Saturday Night Live took a series of jabs at New York Gov. Paterson this weekend, as shown in the clip above and also in this clip. In the midst of mocking the governor’s former cocaine problems, infidelities and unpreparedness, they also took some rather hilarious jabs at his blindness, which his camp did not find funny. Neither did advocates for the blind.
“The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can certainly take a joke,” Paterson’s spokesman, Errol Cockfield, said. “However, this particular ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.”
I like how Paterson’s spokesman says he “engages in humor.” Who the hell “engages in humor”? I think Mr. Cockfield — admittedly an unfortunate name for a man repping an admitted philanderer, but that’s neither here nor there — is so used to talking about the gov “engaging in drug use” or “engaging in extramarital affairs” that the phrase just came out that way.
And the National Federation for the Blind? They’re not happy, either.
“When you have a perception problem like we have, you take these things a little more seriously,” said Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind. “We have 70 percent unemployment – and it’s not because we can’t work. Obviously, the governor of New York is blind, and he’s doing the job. Whenever you have a portrayal that calls the basic capacity of [blind people] into question, that’s a potential problem.”
In closing, I’d like to add that the New York Post ran this story under the headline “PATERSON IN A BLIND RAGE OVER ‘SNL’ SKIT” and led the story with “Gov. Paterson didn’t see the humor in a ‘Saturday Night Live’ bit that mocked his blindness.” So, ya know, thanks for stealing all the best puns in the first column inch, guys.
hahah Blind Rage!
I fucking Snorted laughing at this.
meeee too. those post headlines are ridiculous. ridiculous and kind of awesome.
yeah dude…not nice to make fun of that…
Okay, so I’m only going to say this one last thing and then I swear I’ll never say another word on the subject… but seriously, I read that article and thought to myself “Hey, that was amusing ~ I guess I was wrong about wendie after all” and then I looked up and saw who wrote it.
That is all.
My boyfriend and I are both legally blind-we have serious visual impairments but still have usable vision-and we totally cracked up at that bit on SNL last night. I loved how they used it to make Amy saying goodbye not so sad.
My 12-week-old son is blind.
And I snickered.
What kind of asshole does this make me?
It doesn’t. It means you have a sense of humor which unfortunatelty separates you from 98% of the politically correct-obsessed world these days. Everyone is just waiting for their chance to get offended at something.
Your son is lucky to have a mom who can take something like that and snicker and not freak out or get offended, actually it means that you know he’ll have a good life regardless of a disability and that you don’t see it as a stumbling block but rather just something about him that might or might not be funny in different contexts.
Nope that makes you awesome, not an asshole. Your son is lucky to have you. :)
okay, look. when they started using his blindness as a joke, i felt like it was just the same kinda thing when they made fun of john mccain going in front of the camera at the second debate, or that crazy lady from one of john mccain’s townhalls (remember her? “he’s an arab” woman). anyway, i don’t really feel like it had so much to do with his blindness other than its just really REALLY funny when people go in front of cameras and “don’t” realize it…I don’t know why, but it is! besides, don’t people get that it’s a caricature of people that snl-ers are playing? ahhhh. i’m sensitive to stuff, but it was just so funny when he started walking in front of the cameras…
Not PC but very funny. I love that “engages in humor” commennt from his camp.
Maybe if the Governor would use a cane, guide dog or Braille instead of relying on his privileged background, SNL wouldn’t have done this.
What the hell are all those blind people getting so angry about? I bet not even one of them even saw the skit.
As a blind woman who does a lot of advocacy through the Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind (PAD, NFB), which has its main offices in NYC,
http://www.padnfb.org
I wish to comment on the SNL digs at Paterson’s blindness. The major perspectives on this are: 1 that SNL shouldn’t make fun of blind people & 2. that blind people shouldn’t be offended. I disagree with both. In commenting, Paterson said that he was doing it because of the effect that negative depictions of blindness have on others. As governor, he knows that he is fair game for criticism about his cocaine use and anything to do with his handling of his responsibilities as a public official. He’s a big enough man to let that stuff slide. He is also a big enough man to realize that in a world where issues effecting blind Americans, such as an unemployment rate more than ten times the national average, are rarely even mentioned in the mainstream media, it is within his power and is his responsibility to speak out when the opportunity arises to bring those issues to the attention of the public. Blind Americans, some of whom are lawyers, engineers, mechanics, medical transcriptionists and so on, face discrimination on every front. Unlike other minorities who have benefited from a strong media presence, there are few blind people in the mainstream media and virtually no blind women. There hasn’t been a new blind American superstar for decades and the only blind woman most people know is Helen Keller, who died over 50 years ago. At PAD, we are trying to change this by supporting blind entertainers through scholarships, subsidies, mentoring and peer support.
The public should care, not merely to spare the feelings of blind people, but because most blind people lose their sight as adults. Having been born sighted and growing up in a sighted world, they develop opinions — mostly negative — about what it means to be blind. Those opinions, not having to learn Braille or how to use a talking computer, guide dog or cane, are the biggest obstacles to rehabilitation. Earlier this month, the CDC released its predictions that diabetes-related blindness among working-age Americans will tripple by 2050. Whether a cure for the disease or a change in societal attitudes, which would make it easier for the newly blinded to resume their productive lives, will occur first remains to be seen.
“When you have a perception problem like we have, you take these things a little more seriously,”
perception problem= being blind
They weren’t mocking him for being blind, they were mocking him for being a douche and a bad Governor. Sure, they may have been a bit tactless in portraying his disability, but when has SNL ever been known for tact?
Basically, his people are saying he’s off-limits from mockery because of his disability.
SNL has always been an equal-opportunity mockery machine. No one’s untouchable.
I was nearly crying during Amy’s goodbye. First from being sad, and then from laughing. That is quality TV!
note to Hmmm: complimenting wendie is the new complaining about wendie. at least that’s the memo i got. loudly.
get over it! everybody gets made fun of in this world. there is scarcely anything that’s sacred. get on the bus blind man! we’ve all taken punches! especially us heavies! it’s anarchy! make fun of everyone. including breslin! go for it!