Arguing With Myself...And Other Pastimes (Leftover Thoughts)
I wrote my response paper about Swink's text and how Alexandra Rowe's makes an important point about what is expected of female comics versus male comics. Rowe's conclusion is that women should not be limited to being likable because the same is certainly not expected of their male counterparts. In my paper, I bring up funny people like Ricky Gervais and David Letterman as examples of how being unpleasant can work in the favor of male comics.
All that being said... Let me now try to pick my argument apart. I guess the best stance I can take against myself is that there are quite a few disagreeable female comedic characters. Ron Swanson's ex-wife, and malevolent librarian Tammy is a perfect example of the villainous female comedic character, but it is worth observing that she is also hyper-sexual and exhibits a complete control over the otherwise immovable Ron, that hints towards there being more to Tammy than meets the eye.
The issue is Liz Lemon is not at all a villain. She simply has human reactions to ridiculous, trying situations. Neither show is rooted entirely in reality. I have always felt that sit-coms exist in the same realm as Magical Realism. They are not entirely removed from reality, but they exist in an enhanced, more elastic version of it. Lemon faces the same real struggle that women (a lot of men also want children) face on a constant basis: prioritizing work and a personal life. Of course, the two are not always opposed, but their are only so many hours in the day. There must be a give and take somewhere.
The last issue I had with Swink's audience and their perception of Liz Lemon is that her ending was a happy one! She had to struggle to get their, but she adopts children with her Kris and they grow up to work at 30 Rock with the immortal Kenneth Parcel, who we find eventually makes his way to Jack's position. Is it so disagreeable to be confronted with the reality that we must take choices in life? Liz Lemon succeeds in balancing her personal development with her career, but I guess she didn't smile the whole time. Does that void the whole thing? Of course not. I am in favor of human heroes and Liz Lemon is just that.
Hi Stephen! Thank you for writing your response paper about my forum post. I'm rather flattered by this! Tammy 2 (Ron had a habit of marrying women named Tammy), is a good example of disagreeable female comedic characters. Another example would be Colleen, Jack's mother on 30 Rock. Colleen once complained that Jack cried too much when he was born! Tammy 2 also went against the trope of librarians being demure. The magical realism comparison to sitcoms is really fascinating.
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