McCartney's SNL Skit

Before I begin this post I have to let it be known that I definitely believe women are funny. In fact, I think it is absurd that Hitchens has the audacity to say that women cannot be funny unless they are dykes, Jewish, or overweight. However, I do feel that women who do fit into any one of those categories use it as a catalyst for their comedic careers. As a woman, I take issue with that. Our guest lecturer argued that Melissa McCartney’s SNL Hidden Valley Ranch skit was funny because Melissa McCartney was funny, weird character not because she was overweight and appeared unattractive. She speculated that the skit would have been just as hilarious if Will Ferrell had been in her place, but I don’t believe that to be true. As media consumers we are accustomed to seeing men eat like pigs but that is not something we typically see from women. The fact that she is overweight contributed to the humor of her chugging ranch dressing straight from the bottle. To me, that IS using the fact that she is overweight to generate laughs. Additionally, I don’t think the skit would have been nearly as funny if the women who sat next to McCartney in the skit was saying the same lines and acting the same way. The audience wasn’t looking at that table of people wondering which one was going to be the source of humor. They knew before anyone even spoke a word that the overweight, crazy haired woman in the Star Trek sweatshirt was going to be the funny one. I think it would be refreshing to see McCartney play a hilarious and feminine character, especially since I believe she definitely has it in her.