Multiple – Blox

Multiple – Cornell

I’m not even going to pretend to be humble – my blox for Multiple turned out way better than I could have expected it to. When I began searching for images and inspiration I started with words like birthday (because of the importance of her daughters birthday cake). I found the birthday cake and lightened it so that it could serve as a backdrop for the image. This is mostly because I think that Tina’s daughter’s birthday was really at the back of her mind. It wasn’t as imminent and pressing a matter as Oprah. Speaking of Oprah, I didn’t want to include her in my blox because, let’s be honest, she would definitely overshadow the image of Tina Fey.

For Tina, I chose to portray her as Sarah Palin in this blox. During the chapter in which all of these events come together, Tina Fey is doing her appearances on SNL as Sarah Palin. She includes the original script in the book and reading it reminded me of how empowered I felt when I watched it during the campaign in ’08. At that age I was a young, liberal democrat and I really liked the image that Tina and Amy were creating for women. These two female comedy legends created a perfect example of how comedy can be used to highlight important social issues. By poking fun at Sarah Palin and illuminating how un-qualified she was, they showed me what serious women look like – even if they’re in comedy. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler make an awesome duo and I hope I can be half as cool as they are when I’m older.

This sketch easily could have been a dumb catfight between two female candidates. What Seth and Amy wrote, however, was two women speaking out together against sexism in the campaign. In real like these women experience different sides of the same sexism coin. People who didn’t like Hillary called her a ballbuster. People who didn’t like Sarah called her Caribou Barbie. People attempted to marginalize these women based on their gender…You all watched a sketch about feminism and you didn’t even realize it because of all the jokes.

Another interesting facet of the blox is the motif of juggling. No joke – I just googled images of “juggling” and came up with both of these perfect instances of sexism! The male juggler is obviously worried and busy juggling work, more work, scheduling, and a family portrait that doesn’t show him in it. The female juggler, is happy as a clam while she juggles making breakfast, cleaning products, makeup, and of course, her cell phone. I really don’t even feel like I need to do anything but shake my head at this obvious portrayal of traditional domesticity. The blox explains it all!

Multiple – Adaptation

My print lit segment for Multiple will DEFINITELY be my Act III Goals in my Scene-O-Gram. It is during this crazy juggling act of responsibilities that Tina Fey really excels and reaches a conclusion that is consistent with the theme of feminism. This would work out perfectly because all of the big three events: Oprah’s guest appearance, Fey’s Palin impression, and her daughter’s birthday all fall within the same 48 hour period. In this situation, all of the anxiety created from Act II will be resolved. After, Tina goes into a long rant about her plans for the future which will hopefully be included.

The most important part of the resolution is that in the end, Tina Fey gets everything she’s ever wanted. She has an audience of excited democrats who actually WANT to see her perform, her daughter gets a kick-ass Peter Pan cake topper and party for her birthday, and she strikes 30 Rock publicity gold by getting Oprah to come on the show. The most important part, is that she gets what she wants regardless of her gender. I think it is also important to mention the backlash that Fey received after playing Sarah Palin:

There was an assumption that I was personally attacking Sarah Palin by impersonating her on TV. No one ever said it was “mean” when Chevy Chase played Gerald Form falling down all the time. No one ever accused Dana Carvey or Darrell Hammond or Dan Aykroyd of “going too far” in their political impressions. You see what I’m getting at here. I am not mean and Mrs. Palin is not fragile. To imply otherwise is a disservice to us both.

I think the last two sentences are the most meaningful and points the way to the future; when females can question or challenge each other without it being misconstrued as jealousy or a cat fight.