Silverman Worship
Slate is all over Sarah Silverman today, with three front-page articles about her, her humor and her new movie.
a) I love Sarah Silverman - I think she's hilarious. And I do think she's thin. And,
b) I'm all for dissection and analysis.
But...as sort of interesting as it can be to read about the social drivers of pop culture, is there anything more tired and boring and unfunny than reading about why comedians are funny/relevant/etc.? Especially for, like, the fifth time in a month? Slate's a little behind in these articles. They're not going to do better than the New Yorker did a few weeks ago. I'm not sure I would've tried.
And maybe it's just me, but every time I read about how Silverman pushes the edge of what's acceptable in humor, about just how offensive she is, I can't help but think that most journalists live awfully sheltered lives. Yes, she is very funny and yes, she's pretty enough to make it OK to laugh at racist jokes. But she's not that hardcore. She's not saying things other people don't say. What's interesting about Sarah Silverman is not that she says those things, or even that she says them with such a straight face. It's that she says those things on TV.
What I want to know is: where's the article that compares her to Eminem? That seems, to me, highly apt. A harmless looking public figure with a dirty mouth, who's willing to say things in public that most people would only say to their friends.
Seriously, not to take anything away from Sarah Silverman. I really do think she's hilarious. But I've read one too many of the same article this month.
a) I love Sarah Silverman - I think she's hilarious. And I do think she's thin. And,
b) I'm all for dissection and analysis.
But...as sort of interesting as it can be to read about the social drivers of pop culture, is there anything more tired and boring and unfunny than reading about why comedians are funny/relevant/etc.? Especially for, like, the fifth time in a month? Slate's a little behind in these articles. They're not going to do better than the New Yorker did a few weeks ago. I'm not sure I would've tried.
And maybe it's just me, but every time I read about how Silverman pushes the edge of what's acceptable in humor, about just how offensive she is, I can't help but think that most journalists live awfully sheltered lives. Yes, she is very funny and yes, she's pretty enough to make it OK to laugh at racist jokes. But she's not that hardcore. She's not saying things other people don't say. What's interesting about Sarah Silverman is not that she says those things, or even that she says them with such a straight face. It's that she says those things on TV.
What I want to know is: where's the article that compares her to Eminem? That seems, to me, highly apt. A harmless looking public figure with a dirty mouth, who's willing to say things in public that most people would only say to their friends.
Seriously, not to take anything away from Sarah Silverman. I really do think she's hilarious. But I've read one too many of the same article this month.
posted by Kit Pollard at
10:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home