Sarah Silverman
I know it's easier to criticize than it is to create; I keep that in mind whenever I start to say something like this. But "The Sarah Silverman Program" is a piece of absolute garbage. It is the dregs of humanity being dragged up and examined far too closely. It is Comedy Central condescendingly showing me things it believes are a part of my every day life, never realizing that anyone could go 24 hours without a fart contest.
"The Sarah Silverman Program" is, honestly, not worth making fun of. Anyone who watches it will know instantly that it is unappealing, lowbrow "humor" meant to provoke guilty "Eeeew" laughs. It's like picking on a kid with a stutter by pointing out he can't do tongue-twisters. Easy and pointless and even sort of cruel on some level. Leave the poor thing alone, it can't help itself.
But I have to do something, because this show is getting serious, and seriously good, reviews from people who should know better. A Google search brought up nothing but praise, including some really ridiculous claims like just because the obnoxious disgusting "protagonist" is female means there's been some sort of step forward for all womankind.
First of all, you're wrong -- every single one of you. Comedy Central has played this exact same note before, and arguably played it better, with a little something called "Strangers with Candy" that aired some years back. I'm serious when I say that was exactly the same type of show: a horrifyingly selfish woman banally displaying her every stereotype and prejudice while also spewing out an endless supply of disgusting personal humor -- the only difference being that the gross-out factor there was the sex life of the forty-year-old high school freshman, while here the factor is far too often shit. ...Literally.
I hate the fact that this show seems to be about a functionally-retarded woman who never gets into any trouble despite her endless string of irresponsible and moronic decisions in life. It's like the polar opposite of "Seinfeld", where you watch characters you kind of like fail repeatedly at everything they attempt -- "The Sarah Silverman Program" has you watch a character you desperately want to get smacked in the face repeatedly with a frying pan sail through life without even noticing the tiny setbacks that DO occur, remaining totally unchanged and oblivious and fucking self-satisfied at the end of every episode.
Sarah Silverman herself is an empty shell of a human being where there should be some sort of soul. I am cringing at the thought of the new episode that keeps advertising itself with a certain desperation every five seconds on Comedy Central, because it looks like Sarah's going to tackle lesbianism, and I'm so sure she's going to do it with her usual diplomacy that I already want to gouge my own eyes out on the off chance that I am forced to watch it by a crazed kidnapper.
But it's really not the show itself. It's all the reviews. It's the people who really seem to think this is feminism at work. Yes, it's thrilling that we have the right to be disgusting morons [in a not-blonde way] just like men. (Note: We're still not allowed to be ugly and only marginally allowed to be over 90 pounds, so why do you care?) But I don't care. It doesn't make the show any more interesting or funny. It doesn't mean the show has anything to say about anything. (Note the second: If you're going to make fun of the AIDS community, while smirking at yourself in the mirror about how fearless and irreverent you are, please -- don't forget to actually make it funny instead of just yet another showcase of your main character's complete lack of self-awareness or humanity.)
And that's another thing. Having Sarah make fun of something "shocking" isn't actually risking anything on your parts. It isn't daring. It isn't original. It isn't even really interesting. Do you know why? Because you haven't even bothered to pretend you think she's a sensible, worthwhile human being. You aren't risking anything by having a moron make fun of black people or mock gays. If anything, it's hard not to hear the audible snickering of you all laughing at your own joke, pointing at her and telling us "See? Isn't my friend just CRAZY? I can't believe she just said that!" Only you can believe it, because you knew she'd say it, where your real friends could hear and laugh with you at her expense. (And no, giving her cute big brown eyes and making her Jewish does not count as an attempt to make her likable.)
You're not only offensive and pointless, "Sarah Silverman Program". You're gutless.
These folks are all on my personal "argh" list, right behind the makers of Axe body spray. Someday, I'll buy a bottle and memorize its scent so that I can be sure to punch the fuck out of any man who ever wears it within two miles of me. ♥
"The Sarah Silverman Program" is, honestly, not worth making fun of. Anyone who watches it will know instantly that it is unappealing, lowbrow "humor" meant to provoke guilty "Eeeew" laughs. It's like picking on a kid with a stutter by pointing out he can't do tongue-twisters. Easy and pointless and even sort of cruel on some level. Leave the poor thing alone, it can't help itself.
But I have to do something, because this show is getting serious, and seriously good, reviews from people who should know better. A Google search brought up nothing but praise, including some really ridiculous claims like just because the obnoxious disgusting "protagonist" is female means there's been some sort of step forward for all womankind.
First of all, you're wrong -- every single one of you. Comedy Central has played this exact same note before, and arguably played it better, with a little something called "Strangers with Candy" that aired some years back. I'm serious when I say that was exactly the same type of show: a horrifyingly selfish woman banally displaying her every stereotype and prejudice while also spewing out an endless supply of disgusting personal humor -- the only difference being that the gross-out factor there was the sex life of the forty-year-old high school freshman, while here the factor is far too often shit. ...Literally.
I hate the fact that this show seems to be about a functionally-retarded woman who never gets into any trouble despite her endless string of irresponsible and moronic decisions in life. It's like the polar opposite of "Seinfeld", where you watch characters you kind of like fail repeatedly at everything they attempt -- "The Sarah Silverman Program" has you watch a character you desperately want to get smacked in the face repeatedly with a frying pan sail through life without even noticing the tiny setbacks that DO occur, remaining totally unchanged and oblivious and fucking self-satisfied at the end of every episode.
Sarah Silverman herself is an empty shell of a human being where there should be some sort of soul. I am cringing at the thought of the new episode that keeps advertising itself with a certain desperation every five seconds on Comedy Central, because it looks like Sarah's going to tackle lesbianism, and I'm so sure she's going to do it with her usual diplomacy that I already want to gouge my own eyes out on the off chance that I am forced to watch it by a crazed kidnapper.
But it's really not the show itself. It's all the reviews. It's the people who really seem to think this is feminism at work. Yes, it's thrilling that we have the right to be disgusting morons [in a not-blonde way] just like men. (Note: We're still not allowed to be ugly and only marginally allowed to be over 90 pounds, so why do you care?) But I don't care. It doesn't make the show any more interesting or funny. It doesn't mean the show has anything to say about anything. (Note the second: If you're going to make fun of the AIDS community, while smirking at yourself in the mirror about how fearless and irreverent you are, please -- don't forget to actually make it funny instead of just yet another showcase of your main character's complete lack of self-awareness or humanity.)
And that's another thing. Having Sarah make fun of something "shocking" isn't actually risking anything on your parts. It isn't daring. It isn't original. It isn't even really interesting. Do you know why? Because you haven't even bothered to pretend you think she's a sensible, worthwhile human being. You aren't risking anything by having a moron make fun of black people or mock gays. If anything, it's hard not to hear the audible snickering of you all laughing at your own joke, pointing at her and telling us "See? Isn't my friend just CRAZY? I can't believe she just said that!" Only you can believe it, because you knew she'd say it, where your real friends could hear and laugh with you at her expense. (And no, giving her cute big brown eyes and making her Jewish does not count as an attempt to make her likable.)
You're not only offensive and pointless, "Sarah Silverman Program". You're gutless.
These folks are all on my personal "argh" list, right behind the makers of Axe body spray. Someday, I'll buy a bottle and memorize its scent so that I can be sure to punch the fuck out of any man who ever wears it within two miles of me. ♥