"Debbie Downer"- SNL's warning to ignore/shut up liberals?

Watching SNL the other day, I caught the "Debbie Downer" segment, the one where the mopey girl at the dinner party basically ruins everybody's time by bringing up all kinds of depressing factoids: "Feline AIDS is the number one killer of domestic cats."

Although I know none of us are as morose or scattershot as Debbie, I couldn't help but wonder if the message is that people who are concerned about problems should just shut up, and that the reality-show and Scott Peterson fans should just ignore us because our issues do tend to be "downers" compared to the media-hyped titillation story of the day.

You see it in your acquaintances, right? To them, the mere mention of the ballooning debt or war casualties is the equivalent of a "Debbie Downer" moment, and they'd rather you just shut up. They see no reason why they should be concerned. Not like it has anything to do with THEM.

Am I the only one who felt this?



By the way, I do find the sketch funny. But the implications of it are a bit disturbing.

I HATE this premise and feel you are right on with your concerns.

SNL has a VERY long track record of sketches like this. There is really nothing fishy.

About the most humorless person I've ever heard, and IMO a largely counter-productive voice for progressives. She's the characterture of the popular misconception of a 'bleeding heart liberal'.

than one of those fake happy voices trying to get you to buy something.

...it might be shallow, but I personally know that she's turned people away from the substance of her arguments with her morose, oh-so-serious delivery.

And I'm in the choir (most of the time). She even turns me off on occaision.

since the "election" - she is the only one I can stand to listen to.

It would make no sense if she were overly happy and smiley. She seems like more of a real person.


I think it's like people who get used to too much salt and then don't appreciate natural flavors and spices. They just want salt.

If it weren't for her, I may still be a Republican today! She has opened my eyes, and while I've turned off ALL other TV news since the election, Amy Goodman delivers the straight facts daily. She is the most NON self-serving person, and she has dedicated her life to finding and broadcasting the truth.

Could she afford to crack a few more smiles? Sure, but hers is not the Daily Show routine. I certainly can't complain - she delivers every day without the nonsense that goes on on AAR or right-wing radio, and with a minimum of opinion leaking into her broadcast. She is absolutely NOT counter productive. Please, give me a break!

Never heard of her.

She has a very dry style of delivery and a somewhat severe, no-makeup look.

She's never strident, I'll give her that.

Wrote the book "Exception to the Rulers".

Very dedicated, opinionated and smart. I have a problem with her persona and delivery.

I'm glad for your conversion. Sorry if I offended.

I'll take her dry, humorless, no-makeup approach any day over Paula Zahn's overly madeup and butt kissing routine.

I'm not comparing her to those tools. Sheesh.

I'm saying I don't like her and her martyr-like downer persona. I don't often appreciate Al Franken's lame yuck-it-up style either.

remaining in America.

She is brave enough to speak absolute truth to power and she is completely unpretentious about looks or dramatic delivery. She is an old time radio journalist who has been pushed on the air because WE NEED HER.

She doesn't fit the stereotype of the propagandists on corporate media but don't buy into the bullshit obscurant media hype.

God Bless Amy Goodman. We need a thousand more like her.

She relentlessy shills her books and radio programs; and incessently relives her glory days in East Timor.

but I respectfully disagree with your characterization.

and I can testify-- She did NOT look in the mirror!! Even though she was just about to give a speech in front of 100 people!

I totally disagree. She is a great journalist, and there aren't many out there. I've seen her speak and didn't find her to be humorless at all.

Who gives a shit about how morons "percieve" things. Fuck 'em!

and each one of the times the topic discussed was not a laughing matter. It was humorless because it was deadly serious. I understand your point that in these days the image goes a LOT farther than the message, but I thought it was riveting as delivered.

...without wallowing in them and impotently bewailing the injustice of it all. :eyes: I find them very compelling spokespeople for the left.

Amy's discussions ARE no laughing matter. I'm not suggesting she become Al Franken or Randi Rhodes, but just turn the self-righteousness down a little.

deserves, the injustice of it NEEDS to be wallowed in. This can be done by various people varying their degree of self-righteousness of several issues or the issues can rotate among messengers of varying degrees of self-righteousness. Goodman appears to be part of the latter dynamic. As long as SOMEONE is out there and serious about it is all I care (well not ALL, but you get the point)

To each his/her own.

To each his/her own. :thumbsup:

Dry, gray, humorless, dispassionate, but I've never seen her come across as self-righteous or conceited.

I tend to agree with her supporters. She's a journalist who ended up on TV, a medium she's not well-suited to. I enjoy her more on the radio, but I can only take so much deadpan seriousness.

I actually had a friend talk about Bush policies negatively then, make the Debbie Downer noise and laugh. Self-moderating behavior.

I think it is a big stretch.

Im all but certain there was no intent as such. A much more parsimonious explenation is that thier intention was to mock people who seem to always kill a good mood. A "downer" as it were.

It just seems to me to be a fairly straightforward sketch about a downer that for some reason stood out with viewers warrenting repeated Debby Downer sketches this season. If it had bombed last season, we would have never seen it again.

But yes, this does mirror ugly repub liberal bashing, i just think it is a coincidence.

But there are millions of people(like the himbos and bimbettes on the dating shows) who live at the gym and the disco, and for whom the mere thought of current events topics is anathema. I just think this sketch reinforces that.

And no, I don't necessarily think it was overtly politically motivated. SNL gets in some of the best hits against BushCo via its "Saturday TV Funhouse" segments.

We all manifest RW thought patterns from time to time. It's a natural byproduct of living in a society saturated in commercialism, consumerism and reactionary political non-thought.

I think it is fairly benign. the bigger point for me is the fact that so many people spread lies that we as viewers make the association between a liberal and a downer. An association with no place in reality.

A couple (Ackroyd & Curtain, IIRC)who complained and "whined" about everything, and no one could stand being with them...

SNL is so pathetic these days, it's not surprising that they would latch onto an idea and over-do it..They have always done that..

The Killer Bees and the Cheeboogah,cheeboogah, and samurai deli were funny sketches for a while..and then they got overdone..

The only ones that I never tired of were "Todd & Lisa", and "Emily Latella".. RIP Gilda:cry:

Joe Piscopo and Robin Duke.

They were the first ones I thought of when I read this thread.

SNL just recycling their past sucess. I didn't like this charecter either--Just wasn't funny.

I loved SNL so much in the past--it's sad to see them flounder so.

Ed Grimmley, Gumby, Sprockets, Roseanne Rosannadanna, Toonces; the driving cat, the butt-crack repairman, or the caveman lawyer? Hell, even "That's soooooo sassay!" was funnier than the Whiners.

Even my wife...Morgan Fairchild...whom I've seen naked, agrees with me.:evilgrin:

:puke:

is why I turned SNL off this past week.

Won't be turning it on this week, either.

well, not totally, but the effect is the same....always bringing people back to reality with the facts.

After the election, he told me to quit w/ the negativity.

I think this is just a coincidence because they use real world problems as downers (because of thier magnitude, magnitude=funny)and liberals like to try and solve real world problems.

is realizing that someone got paid to write it. imho it was somewhat funny the 1st time, but now... :boring:

too bad because dratch is imho one of the more gifted performers on that show.

This is a fairly talented cast, the show is just absolutely lost.

anything that promotes acquiescent culture, no matter how benign, just sucks. Kind of like "innocent" ads to promote smoking for kids.

Good point. :thumbsup:

Most of the time.

Go out and get the SCTV box sets for some REAL comedy.

OR the Upright Citizen's Brigade, for SNLer Amy Poehler at her best.

And the classics:
The State
Monty Python
Kids in the Hall

to bite 'em (best I've seen out of them for a long while!).

The funniest thing about it was watching the cast fall out of character and start cracking up.

that we should all just concentrate on what is right with our country and never point out what disturbs us. If you do, you're unpatriotic or a Communist. It's another form of nationalism. And it's wrapped in escapism and happy talk. Just watch reality shows, laugh along with Leno, play video games, spend too much at the mall, and don't think.
We're all in danger of getting sent to The Addams Family Values' Happy Hut to stare at pictures of kittens.

and the fake news doesn't console you anymore, you need to get your ass on SOMA, er... PROZAC.

Republican Corporate Exurbia-Land. They never ask us what we want to do, just drag us around to chain restaurants and boring shopping malls. It's a control issue with my in-laws. I never felt so dead inside in all my life.

The conversations are like a stagnant swamp, they are truly living and breathing some kind of hate-filled nationalism.

When we got home the TV was always blaring Fox News or some horrible show. One program was about "TV's Most Outragous Moments" and Number 1 was Janet Jackson's breast. I swear to God I would kill myself if I lived like that.

"Addams Family Values" is one of my all-time favorite movies and my mother-in-law decorates her house all in pastels, just like Debbie the Murderess.

pastels?" Morticia. Funny movie.
Your description of your visit with relatives was horrifying. And all too familiar.
I'm going to build my own Happy Hut and stick up posters of Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, and Janeanne Garafolo.

there's never any guilt, only blame. "Nothing I can do will harm the environment-because only God can end the world. Like my new SUV?", "War is justified, because "they" (brown people) attack us first. Let's talk about last night's episode of "everybody loves Raymond!", "Poverty only exists because poor people are lazy. Now what's on sale at WalMart?", "Health care costs are only high because of frivolous lawsuits, not because beloved leader looks out for the profits of big pharm. corps over American citizens"! etc. etc.

there will be you-are-over-analyzing-reading-too-much-into-it posts, just-lay-back-and-ENJOY.

It's just an anti-thought, anti-activism, anti-speech slant, which TENDS to favor the right.

It would be interesting if Debbie Downer were to bum everybody out by bemoaning the number of abortions, or how horrible it is that gays are getting married in San Francisco.

Probably wouldn't get many laughs...

So far the slant is a joke about a woman who gets off on depressing the people around her.

Jesus H Christ...some people have the offense meters set way way too low. This is like saying Harry Potter supports witchcraft and is a amusing tool to convert children to such.

Think about that for a moment because the Harry Potter claimers at least have the fact that the book do in fact deal with witchcraft. This grasps at even farther straws. A lady who offers depressing anecdotes in the milddle of a party is code for liberals! They're telling us to shut up!

...members - I don't think they are attacking liberals.

http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/hall_of_fame.php?#TV-SATURDAYNIGHTLIVE

I think you are completely missing the point of the sketch. It's not about what she's saying, it's about the totally inappropriate (and unsolicited) way she's saying it. If you are offended by it, perhaps you should readdress your people skills (and spen a little less time chatting on Internet boards).

Step one, take yourself a little less seriously.

As far as I'm concerned, corporate TV is FULL of PsyOps stuff. That doesn't mean there aren't lots of good programs and great people on TV. I watch SNL more than any other show. I hardly watch any TV.

I never said it was an overt partisan message. Just commenting on what I sensed to be the implied message.

And SNL promotes the right's stereotypes of liberals PLENTY. It probably tilts ever so slightly to the left (by America's extreme right-wing standards).

And I never cast aspersions on any of the cast.

Fox's "Mad TV" has a much more anti-intellectual, right-leaning tone, but I'm aware that they are just comedy shows and I don 't take them all that seriously, but I'm interested in the effects that these subtle messages have on people's thinking.

I think it also has to do with the settings of the sketches. The ones I've seen were set at a birthday party, Disneyworld, and Thanksgiving dinner. Not places where people want to hear depressing stuff. I try really hard to inform my friends and family about what's going on in the world, but there is a time and a place for everything! So I think that's the joke of the sketch -- the setting and the way she brings stuff up. Don't take it personally!

That's why SNL and MAD TV suck so much more than Kids in the Hall or Monty Python, whose sketches were written by a small group of like-minded individuals (the actors). SNL is a corporate gig.
That being said, that's the only SNL sketch I ever even come close to laughing at anymore.

I completely agree about that character. SNL in general is politically awful, with the only regular exception being the guy that does the animations, which are usually right on.

If the left can grow up, move out of their teen-aged angst, start being people of solutions and not just protest; they can change everything. People get tired of nothing but negativity, just can't live that way.

you figure the rest out.

Don't read too much into it.

didn't find the script that funny though, although that gal's facial expressions always crack me up

hint, hint.......

it's a skit about a woman who has nothing to say but stuff that's depressing. She does nothing BUT talk about depressing things.

Its not a case of trying to open people's eyes, its a case of ONLY talking about stuff that's sad because some people get off on making others miserable.

Some do it overtly with name-calling, some do it covertly with depressing topics to discuss.

I find the skit funny, especially the feline AIDS line, cause it just came out of nowhere.

But there is an overall anti-thought, anti-conscience tilt to the media that has gotten worse in recent years, especially popularized in sitcoms like "Seinfeld" and "South Park".

A typical example would be where the characters on, let's say "Will and Grace" are faced with the choice of whether or not to help someone in trouble because of their hijinx.

Jack: Don't you think we should help her?

(Both Jack and Karen look with concern at distressed victim, then look at each other)

Both: Nah!!!

(Both run off to do whatever frivolous thing they are in the mood for)


I have seen this scenario played out countless times in the last 10 or 15 years or so. Such behavior by established non-"villain" characters would have been seen as appalling many years ago, but today, such selfishness, callousness, and attitude of "look out for #1" is prevalent, even celebrated today.

I just see the Debbie sketch as another reflection of the media's non-stop effort to prevent people from thinking and acting in the interest of society and community, and to stay at home, not trust or empathize with their neighbors, and consume, consume, consume.

that they poke fun at everyone. Even if Debbie Downer was meant to make fun of liberals, which I highly doubt it was, big deal. They've had some great Bush jokes:-)

Democrats are by far the more social and outgoing of groups.
The one person I know who is a "Debby Downer" is a male who voted for *.