question of the day: Should we be surprised at the resurgence of Betty White?I’ve been a bit mystified by all the Betty White love that’s been going around recently, but I hadn’t given it too much thought because Internet memes like this one come and go and often remain inexplicable even after you try to analyze them. But because I hadn’t been paying too much attention to the Betty White thing, I missed the fact that there might be a reason -- if an annoying one -- behind this. Says Sara Libby at True/Slant: I’m creeped out by the fact that despite being a gifted comedic actor and seemingly a great-natured human being, the hysteria over White seems to stem entirely from the fact that she is an old woman who jokes about sex. Oh, no: really? Is that what it’s all about? Of course, White’s most famous TV characters -- Sue Ann Nivens on Mary Tyler Moore and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls -- mined humor from the unexpectedness of, respectively, a perfect homemaker who’s obsessed with sex and a sweet yokel who’s naive about it. But Sue Ann and Rose were overt parodies of expectations about women. Today, it seems that the idea that older women aren’t actually interested in sex, therefore it’s funny when an older woman expresses such interest has become an easy go-to for a cheap laugh, and in a way that is not sending up audience expectations -- as MTM and GG did -- but embracing them and reinforcing them. Libby runs down how the reappearance of the 88-year-old White on the public scene has been portrayed: Her SNL promo inevitably involves White addressing rumors that she’s a “cougar.” As the Los Angeles Times recently pointed out, “In the space of one recent week, Betty White hopped in the shower with Hugh Jackman on ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,’ watched a Chippendales dancer gyrate for her on ‘Ellen.’” A recent Snickers commercial in which White plays football with a much younger pack of guys had a burly man end up on top of White, post-tackle, in a mud puddle. When promos from her recent movies show scenes involving White, they inevitably focus on scenes like the one from The Proposal, where she offers Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds a handmade blanket that she has proclaimed “the babymaker.” While playing herself in a guest spot on “Ugly Betty,” White declared that she loves her fans; “Except for the few sickos who write lesbian fan fiction about me and Bea Arthur.” In the new, yet-to-air original series on the TV Land network, White’s character is described as a “salty caretaker” for whom “nothing” is “off limits” – even prostitution. Of course, women of all ages are not supposed to be sexual, as far as Hollywood is concerned, unless their sexuality is explicitly about pleasing men. And “naturally,” old women don’t please men, and so that’s what’s “funny” about anything even vaguely sexual or suggestive coming out of the mouth of someone like Betty White: Ha ha, the old bag thinks she’s sexy, but she isn’t. In light of how elderly women are treated -- when they aren’t ignored entirely by pop culture... Should we be surprised at the resurgence of Betty White? (If you have a suggestion for a QOTD, feel free to email me. Responses to this QOTD sent by email will be ignored; please post your responses here.) support
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Thu May 06 10, 11:15AM categories: talent buzz talk amongst yourselves permalink 10 pre-Disqus comments Disqus comments tip jarshare
read morerelated· Warren Beatty vs Pauline Kael, MacGruber movie in trouble, more: leftover links · The Proposal (review) · question of the day: Did you watch Betty White on ‘Saturday Night Live’ this past weekend? · dodging the Egypt Internet crackdown; the Oscar race is already over; is Amazon going all out with unlimited streaming?; more: leftover links · trailer break: ‘You Again’ · question of the day: How many things can you find wrong with the cover of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue? · question of the day: What are some good movies (and TV and books) with young girls as heroes? · question of the day: Is ‘American Idol’ sexist and racist? · question of the day: What if we abolished the MPAA? · question of the day: Perez Hilton’s Miley Cyrus skirt-upshot brouhaha: Why is this *ever* okay? bloggyprevious post: watch it: “You Can't Trust Science!” next post: trailer break: ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ |
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pre-Disqus comments
posted by Ken (Thu May 06 10, 12:07PM)
Considering that nostalgia seems to kick in at about 20 years, and that Golden Girls (1985-1992) has a bit of a cult following, it's not really surprising.
posted by PaulW (Thu May 06 10, 3:39PM)
It's all about the Snickers commercial from the Super Bowl. I'm surprised there's not as much love for Abe Vigoda (who's still alive).
posted by nnvee (Thu May 06 10, 4:14PM)
There may a much simpler answer: She's just cool people.
I think it should also be of note that she is not fake funny and some old lady who doesn't know what's going on. She's actually very funny and talented (a true talent). Check her Emmy's.
Her portrayals of Sue Ann Nivens and Rose Nyland were comic genius. Maybe we all love her because at 88 years old she is still a comic badass.
No one has to get permission from men to make jokes about sex. Betty White sure doesn't. This Libby person should get a life.
posted by Dave (Thu May 06 10, 4:38PM)
nnvee - I couldn't agree more. I've always thought that she was hysterical and is one of those people who can make anything funny running all the way back to watching her on game shows when I was home sick from school.
posted by mortadella (Thu May 06 10, 5:49PM)
Libby sounds very cynical. Betty White is funny as hell. No one's saying, "Aww Betty, don't talk about sex, it's gross." I believe Robert Patterson called her "sexy" in an interview -- and he wasn't being ironic. If people laugh when she delivers a one-liner about sex, it's because of her delivery in that sunshiney voice of hers. I dunno, how can anyone NOT like her for the right reasons?
posted by Orangutan (Thu May 06 10, 7:29PM)
I've thought she was awesome ever since Lake Placid. Before that, I only knew her as the kinda-dense, well-meaning one on Golden Girls that got most of the laughs.
I think what seeing her in Lake Placid did was make me realize she doesn't take herself too seriously and likes to just have FUN with stuff. Which is what she's doing now with these commercials.
Betty rocks, case closed. :)
posted by misterb (Thu May 06 10, 8:13PM)
Let's hope that Betty White lives to 100 like George Burns. She deserves to get laughs for breathing.
posted by Maura (Fri May 07 10, 11:58PM)
I wonder how many of the people who'll be watching Betty on SNL know that she appeared on George Burns and Gracie Allen's radio show. Or have any idea why that's important or interesting.
posted by MaryAnn (Mon May 10 10, 11:27AM)
Who suggested this was the case?
posted by Kate (Mon May 10 10, 7:54PM)
Here's my Betty story, for whatever it adds.
My college boyfriend (20 years ago, yikes) worked at a fancy grocery store in LA during the summers where Betty was a regular customer. She would always request him to carry her groceries to her car.
He'd call and report every time about their conversation, the upshot being that she was a) hilarious; b) foul-mouthed and raunchy; c) definitely flirting with him; and d) an excellent tipper.
He adored her so much, I used to worry I'd lose him to her!
So I don't know about the resurgence of interest post-Super Bowl ad, but her appeal/persona seems at least somewhat genuine from what little I know.