"her slutty flight attendant look" and other pertinent facts
by
Joe_JP
06/17/2009, 10:52 PM #
The pertinent facts: During his monologue on June 8, Letterman called
Palin a "slutty flight attendant" and joked about Palin's daughter
being propositioned by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and "knocked
up" by Alex Rodriguez during a Yankees game. Letterman later insisted
the joke was about 18-year-old teen mom Bristol, but the young Palin in
attendance at Yankee Stadium that night was 14-year-old Willow,
allowing her mom to rage
that the late-night talk-show host was contributing to a culture "that
says it's OK to talk about statutory rape" and offer up a counterjoke
that "it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman."
The joke was in the top 10, which might not be too important I guess, but probably more importantly, it was about her "buying makeup at Bloomingdale's to update her slutty flight attendant look." The joke was not that she was a "slut" but that she had a "slutty" look. It also was not saying that all flight attendants are slutty. It is that she looks like one that looks slutty.
We are supposed to ignore that this joke is not taken from the ether somewhere for no reason, but has a clear basis. She has used her looks for political gain. Tina Fey joked about this in that skit with "Hillary Clinton" on SNL [reference to "MILFs"]. She quite arguably overdoes it with the glossy makeup and short skirts that show off her legs. It is not that all women politicians are slutty for looking nice nor more than John Edwards emphasized his "pretty boy" looks (which even his wife joked about) suggests all good looking guys are girly or something. It is that she and her handlers flaunt it for political gain. And, yes, with a short skirt and glossy makeup and all, she does look something like a stewardess who is a bit slutty. Sorry.
As to the jokes about her "daughter." It is just obvious they were about Bristol. She's the one who was pregnant. Even critics of Letterman at times was annoyed Palin kept on bringing up Willow. Likewise, many suggest -- quite reasonably -- the jokes underline that Spitzer and A-Rod are seedy characters. IOW, they are not about her daughter as such. Since she is 18, it also would not be "rape" if she did get pregnant unless it was nonconsensual, which is simply not necessary for the joke to work. Definitely not the one where Spitzer "propositioned" (you know, asked) her.
I'm sure the fact she got pregnant and later kept in the public sphere -- pushed by her parents surely -- factored in. Yes, it was partially about Bristol, an adult. A public figure now. All of this makes her a bit different from the Obama girls or even Biden's kids, who have not put themselves out there. But, the joke was in poor taste and a mother can say that for sure. Teens, even when they make matters worse by their own actions, should be treated with some degree of care. And, Dave does at times use crude jokes that simply are beneath him, like shots at ethnic cabdrivers smelling bad or yet another Clinton sex joke.
Exaggerating things or ignoring certain mitigating factors (including that Conan and others already made similar jokes!) is much less appropriate. The whole thing was tedious on so many levels.
-j
