The Perfect Life, as delineated by Vanity Fair regarding Tina Fey:
"Fey is sitting across from Richmond in their comfy, vintage-y Upper West Side apartment, where a lavender exercise ball lolls next to the flat-screen TV, a pink tricycle is parked under a black grand piano, and golden award statuettes abound. When I arrived, at 9:30 p.m., Fey had already put her three-year-old daughter, Alice, to bed and was tapping away on a silver Mac laptop at the kitchen counter on a script for 30 Rock, her slyly hilarious NBC comedy about an NBC comedy. She’ll return to the script when I leave, near midnight...
The 38-year-old Fey sips a glass of white wine and eats some cheese and crackers—all her food-obsessed doppelgänger on 30 Rock, Liz Lemon, longs to do is go home and eat a big block of cheese—while Richmond and I drink vodka martinis he has made."
Sure, I can *totally* relate to that. (eye-roll)
okay, here is my version:
"D'Orazio is sitting across from Sweetie in their rent-controlled, not yet awesome but livable Brooklyn apartment, where a plastic statue of a large Kirby villain versus the Fantastic Four is perched unsteadily on the big hulking soon-to-be-obsolete TV, an unlicensed convention set of the complete GI Joe on DVD is parked in an Ikea shelf, and empty containers of Red Bull abound. When I arrived, at 9:30 p.m., D'Orazio remembered to feed her 14-year-old cat, Thomas, before he vomited again in her shoes, and was tapping away on a battered and scratched Mac laptop balanced on her knees on a post for Occasional Superheroine, her raucous and sometimes infuriating blog about the comic book industry. She’ll try to return to the post when I leave, near midnight, but will be distracted by "Smallville" music videos on YouTube."
"The 34-year-old D'Orazio takes a swig of a glass of red wine and eats some cereal out of the box—all her alter-ego on her blog, Occasional Superheroine, longs to do is to snack on Total Raisin Bran, attain vengeance on her enemies, and maintain a regular bowel schedule—while Sweetie and I drink some more of that excellent Red Bull."
That said, perhaps one day I will be swanky.
I'm not quite sure how to feel about the fetishization of T. Fey as ... I don't even know how to refer to her. Token Geek Girl? Quasi-Librarian Sex Goddess? I respect her work and her intelligence, but she looked paler than the guys from 'Twilight' on that Vanity Fair cover.
ReplyDeleteGiven the choice of hang-out spots, I would choose option 2, Bob.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Raisin Bran is awesome.
Your version sounds more entertaining, to be certain.
ReplyDeleteIs it ok to think both situations are appealing? :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've always been more of a blue-collar girl fan than white-collar (which explains why I prefer early Madonna to current mineral water-sipping, yoga Madonna).
The primary difference I see is the compensation difference between people on TV and people in the comic (or the blogging/consulting) field. Especially TV people who get paid as the producer, a writer, and the star.
ReplyDeleteWhat does "relating" have to do with anything, if you have no problem reading about characters who can fly, are indestructible, etc.?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Red Bull is foul.
Have to say...I may be the only person on the planet to say this: Tina Fey sucks.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean that in a "women can't be funny" kind of way. Because women are. And it's fine that she's supposedly helping the image of women in comedy.
But seriously-- if she wasn't so attractive, would she be the media darling that she is?
And that being said, her writing on SNL was downright terrible. I mean, awful. Her sketches were always written from a "here's the gag and we'll repeat the gag over and over again."
There was never an end to the sketch. Never a second level. Nothing. Just hit you in your face and bludgeon you over and over again until a catch phrase was born.
And I KNOW I'm totally in the minority, but 30 ROCK is terrible. Every actor is performing in their own show with no relation to the other. The writing is sophmoric and does not relate to the actual insanity behind the scenes. It's literally as stupid and fake as that other "behind-the-scenes" of a comedy show STUDIO 60 (where comedians spent tortured hours discussing their personal lives. Clearly no one who worked on the show had ever talked to an actual comedian, who spends every waking moment AVOIDING things that torture them. Hence the comedy barrier. Get it?)
But in the end, I find Tina Fey doesn't help the female image at all. Sure, she seems like a nice enough person. I bet she doesn't even beat her dog.
But she ain't funny.
And personally, I'd rather read your interview than hers any day, Val.
Tina Fey ain't got nothing on you.
Haha you know what? I like yours better.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I should clarify so it doesn't seem like I'm just dismissing the whole thing in an indiscriminate geek way:
ReplyDeleteThe lifestyle & wealth factors exemplified in the article and parodied in the post are on the same "don't matter to me much in terms of relatability" level as are fantasy elements like super powers or life in an exotic environment. Other aspects of her character's difficulties in life and hassles at work fall into the "stuff that matters in terms of relatability" realm.
Red Bull is still unambiguously nasty, though.
You are so full o'swank. Your like Hillary Swank times a Kagillion on meth.
ReplyDeleteAll kidding aside, you sound pretty practical and more interesting. I mean, I love Tina, but cheese & wine. More like...cheese &...stupid...wine. (Clears throat) You know what I mean!
Also, did you read Ambush Bug #4? Jann's editing most likely had a hand in the intro. (Winky-face) It's really cool to see her be able to make fun of herself, among all the (most likely) B.S. Loved it!
That's a great picture, Val. Pure contentment.
ReplyDeletePrefer your version much much more. Possibly because I need that GI Joe set....
ReplyDeleteAnd it is articles like Tina's that perpetuate the "eliteist" label. But I bet the article was written by a very scholastic freelancer trying to impress people with such a verbose description. Another theory is that the description had to be drawn out so much because Tina supposedly is so secretive and private there really isn't much to write about her. Stretch!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with your own take on the story. I enjoyed reading all of the things around you. Yo Joe!
I think I need to send you some cheese. Proper cheese.
ReplyDeleteI blame Vanity Fair for the snooty tone of this email, not Tina Fey.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, Vanity Fair profiles are vile. They are designed to make you despair that your life will never be as fabulous as the famous person in the interview, unless you buy the jewelry and clothes and vacations being advertised.
ReplyDeleteI didn't expect to like 30 ROCK, and I didn't when it focused on Fey's character and her love life (or lack of it). Now that it's more of an office comedy, I like it better. Also, Alec Baldwin is hilarious.
Why the Fey hate? Can't we love both???
ReplyDelete*sigh*
Mordicai has it exactly right. Other articles I've read about her make her seem pretty normal for a TV writer/producer/comedian. The VF was just typical VF, both the article and the photos.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I've loved Tina Fey since she was on the Weekend Update desk with Jimmy Fallon (talk about different career trajectories). She and Amy Poehler were the best team they've had.
Swanky is as swanky does.
ReplyDeleteKarterhol has absolutely no taste in comedy whatsoever. That is all.
ReplyDeleteConsider the venue for the story, it was "Vanity Fair," not Rent-Control Monthly. The writing is entirely appropriate to the audience.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't help but find it a little ironic that Val would deny a member of the Sisterhood her little taste of success.
From all outward appearances, Ms. Fey has worked her backside off to get where she is. Now, you're going to deny her the fruits of her labors?
Also, nb to the poster who wondered at the authorship of the piece, it was NYT columnist Maureen Dowd.
I love Tina Fey, she is one of my sheroes! I think she is funny and talented and 30 Rock is hilarious and well written!
ReplyDeleteI find your comparison of lifestyles amusing in so much that you seem to be annoyed by someone who lives a life different from yours. Its like one cannot have a high lifestyle and like Star Wars, read graphic novels, comics,Batman and wear Louboutin shoes, and designer clothes. Which I do. There is room for all of us.
I had the luck to meet Tina Fey once, in the freezer section of a grocery store in between performances at a comedy festival we were both part of. She is supercool, completely friendly, and, yes, down-to-earth.
ReplyDeleteI think she showed up to the theater that night in sweats and no makeup. She is beautiful the way real people are beautiful, not the way that people are made to be beautiful by a staff of people.
And meeting her was seriously like meeting a really cool chick at a party.
If anyone deserves the success they have gotten, it's her. She works hard, and she's still a normal person.
You're talking more about Vanity Fair than Tina Fey here.