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Poking fun at the blind?
A skit in the most recent Saturday Night Live drew criticism for being insensitive to the disabled. Cast member Fred Armisen played New York Gov. David Paterson, who is legally blind, as trying to find where the cameras were and displaying a chart of unemployment upside-down.
The governor told the New York Daily News,
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. Let’s just say I don’t think it helped.
Paterson filled the office after his predecessor Eliot Spitzer resigned in disgrace. He doesn’t have a clean record either – he has admitted drug use. Is the outrage about the skit simply a case of politically correctness? Or does it indeed cross the line?
back to top23 Comments to “Poking fun at the blind?”
Governor Paterson,
You were lucky. SNL did an earlier skit about an incestuous relationship between a governor’s husband and his daughter. But I don’t recall her whining about it.
Deal with it.
[OFFENSIVE CONTENT HAS BEEN EDITED OUT OF THIS COMMENT—THE EDITORS]
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Just one of many reasons not to watch SNL, complete waste of time.
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Scott Robinson,
My brother is blind, and I assure you it’s not so easy to “deal with it.”
By portraying Patterson as being too foolish to make reasonable plans to compensate for his disability, they just give everybody in the world a reason to think blind people are less smart or less capable than they actually are.
[OFFENSIVE CONTENT HAS BEEN EDITED OUT OF THIS COMMENT—THE EDITORS]
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SNL poking fun of the blind? Old news.
Check out this wonderful clip of Edie Murphey immitating Stevie Wonder. Regrets that it’s not the entire skit, which was one of the all-time best SNL skits. The good old days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jef8RGqqFsw
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It’s pretty easy to make fun of disabled people. I would think that any comedian that wants to be taken seriously would find more sophisticated material.
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I’ve never seen SNL, but from what I’ve heard about it I wouldn’t find it funny. I don’t find making fun of anyone funny, disabled physically or mentally or any other way.
Since many people do find legitimate humor in some kinds of making fun of people, I can consider the possibility that some of it does not cross the line. But I have no idea where the line is.
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One of the issues is whether only victims should be allowed to make fun of their situation or otherwise trespass on their situation. Jews told jokes about being Jewish. Blacks got in the habit of using ni**er while “doing the dozens” on each other.
From Wikipedia on well-known cartoonist John Callahan:
Callahan was rendered quadriplegic by an automobile accident in 1972 at the age of 21[1]; he draws his cartoons by clutching a pen between both hands. His visual artistic style is simplistic and often rough, although still legible. It has been likened to that of William Steig, James Thurber, Richard Condie, and Ben Wicks.
Callahan’s cartoons deal with subjects often considered taboo. His black humor may be exemplified by the title of his “quasi-memoir”, Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up?. The subject matter and treatment of his cartoons shares something with the work of Charles Addams and Gahan Wilson although it is much more aggressive than even the Playboy cartoons of these cartoonists.
I suppose the ultimate Callahan cartoon would show another quadriplegic holding a gun between his teeth and shooting John for mocking crippled people.
Did Jesus display a sense of humor anywhere in the Gospels?
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The last two paragraphs are mine. Two before that are from wiki.
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“My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie.”
I’m sorry, but I laughed out loud here. I already knew I was a bad person.
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Why are we all of a sudden getting upset when the disabled are made fun of? Is it because the disabled can’t help the way they are?
Let’s change it up a bit. I’m a lifelong Southerner. I can’t count the times that SNL and others have portrayed Southern-accented folk in their skits, assuring everyone that we are all idiots.
I’m not actually offended by the common representation of people like me, but I AM offended by the thin skin of others. I like how Scott said it in #1.
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John M,
I don’t think Scott was talking about being blind. I’m pretty sure he was saying that everyone gets picked on, whether you’re white, black, tall, short, fat, skinny, blind, dumb, etc.
You just have to deal with it.
[OFFENSIVE CONTENT HAS BEEN EDITED OUT OF THIS COMMENT—THE EDITORS]
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Graceland, for real. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of one single personal demographic that I haven’t seen mocked or ridiculed in the last three weeks and all I watch is children’s programing.
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I think that there are several ways to approach this topic.
If one is the butt of the joke, then it might be best just to overlook whatever offense the joke might cause.
If one is a critic of comedy, then one could say that it is one of the lowest forms of humor, as I did in my comment.
If one is not the butt of the joke, one might want to suggest, as a rebuke, that it is impolite to make fun of a person’s disability or anything beyond the person’s control.
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Graceland (#11),
Yes, I was referring to the fact that SNL will poke fun at any elected official. It’s part of the privilege of holding public office.
Unless your name is Obama.
[OFFENSIVE CONTENT HAS BEEN EDITED OUT OF THIS COMMENT—THE EDITORS]
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In response to a reader complaint, I’ve edited several of your comments. I know that as our culture continues to coarsen, such phrases have become commonplace in our conversations, but please know that some of our readers find such allusions offensive. Keep it clean. Thank you.
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Everyone is a target on SNL. Overstepping is the nature of the show. So where should the line be drawn?
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Gee, Mickey, thanks for editing out my comments. I didn’t realize my words were falling on such sensitive ears.
Could you at least have the decency to let me know who I offended? Send me a message at SARCrusoe@yahoo.com.
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“I’m just here because of a sex scandal which, miraculously, I was not at the center of.”
It’s funny without calling attention to his blindness. But, if they ignore his blindness, how is anyone supposed to know who they’re making fun of?
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“In response to a reader complaint, I’ve edited several of your comments.”
Lame. Your house your rules, i guess. But still lame.
Random, stealth editing of a thread, without indication of what has been changes seems pretty heavy handed. I would suggest that you either delete the offensive comment entirely, or if you opt to edit a comment, find some way to show/flag that the comment has been edited.
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This Governor dude is a triple play. He’s black, he’s disabled and he’s a Democrat. They should have known he was untouchable. It’s not his fault he can’t see when he’s cheating on his wife.
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SCOTT ROBINSON: It does not matter who the person was. It is the editors’ call whether to edit or delete a comment.
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Y’know, knowing SNL as I do, I am SHOCKED, just SHOCKED, that they would mock and lampoon a newly appointed blind, black governor of New York. Don’t New Yorkers have a sense of decency?!
C’mon, folks, this is SNL. The same folks used Tina Fey to mock Sarah Palin into America’s cultural consciousness. If you’re surprised, this says very scary things about your cultural awareness.
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22. For real, the last person to make fun of New York ended up having to apologize in front of thousands of booing, hissing fans at Shea Stadium.
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