Sarah Palin, "Weekend Update" and Mean Girls; these are three very different things that have one thing in common:Tina Fey. There are a lot of celebrities that people look up to and aspire to be, but one that is probably underrated is Tina Fey.
She is an actress, comedian, writer, and a producer- but most notably a comedian and writer. In her career, Fey has starred in several different TV shows, and been in movies like Baby Mama and the widely popular Mean Girls. However most people wouldn’t know that she is also a well- established writer. While being a cast member for different TV shows, she has also been a head writer and producer for such shows as 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live. Fey is also an Emmy award-winning actress and a New York Times best-selling author for her autobiography titled Bossypants, where she discusses details from her life such as embarrassing stories, to discussing the discrimination against women in work she has witnessed.
After graduating from the University of Virginia, where she studied play- writing and acting, she began sending scripts to NBC’s variety show, Saturday Night Live. After taking an interest in her, head producer Lorne Michaels hired Fey as a writer for the show. Later, in the year 2000 she became a full time cast member, as well as co-anchor of the Weekend Update sketch, until her departure in 2006. While on the show, Fey performed a number of different memorable sketches that typically satirized day-to-day situations and events. But her time as co-anchor for Weekend Update was her most notable performance during her time there. In the sketch, Fey and her co- anchors Jimmy Fallon and Amy Poehler, would deliver the news that parodied current events and trends. One of the reasons why Fey was so memorable for this performance, was because she was only the second female co- anchor in the history of the sketch, and treated it as a way to bring about comedy in a new light. Entertainment Weekly wrote, “Fey delivers such blow darts – poison filled jokes written in long, precisely parsed sentences unprecedented in Update history – with such a bright, sunny countenance makes her all the more devilishly delightful." Which brings me to her social values. Tina Fey had the ability to talk about real issues in the world and politics, in a way that made them understandable to all people, and at most times, hilarious. For instance, when you think of Sarah Palin today, you most likely think of the phrase, “I can see Russia from my house!” This was due to Fey’s portrayal of Palin, during the 2008 presidential campaign. The physical resemblance between the two of them was remarkable, and almost irresistible for Fey not to jump at the opportunity to impersonate her on TV and in the media. However, her persistent portrayal influenced the media opinion of Pain and ultimately ruined her political career.
Another reason why i admire her is for her feminist power. She discusses in her book about the importance of women in the workforce, and in making a comment on Hilary Clinton, she stated, “Yeah, she is a bitch. But you know what? Bitches get stuff done. So it’s not too late America, get on board Bitch is the New Black!” Fey satirized and made fun of news, politics and trends that transformed the world’s perspectives and even made things politics a part of mass media. Which brings me to her connection to faith and reason. The connection is more rooted in reason, because she had a purpose in working in comedy, TV and writing. She set out to do so, and when talking about NBC’s Saturday Night Live, she stated, “I’d had my eyes set on the show forever. I was set on it like other kids had their eyes set on Derek Jeter.” She knew there was a reason she liked doing what she did, made a goal and set out to achieve it. Now, my personal interest. starts from an early age. To put it simply, I’m a SNL geek. I would stay up late on a Saturday night to watch the week’s new episode and I grew up watching it all time. There have been specific casts, and different sketches that have been my favorite, and Tina Fey has been a part of both of them. The kind of humor, satire, and writing she used in her eight seasons with the show, as well as in her writing and producing of other works, is like no one else’s in her field and has brought about new perspectives on things like politics and feminism. It has also increased my interest in pop culture and in studying communications. And to sign off just like Fey, “Thank you,good night and have a pleasant tomorrow”
