New York Governor, David Paterson, is legally blind. He’s currently charged with the responsibility of replacing Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat now that she’s been chosen as Secretary of State, something that he says he takes seriously in light of the scandal with Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich allegedly trying to sell Obama’s vacant seat. With this new development comes the inevitable Saturday Night Live mocking impersonation that is standard for any politician in the national spotlight. And so, on Saturday night, Fred Armisen put on his best fake, scruffy facial hair and wandering eye and did the Governor not-so-proud.
Gov. Paterson didn’t see the humor in a “Saturday Night Live” bit that mocked his blindness.
During the “Weekend Update” segment of NBC’s irreverent comedy show, actor Fred Armisen played Paterson, imitating his wandering eye, gravelly voice and blunt, self-effacing demeanor.
But Paterson and advocates for the visually impaired didn’t appreciate stock blind jokes that had Armisen pretending to be disoriented and wandering aimlessly.
“The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can certainly take a joke,” Paterson’s spokesman, Errol Cockfield, said today.
“However, this particular ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.”
[From NY Post]
Advocates for the blind say that the send-up of the New York Governor gives a negative impression of blind people as independently able and therefore employable. The National Federation for the Blind says the the visually impaired have a 70% unemployment rate and that mocking the subject, like SNL has on more than one occasion, perpetuate that.
I am sensitive to their issue, to a point. I really don’t think most HR directors or small business owners take their hiring cues from SNL political spoofs. Usually things like this are blown way out of proportion as far as I’m concerned. It’s been clear for years that there’s really nothing off limits for satire when it comes to politicians on Saturday Night Live, and Governor Paterson’s blindness is just as open for over the top impersonation as Bill Clinton’s sexual indescretion or George W’s lack of… lets just leave it at “judgement” (although, he’s got wicked reflexes as seen in this weekend’s shoe ducking incident).
Note by Celebitchy: I don’t agree with SNL and personally do find it offensive when someone mocks a handicap and makes it seem more disabling than it is. It’s not necessary or funny, and Paterson has every right to express his displeasure. It is much different than making fun of infidelity, which is a voluntary behavior and a personal failing.
You can watch the videos of the skit below if you’re in the US. If you’re outside the US, like me, you’re SOL.
i saw this and thought surely they must have called the governors office to let him know they were going “there” because it was so over the top. hilarious, but it pushed the envelope.
Yeah, sometimes SNL goes a bit too far. I didnt like it when In Living Color made fun of handicap people. I dont see any enjoyment out it.
I didn’t find it so funny, but not because it was offensive to me. Just unfunny in general.
I found it disgusting to mock a disabled person.
I don’t understand such mean spirited attacks..totally needless.
Even though I can’t view this, it sounds off. And lazy.
British MP David Blunkett is blind and a regular target for very close-to-the-bone, edgy satire but I can’t recall ever seeing anything where his blindness was used to demean or undermine him.
How can he be offended if he couldn’t see it?
I’m half-joking, but seriously.
😯 Seriously?? He has EARS. And friends to describe the skit to him. Being blind doesn’t mean you can’t ‘see’.
Elisha – are you a teenager? Your level of maturity indicates that you most likely are. I am surprised that SNL showed such poor judgement in mocking a physical handicap. I hope they issue an apology to Mr. Paterson and change their “anything goes” policy.
Well, I can say with a degree of certainty that I am NOT a teenager. And that skit was HI-LARIOUS!
“personally do find it offensive when someone mocks a handicap…”
Oh, and that statement is a bit off color. I’m sure no offense was meant, though.
Even outside the U.S., you can watch the skit using Hotspot Shield, which disguises the IP number you’re browsing from so sites can’t tell you’re not in the U.S.
I’m not affiliated with Hotspot Shield in any commercial way, but I use it all the time. Works for hulu.com and Pandora, as well.
did you really write a paragraph of commentary and THEN add a “note from celebitchy”?
I think playing up the blind stuff is un-cool. Partly because it isn’t the main thing about this guy — to be honest, I have seen him interviewed several times and I didn’t know he was blind until I saw this send-up!
Come on now, some of my best friends are blind.
Joking, again.
I’m not a teenager, just tired of all the overly-PC-ness of this country. This reeks of the “scandal” when albino advocacy groups were “offended” about the Da Vinci Code. Where does it end? “I’m offended by the way Brad Pitt is portraying the mustachioed.” It goes on.
I was joking about him not being able to see the sketch, but I’m sure he can’t grasp the full humor of the sketch without actually seeing the portrayal. Is he offended because other people who watched it are telling him it was offensive, or can he really determine it on his own? (*EDIT* I already know people are going to get offended at this last sentence. I meant, sometimes you have to both see and hear something to get the comedy.)
Further, is he really offended by the “blind” part of the portrayal? I’m inclined to believe it’s just being spoofed by SNL in general that’s got his panties in a bunch, and he’s using the blind stuff as an excuse to comaplain. Really, he’s blind. It’s a fact of life. Is he immune to getting spoofed because of that? Or are any spoofs of him supposed to ignore it? Again, where does it end? If SNL portrays Stephen Hawking, should they *not* show him in a wheelchair?
The Governor needs to realize he’s in the big leagues now, and being “fair game” goes along with that. That includes “dirty laundry” about past infidelities being aired, and spoofs on SNL.
My take is that SNL probably knew it was going to offend, but they’re trying to remain “edgy”. What offended 20 or 15 years ago no longer offends (and in some cases, what didn’t offend then, offends now).
There is a big difference is making fun of someone’s bad choices, and a handicap that they cannot help. I was watching SNL Saturday night when this came on, because nothing else was on, but changed the channel when this skit started. No matter how you spin it, they were laughing because he couldn’t see, and that’s wrong.
Elisha- I can’t say I agree with anything you said, and even your examples are not similar situations as this one. The Albino groups, and Catholics, ralied against Da Vinci Code because they didn’t want the book and movie to portray a “perceived stereotype” against their groups. SNL made fun of a specific person and his handicap. BIG difference. Had SNL stuck to the other things about him, like his drug use or something, then it wouldn’t be an issue. You’re talking about two different things as if they are the same, and they aren’t. I certainly don’t think being in the spotlight entitles bad behavior from others, though some people like you think it does. Hence we have paps causing wrecks and people afraid to leave their houses.
I don’t remember a big uproar when Eddie Murphy did skits about Stevie Wonder…………
I don’t either daisy. Go figure.
LOL and he’s right about “a blind man who loves cocaine suddenly being elected into office” being the plot of a Richard Pryor movie. Speaking of Pryor, I don’t remember anyone complaining about the Pryor/Gene Wilder movie “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” and they were, respectively, a blind man and a deaf man.
Tacky, tacky, tacky…
I think people are being overly sensitive about this. If you actually watch the bit, they don’t imply that people with disabilities can’t hold offices with responsibilities. They make fun of him more for his weird brand of self-deprecating humor and past cocaine use. Even when they go into how he was “comically” unprepared for the job they don’t say it is BECAUSE he’s blind, but rather that he fell ass backwards into it because of a sex scandal. I don’t know the actual events of how he was elected…if someone from New York could enlighten the rest of us, it’d be great.
Saturday Night Live does not do “true-to-life” impressions of anybody. They take what is there and then crank it up because it’s funny to over-exaggerate little tics and issues people have. That Sudekis fellow who plays Biden puts in a set of huge, blindingly white teeth when he plays him and yells at inappropriate times. When Fred Armisen played Boy George he did it with a seriously bizarre “gay” voice and flippy hands.
I guess the point is, when they do impressions on Saturday night Live, they exaggerate characteristics. Just because the man is blind does not mean he cannot be made fun of.
To all the naysayers: what would you have done? Made him pretend that the governor wasn’t blind? Talk about how we respect blind people and their achievements in the community like they are 5 years old? I mean shit, the dude is in the public eye. He is in the news. It’s Weekend Update. There is going to be an impression that highly exaggerates his disability.
Anyone who has actually seen him in real life knows that he doesn’t really act like that, same as all the impressions on Saturday Night Live. If you take what Saturday Night Live says as true, then I feel sorry for you.
And for those who “can’t” watch it, go to NBC.com. They have the impression there.
Agree, Daisy. When I watched it, I thought it was a rather affectionate take on Patterson. The biggest jokes of the skit were about his affair and his drug-taking, both of which were *choices* he admitted to. Maybe the “blind man wandering around” part of the sketch was offensive, but no more than SNL “offends” lots of other groups.
Elisha, a person can be legally blind but still be able to see a little bit. The person’s vision is just so impaired that he or she is declared legally blind by the state.
Please educate yourself.
When you see a “note by” that means a note by the person who didn’t write the story. Ceilidh wrote this, not me. By “mocks a handicap,” I meant the handicap itself and was not calling the governor “a handicap.” If you read what I wrote “mocks a handicap and makes it seem more disabling than it is,” the intent is clear.
they werent making “fun” of him for being blind. HE IS BLIND. like NotBlonde said, should they have made him not blind? that would be even more offensive, i would think.
ya, the wandering around part was a bit much, but its just SNL, not an actual news source or anything to be taken seriously.
they showed mccain wandering around during the town hall debate sketch, and i didnt hear about many elderly people being offended.
i dont know, i just dont think anyone should think too much into it.
Wow. Loosen up, peeps.
Ps: It was FUNNY.
overall i thought that this sketch was kind of funny – EXCEPT in the points where they made fun of the governor’s disability for a cheap laugh. i’m thinking specifically of holding the graph upside down, having his tie on crooked, not being able to hit his mark. portraying people who are blind in the media as helpless and bumbling really does have an effect on their daily lives. when an employer has only ever seen helpless, bumbling, chaos-inducing people with blindness, he or she is likely to be unaware of the degree to which a person with a disability can adapt to and learn their environment and become a productive member of it. so yeah, i get what they’re saying. unless the governor is known for making embarrassing gaffes because he doesn’t do the necessary prep work with his disability, i don’t see how those gags are relevant. the clinton infidelity, the bush malapropisms, and the mccain bizarre wandering actually happen – and THAT’S why they’re funny.
An friend of mine when he was younger had a friend named ‘Blind Charlie.’ Blind Charlie was part of the group and did everything everyone else did, including dropping acid before going on a rollercoaster and driving a car around in a field. He was hilarious apparently, and used to have fun with his ‘handicap’ (which he never regarded as much) all the time, especially when it came to pulling fast ones on sighted people. He might’ve loved the skit. People with disabilities are first and foremost people, individuals, and they don’t all collectively get together on *edit: or bent out of shape over* issues just because of their disability.
That being said, wasn’t Eddie Murphy friends, or at least well-acquainted with Wonder? He also didn’t make fun of Stevie, he impersonated him and there’s a BIG difference.
One of my friends from high school was deaf, and whenever someone made fun of her, she would respond by talking in the most over-the-top “deaf accent.” People didn’t know how to react to that, so they usually left her alone, or even became friends with her, because she had a sense of humor about her disability. I think Governor Paterson has every right to be offended, but as it is, he comes across as rather heavy-handed.
Anything can be funny if the joke is well done. People are too sensitive over the dumbest shyte, I tell you. If there was this much sympathetic energy when Bush was lying to make his case for war, there wouldn’t have been a single drop of American soldier’s blood spilled, and he’d be in a cage.
If you can see your keyboard to type your complaint, you have even less to cry about. No it wouldn’t matter if I had a loved one who was blind. Let me cut you off right there.
Everyone thinks they have so much value, the opinion you hold stinks. Keep it to yourself.
It was funny preventing humor in the name of “Helping those in Need or the challenegd” is making our society so Dull. Go entertain yourself then. Turn off the TV and go be funny you Loosers.
Your sense of humour sucks so does your opinion. Valueless like your misserable existence in front of a keyboard pecking out worthless waste of time.
Sure you can feel “Like you have done something…”
While we all point and laugh at the looser you are.
Most of us laughed, we knew it was “Wrong” like The Family guy…but we have our own filter, we don’t need yours – you delicate flower.
Now make good use of yourself go get me a cold beverage and clean this mess up you lil pigglet!
Go Sniff your self righteousness.
Looser
so that’s who he was imitating. i kept saying to myself that the character looked nothing like Dinkins or whatever the heck his name was. LOL! the sketch was consistent with SNL humor targeting public figures.
“A parody (pronounced [ˈpɛɹədiː] US, [ˈpaɹədiː] UK, also called send-up), in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, or author, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation.”
Baho, I guess we see it differently. 😉
Here is one of those skits from SNL,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jef8RGqqFsw
@Madge’s Dr: the word is ‘loser.’
SNL is just not as good sans Tina. She wouldn’t have written it, its just not that funny.
The article under the header picture is unclear to me. Do skits like the above-mentioned perpetuate mockery or unemployment among the blind community? It may not be right to mock, but for God’s sake, I wld. hope that anybody watching SNL wld. understand the extreme satirical value of the show. It has been on for 28 YEARS. I love to watch Reno 911 & laugh my hiny off. It is very offensive I guess. A lot of racial jokes…I have children of color. They laugh also. Obviously, he is Governor & very employable. The good news, it brings this subject for these discussions to bring light to the intelligence & abilities of “non-seeing” persons.
I have a sister who is legally blind and we agree that the SNL skit was hilarious. The governor really had to issue this statement, as many of his constituents aren’t as openminded. But don’t forget – we are speaking of an elected official, so he – like any celebrity – is fair game.
I’m with elisha on this one. He couldn’t see the skit, so he is relying on the opinions and sensibilities of others to form his opinion for him. Sight gags require, well…. sight. Otherwise, someone else’s interpretation of the gag may not necessarily have been his.
How many years has SNL been on the air ? If the governor or anyone else doesn’t know by now that nothing is off limits to SNL, then they should just turn off their TV sets.
I thought it was funny. I didn’t get the NJ jokes, they were funny but what’s his beef with NJ? The article made it sound worse than it was. He stumbled like 3 times (twice with the direction of the desk and again with the chart) big deal. The blow jokes were probably more damning but none the less it didn’t go as far as people make it seem. I’ve seen worse.
As a New Yorker, who lives and breathes and pays taxes up her nose. I LOVED THE SKETCH!! He’s a big joke here. Has really no business being in office. He admits to more vices than Spitzer. LOL.
For a blind guy, he has his eyes wide open for the ladies and the coke.
Give it a break people. Blind or not. Paterson is game like every politician.
SNL is an equal opportunity offender..which it should be.
Heck. They had Dominican Lou once..stereotypical Dominican like me. Kudos for SNL..they are back on top again.!!!
By the way, my hubby has met Paterson and he does see some..mostly shadows of people, but when Jay pulled his hand out to shake it, Paterson grabbed his and looked at him in the eye and said hello back. Yes. he is legally blind but he does have some vision. Jay asked me if I was certain he was blind because he navigated through the Marriott hotel my man works with ease. Seems Paterson held a press conference last week.
The New Jersey jokes were funny.