Parody and politics

            There are many famous movies, television shows and historical events, and if something is very significant than a recreation of some sort is bound to occur. The use of parody can be used to remake a famous scene from a movie, or an important political event. There are many television shows such as Family Guy and South Park that are constantly playing with parody. Outside the realm of cartoons, there are many comedians that delve into parody. Tina Fey is a good example of a comedian who uses parody in a lot as one of her forms of humor. The Sarah Palin SNL skit, which got Tina Fey on the map, and is a pure form of parody.

As you can see in the video, Tina Fey is reenacting the Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric, but she is doing it in such a way that it becomes humors. Needless to say, Sarah Palin's interview did not go well, so Tina took it upon herself to play with Palin's failed interview by mocking it, which ultimately was a huge success for Fey's career. Politics and parody go hand and hand, and Tina Fey is a good example of showing how parody can be used.

Simulacra

In the world we live in today it is hard to decipher what is real and what is simulation. When engaging in video games, social media, and television it is sometimes diffecult to evaluate whether something is original or whether it is a copy. The French philosopher Jean Baudrillard came up with this concept called simulacra, which is basically talking about simulation in everyday life. This concept came out of the postmodern era, and now it is easy to catch simulacra in any form of media today. The show 30 Rock by Tina Fey delves into the idea of simulacra. The plot of the show is to replicate a sketch comedy television show, which is very similar to that of Saturday Night Live. The basis of the show is to make is appear like it is an actual sketch comedy production, and it is very iconic to SNL's sketches. There are many similar scenes in that are set up to look like a SNL sketch, such as this sketch called "Oh No My Period!"

This sketch is meant to replicate the style of writing and staging that SNL typically uses.The style is very iconic to SNL's comedy style of political parody and satire, which is what made the show so famous. 

Funny Lady

           Throughout my research and methods, I have gathered interesting information dealing with the humor styles of women, particularly Tina Fey. I have used content analysis and surveys to discover a more in depth viewing of the humor styles of female comedians. In the article by Martha Lauzen, I have found paralleling discovers that I have uncovered in my research, which dealt with successful female comedian humor styles, which are specifically aimed at Tina Fey.

            It is no secret that Tina Fey is a very successful and well known comedian, so in Lauzen’s article she talks about the types of humor that make Tina Fey district. In Fey’s past, she has been known to use a style of humor called, self-deprecation. This style of humor creates this idea that she is just like everyone else. Her comedy allows her to relate to others, which in return makes her comedy style very relatable to other people.

This image is a good example of Tina Fey’s use of self-deprecating humor. This still is from an episode of 30 Rock and Tina is making fun of her younger self. Through the use of making herself look a major nerd, she is gaining that normal and down-to-earth essence about her, which is self-deprecating. 

Laurzen, Martha. “Constructing Tina Fey, Comic Everywoman.” Media Report to Women 39, no. 4 (2011): 23-24 Accessed March 8, 2015.