people watching this know it isn't a real depiction. Its a comedy show, lighten up

[AngryAmish]

3. What I find the most offensive is the idea that blind people are not allowed to drive

We are supposed to be an inclusive society, yet we cannot be bothered to give someone with low vision a break and allow them the simple act of driving to work or to get food. Much more than 37% of blind people could work if they were only allowed the personal freedom to drive there and back.

[FLAprogressive]

23. I sure hope that was sarcastic. nt

[TahitiNut]

32. For several years (way back when), I 'car-pooled' with a blind co-worker.

Tom was a fellow programmer at Chevrolet. Tom was (and probably still is) blind. He lost his sight as a young child and only had vague memories of color, shape, etc. Tom was an activist and representative of People With Disabilities from the state of Michigan. The commute from the 'burbs to Chevrolet Central Office was about 18 miles and took 30-40 minutes depending on route and traffic. I'm not a "morning person." Sometimes I'd express my disgust with traffic and the chore of driving. Tom offered to drive any time I wanted relief. He was, to some degree, serious. Tom was fearless ... and had a good sense of humor. While I'd joke about things visible ... teasing him only very gently ... I would never make fun of his disability. I could make fun with him -- there's a difference. A big one.

Tom mowed his own lawn in the summer. Perplexed, I asked how. He answered simply, "barefoot." (Ah-hah!)
Tom painted his house one summer. Perplexed again, I asked how. He answered, "with a messy left hand." (Ah-hah!)
Tom did the grocery shopping for his family (sighted wife and child) with the assistance of a stock clerk.

If Tom could figure out a way to do it, he did. In some ways, he was sometimes a pain in the ass - like anyone can be. I could laugh with him at the idea of him mowing the lawn and getting grass clippings all over his feet and making his wife mad ... and I could laugh with him about feeling the wet paint with one hand and finding where to paint next ... but I'd never make fun OF him.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

33. ROFL

:rofl:

[hedgehog]

4. I clicked too far, but now I'm not sure.

I was going to say the joke about holding the chart upside down was going to far and wasn't funny, but then I realized it was the set-up for the line about the economy being upside down.

On the other hand, the lines about looking for a freak from Upstate were a little awkward.

[Freddie Stubbs]

5. I'm surprised that no one is throwing a fit because they had a white guy portraying Paterson

[jobycom]

6. I hope so. I miss offensive comedy. We are so screwed up as a country

that we have people whining about "politically correct" requirements of social behavior but trashing comedy and artistic creations that aren't politically correct. It is supposed to be the other way around. We are supposed to behave as individuals while expressing controversial ideas through art.

I personally have come to believe that our society is driven by immature guilt. We as a nation hate people to put restrictions on us--hate for people to tell us to act like grown-ups--and we therefore hate the artwork that exposes our immaturity. Art is meant to reveal us, yet when rap music reveals violent undertones towards cops or degrading attitudes towards women, we try to condemn the art rather than the reality the art is illuminating. It is guilt--we do not want to be exposed, we do not want our bigotries and biases to be exposed, because then we have to face them, maybe even correct them. So instead of correcting ourselves, we attack the art that exposes us.

That's the real sin of censorship. The Founders didn't want "Free Speech" so that we could all get off on Internet porn. The Founders wanted "Free Speech" because speech is only limited when it accurately reveals something those in power want to keep hidden.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

12. Amen!!!!

I gave up on SNL for years, and only tuned it in when Fey started doing the Palin thing.

Watching it the other night (because Hugh Laurie was hosting), I was thrilled to see some of the old SNL return - no more PC bullshit, no more mindlessness. Their stuff was pointed and sharp and funny. That Patterson bit was one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and the Amy Poehler goodbye was just brilliant, a great spoof on John McCain's wandering around during the debate.

There's nothing like letting the First Amendment rip. That's where we'll find out the truth about ourselves.

Now, my question is: How does Patterson know the skit about him was offensive?

[Peggesis1]

35. Your question about how Gov. Patterson even knew about the offensive skit is pretty telling.

Do you really think that because the governor is blind he doesn't know what's going on? The unemployment rate for employment-age blind people--a whopping 70%--is largely due to very low expectations about their ability.

Here is the official response of the National Federation of the Blind. This group of blind people put up with a lot and don't bother to protest every thoughtless and tasteless thing said about the blind. They did protest this SNL skit, however, and this is what they said:


Here's the NFB response in it's entirety:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen
Public Relations Specialist
National Federation of the Blind

[phone], extension 2330

[phone] (Cell)

<mailto:[e-mail]>[e-mail]

National Federation of the Blind
Comments on Saturday Night Live Segment

Largest Organization of the Blind Criticizes Attack on Blind Americans

Baltimore, Maryland (December 15, 2008): Chris
Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation
of the Blind, said: “The biggest problem faced by
blind people is not blindness itself, but the
stereotypes held by the general public about
blindness and blind people.  The idea that blind
people are incapable of the simplest tasks and
are perpetually disoriented and befuddled is
absolutely wrong.  This misconception contributes
to an unemployment rate among blind people that
stubbornly remains at 70 percent.  That is why
the National Federation of the Blind is
disappointed that Saturday Night Live chose to
portray Governor Paterson in a comedy routine
that focused almost exclusively on his
blindness.  Attacking the Governor because he is
blind is an attack on all blind Americans­--blind
children, blind adults, blind seniors, and newly
blinded veterans returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan.  The National Federation of the
Blind urges the producers of Saturday Night Live
to consider the serious negative impact that
misinformation and stereotypes have on blind
people before continuing in this unfortunate vein of humor.”

=================================================

BTW: Are there any blind DU members here who would want to make their own comments? My own experience as a sighted friend is that progressive people generally are not necessarily better than ultra right wing nuts when it comes to damaging attitudes about blind people.

Is it that many people just don't know any capable blind people? Is there some kind of deep need to have someone who can be ridiculed? Do people think that blind people can't know that they're being ridiculed (the above poster's thought and, obviously, not true), so it's OK? Every semester my friend, a college professor, has a few students who are shocked and indignant to get bad grades for bad work—they really thought a blind professor wouldn't notice.

Any response?

[RiverStone]

16. kindness vs being politically correct

jobycom, you raise a valid point regarding artistic expression and that it should not be censored - and yet every artist has a choice.

We can create very dramatic and potentially offensive art as part of a protest to Shrub's insane war or against the criminal regime's policy of development over global warming concerns. Artists have had their free speech imposed upon for generations if it depicted a view that was deemed counter-cultural.

But when I see the tears of an 8th grader in my office because kids tease her due to her extreme weight(caused by a medical condition) or the embarrassment of a 10th grader who wears dark shades all the time because some kids tease him about having a glass eye - we simply acknowledge that sometimes the world can treat you with meanness. And that when someone teases you it is not a reflection of you - but the bad character of the one who is doing the teasing.

At some point an artist may choose that free expression is not worth the offense given by it --- at least if it targets people with physical disabilities. Where that line is drawn however, should be a subjective call.


peace~:)

[jobycom]

31. But that's what I said.

People shouldn't act like that personally. They shouldn't pick on someone for being different. On the other hand, when someone like Andrew Dice Clay creates a persona so offensive that his jokes disgust people, he's commenting more on the people with the attitudes his persona share than on the people his jokes target. Art is meant to explore our boundaries by crossing them and illustrating the lines from the other side.

I'd like to see individuals held to higher standards and artists allowed more free rein, is what I'm saying.

[Marr]

22. Very well said.

I'd never noticed the odd way that people rail against demands for "political incorrectness" in their personal behavior, while ranting against the lack of it in art. That's a very interesting observation.

[originalpckelly]

29. Thank fucking GOD someone had the 'nads to say it.

People are fucking afraid to step on toes in this country, and it really has been hurting comedy in the last decade. There's a point where it's not meant to really be derogatory, and this is one of those situations.

I think the Paterson sketch was one of the funniest I've seen in years, it's like SNL has finally found its mojo.

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. I'm more offended by Armisen always going for the Freeper propaganda stereotypes

Just like he usually does with his horrible Obama impression.

Whoever is writing this shit (Armisen himself or otherwise) needs to go back to FAUX Noise, since it seems like that's where they came from.

[SharonRB]

8. While I was watching I thought perhaps they had gone a bit over the edge on this one

I will say, though, that Fred Armison's Patterson is far better than his Obama.

[WeDidIt]

9. It made me uncomfortable

so yeah, I think they went a bit too far.

They were making fun of the blind, not governor Paterson, IMO.

[madville]

10. I'm surprised

What is it with politicians and cocaine lately? Patterson, Bush, Obama, I guess these are guys that were partying in the 70's and 80's. In 20 years we'll have a president that has done ecstasy and smoked meth, lol.

Did SNL do anything with Gov. Blag's recent troubles?

I thought it was funny, everything is offensive to somebody.

[stillcool]

11. I didn't think it was possible..

to be alive in the 80's and not have smoked pot, or done a line. I had no idea there were so many uptight, puritanical people in this country. I've never met any of them..but I don't think they're too friendly.

[aikoaiko]

13. any youtube links? I'd like to see it first.

I'm of the opinion that anything can be funny, but there are lots more ways to unfunny about everything too.

[LisaM]

14. Less noticed, on the same show, was the opening where they asked the guy playing Blago

if he was "retarded". He answered that it was called something else (not developmentally disabled, but something similar to that). I mention it because I think it's in the same vein.

[unapatriciated]

15. It's not like he was watching it anyway

[Phoonzang]

26. Oh shit......

:nuke:

[melm00se]

17. no laws

against being offensive and especially no laws at being offensive at the expense of a public elected official.

[rebel with a cause]

20. Evidently there is no law at being both unfunny and offensive

as far as SNL is concerned. I keep tuning in hoping for a miracle from the comedy god, but every week I am disappointed to find there is no comedy god and SNL is no longer funny.

[hlthe2b]

18. SNL at its best is topical, irreverent, and pushes the limit...

What part of what Paterson saw did he find offensive....?

















Oops....:spank:


In all due seriousness, I think it is really cool that Paterson is sending such a high profile signal that blind people can do just about anything... I hope he isn't too put off by the skit...

[-..__...]

19. Anyone remember "News for the hard of hearing"?

One of the funniest "Weekend Updates" skits with Garrett Morris yelling what Chevy Chase had previously said.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/weekend-update/29169/

There should be nothing off limits or held sacred in comedy.

If one finds it offensive or not amusing... well, that's too bad

[moondust]

28. That was hilarious but

it was about an abstraction--not a specific individual who may have struggled his entire life to overcome a handicap he did not cause. It's the tasteless and boorish comedy of thugs.

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. They rag on everyone

[kwassa]

24. The skit was stupid.

Making fun of Patterson's inability to see, and little else. They actually imitated the wandering McCain routine from the presidential debate satire pieces they did months ago, only that was funny.

[qazplm]

25. tough to answer

on the one hand, I gotta admit, I laughed, particularly when they gave us the swerve when we thought we were getting an emotional goodbye from Amy.

on the other hand, there was some inner cringing.

[Bake]

27. I thought it was freakin' HILARIOUS!

I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Bake

[TexasObserver]

30. Edgy humor isn't always pretty or within the confines of etiquette.

Not troubled by it, but then I'm not given to outrage over these kind of trivial events that are never as big as the POUTRAGE they create.

[Lavender Brown]

34. There has to be a grain of truth to something for it to be funny...

The Palin skits were funny because they targeted her actual mannerisms and speech patterns. Painting Paterson as a stupid, inexperienced person really missed the mark. He had a long career in state government and was actually *elected* Lieutenant Governor... he didn't fall out of the sky and become Governor for no reason. What pissed me off is that he is not well known nationally and now some people are going to think that there is some basis for an image of him as this inarticulate clumsy moron.

[benld74]

36. RW Radio this morning spent over 2 hours on this!

How terrible it was. How they went too far. BLAH BLAH BLAH

[zorahopkins]

37. Horribly Offensive

The skit uuas just horrible!

I have already written a feuu letters to some of the sponsors of SNL voicing my displeasure.

Note: In protest of the continuing occupation of OUR Uuhite House by the illegal and totally corrupt Bush/Cheney regime of thugs and cronies, I REFUSE to use the letter betuueen "V" and "X". Instead, I use a "double u", as in "Uuhite House".

[Peggesis1]

38. my final word (today, anyway)

I agree that the skit was rude, offensive and unfunny. There were ways it could have been insightful and funny, but the writers didn't bother. By the way, that old Garrett Morris skit about news for the hard of hearing (just shouting what Chevy Chase had already said) was funny precisely because the joke was on themselves. It was about the silly accommodations that apparently well-meaning people make without knowing if the accommodations are actually helpful. The joke was the ignorance about what would be sensible and useful to a hearing impaired person.

I think these topics of disability civil rights and media depiction will be something we come back to frequently.

As Governor Patterson said, "I don't mind that they make fun of me, but I thought it was important of me to stand up for people who don't have a voice and don't have a job."