My TV, come 11:35 pm. Via videocrab @ Flickr.
I have a bad late-night TV habit. I love to curl up on the couch with my Dude or the cats and watch funny people be funny (or not). This is bad for two reasons: 1) it is, by definition, late, especially if I stay up to enjoy my TV boyfriend Craig Ferguson,and if I’m going to be up and functional the next day I should be sleeping, and 2) recently, it’s been wall-to-wall misogyny up in there, and the funny people, who are men-people, are beginning to look like giant assholes, which cuts into the funny significantly.
I’ve been a David Letterman fan for yeeeaarrs. I like the banter he has with the band, I like Stupid Pet Tricks and high school bird callers, the wide variety of musical guests, and the occasional, rather substantial political conversation. But Letterman got married a few months ago, after more than 20 years and a kid with his ladyfriend. That’s all well and good. But after a few bashful comments about it, he’s started folding in tired “take my wife please” jokes rather often. Unmarried, he almost never mentioned Regina Lasko, or if he did, she was “Harry’s mother,” and he was often the butt of the joke–the big dummy, who was saved by the clever girlfriend. (Yeah, that’s not much better.) Now: oooooh, he’s henpecked! Women are bossy! Women are the Bad Mommy! Marriage is a punishment for men! (Please realize that I’m not a huge fan of marriage, and have not chosen it for myself, but his attitude as expressed in performance is doing very little to make that institution worth saving.)
The man is still telling jokes at Hillary Clinton’s expense (philandering husband! icy! pantsuits!), despite the fact that she’s been serving very effectively as Secretary of State, and he was ruthless about Sarah Palin (barbie! russia! barbie!). But recently, Dave has been sinking deeper in Vortex of Suck that is misogyny as he went after the Palin family again, prompted by their recent trip to New York. In addition to the usual “$150 thousand wardrobe” comments, he went on to snark on her appearance, likening it to a “slutty flight attendant,” (that’s a sexism and classism twofer!), then make wildly inappropriate cracks about Palin’s 14-year old daughter Willow, who accompanied her mother on the trip: Eliot Spitzer was trying to get with her; Alex Rodriguez knocked her up while they were at a Yankees game. Hyuk hyuk hyuk!
Letterman never referred to Willow by name, however, and when Palin called him on his unfunny, tasteless, offensive “jokes,” he spent more than seven minutes (half-seriously) assessing the situation on his show. While he didn’t apologize for the “flight attendant” remark, he took the time to note that he wasn’t referring to Willow, because to make jokes about men with questionable sexual histories having sex with raping an underage girl is beyond the pale. He expressed some mock-horror that he would subject a girl to such behavior, or intimations thereof, but it was built around his trademark style of self-deprecation, and it wasn’t an apology. Instead he claimed he was referring to Bristol, who is 18 (and therefore fair game for his misogynist spew). Also: she’s a slut who had sex and made a baby and had a baby and did I mention she’s a SLUT? Never mind that she wasn’t in New York with her parents.
Letterman said that he couldn’t really defend his material, as they were simply jokes (and so to find offense is blowing things out of proportion, ya big girl); that he was going for cheap laughs, as he always has. He then went on to repeat his jokes, to the great amusement of his studio audience. Disgusting.
To be clear: I think Sarah Palin is politically a menace and personally ridiculous. But to go after her appearance or her daughters’ sexuality? Unnecessary, off-topic, and utterly out-of-line. Grade A Sexism, plain and simple So fuck you, Dave. If I stay up after the news, it’s going to be for Conan.
I wholeheartedly agree here. It makes me sad because I grew up watching Letterman, and his comedy was so often smart and cynical in a very funny way. But the past few years have really gone down hill, and it is clear that he and his writer dudes are not up to the task anymore. I’ve been yelling at the screen about all the fucking Hillary pantsuit jokes (still? really?) and the Monica Lewinsky jokes (is it 1999?) for the past few months, and this Palin stuff is just too much. Thank goodness Conan has started up again!!! Sorry, Dave. It was good while it lasted, but I’ve got to move on.
Really, Dave? Really? I never watched you anyway, but that shit about the Palin girls is WRONG.
Conan is not much better, honestly. I watched one of his shows recently and was immediately put off by the “Ohmigod Kirstie Alley is soooo fat I’d better not go near her or she’ll eat me!” joke. That was followed by a joke that involved the band leader’s new So. Cal. neighbors finding out that he is a registered sex offender. Because nothing says comedy like rape or molestation, hahahaha! Not.
Dave has been a weird mixed bag lately. Since his son has been growing up, Dave has seemed to take more of an interest in addressing the greater problems in the world. In the last year or so, he’s had guests from environmental NGOs, the UN’s World Food Programme, etc. His McCain grilling had me cheering. Sometimes he’s actually quite moving when he talks about how his feelings for his son have changed how he sees the world and the people in it. And then, BAM, out come the cringe-worthy jokes. Sigh.
I love Conan, but he has joked about Kirstie Alley’s weight and the Bill/Hillary philandering stuff repeatedly in recent days. Not cool. I also read an article recently that mentioned the lack of even a single woman on Conan’s writing staff. I wonder if that’s true of the other late-night funny men, too?
I do unabashedly love Craig Ferguson, if only for his fondness for puppets. They make me squee.
Yeah, I let out a huge ughhhhhhhhhh when I heard about this. White Liberal Dudes, stop making me defend Sarah Palin. damn
This makes me glad I never watch TV. Except for random Flight of the Conchords goodness. I feel like it’s impossible to find any late night comedian not named Craig Ferguson who doesn’t piss me off with casual little sexist asides. Leno is BY FAR the worst, but I was not exactly shocked to hear this little bon mot. Nice going, Dave. Stupid human tricks indeed.
My kingdom for a comic who doesn’t play to absurd stereotypes and actually has something clever and witty to say.
Rzep…
You mean “My kingdom for the triumphant return of Dave Chappelle”?
I read the site everyday and think I should comment but then realize everyone has already said what I wanted to say so I lurk around instead. I will make my first comment by saying that Craig Ferguson is also my TV boyfriend (much to the chagrin on the real boyfriend who now has to put on a Scottish accent to get me to pay attention to him).
I look forward to reading your posts everyday!
Welcome, yosafbridge! Glad you’re here! But now I will have to fight you for Craig’s love.
And Av0: good luck and peace and health and all kinds of good things to you.
@PhDork: I still maintain that our Scottish boyfriends need to have a show together. I think The McFerguson Variety Hour has a catchy ring to it.
I take particular issue with women being called sluts by men. It is not meant as a joke it is done to specifically demean us and maintain the idea that we are dirty and corrupt You will not it is particularly genderized as there is not such word we use to describe male sexuality. What we constantly say is male slut meaning that slut primarily applies to women. Shame on you Dave, no amount of canned ham is going to make this better. Jokes are not created in a vacuum and are very much a part of how we understand certain bodies.
i <3 this blog and community of commenters an infinite amount. that is all.
totally agree PHDork. I’ve always found the way Dave went after female politicians stomach churning.
also soalg, you made me laugh I had an old roommate that seriously LOVES Craig Ferguson and practically drooled at the tv when he was on.
[...] don’t know if David Letterman’s joke was about fourteen year old Willow Palin or eighteen year old Bristol Palin (as he claims), but it [...]
I’ve been disappointed at all the late night hosts too. (I haven’t seen Jimmy Fallon yet) Conan has already been forced to become more mainstream after the time change. Isn’t it about time for a female run late night talk show?
Is it just me or is Conan making Clinton jokes like it’s 1998?
I’ve been catching up on Mad Men, but apparently, Conan isn’t doing anything to raise the discourse.
Stop watching them. Seriously, if we stopped watching they will be replaced. The formula is dying and virtually eating itself. Tune into Chelsea Handler, Kimmel or Ferguson.
I agreed with you until you got to what you think of Palin. I have decided that I am done voting for sexist, anti-choice mediocre democratic men when there is a chance to vote for a self made, smart ambitious woman who is NOT for teaching abstinence only and DID appoint a pro-choice female justice to the supreme court of Alaska…why the hell should my default position be to vote democratic when the democrat who was just elected has a WORSE record than Palin on appointees who make me gag, preachers and conservative religionist that he panders to and has a cute habit of calling women sweetie?
Seriously, my party shoved Bob Casey down our throats and Schmucky chucky said he wasn’t about to be held hostate by women’s special interests when chosing the nominee for PA (funny, I always thought that was the job of the primary voters). So it is about time to stop letting democrats take the women’s vote for granted.
ps…didn’t vote for casey and plan not to again. If the republicans run a pro-choice moderate republican woman she has my vote and my help and if she is “anti-choice” and like Palin says she is not planning to make a move to outlaw abortion, then she too has my support.
Women are more than their uteri and we have to care more about equal power and access and less about who is pro-choice.