Tina Fey's Bossypants

Just finished reading Tina Fey's Bossypants. And indeed, her pants are bossy and hilarious. I can understand why the book was marketed as a major Mother's Day gift and targeted women, but did she really not expect any men to pick up the book?  Any geek worth his salt appreciates Tina Fey for her intelligence, wit, pop culture references, irreverent -liberal- yet-somewhat-conflicted/traditional-outlook, and nerdy-foxiness.

When she first started doing Weekend Update on SNL, I remember thinking that she 1. had a bad haircut, 2. seemed really smart, 3. was pretty funny.  (1= much improved. 2 and 3 = still true.) Over the years, I've come to count on her for consistentency. What I refer to as the "highbrow/lowbrow 1-2" -- revealing what geeks tend to revel in: we pride ourselves on our encyclopedic knowledge of _____ and all the minutiae that entails, but in the end we are all a bit socially awkward and prone to embarrassing moments related to bodily functions and/or excessive hair and/or fat.

It's all about the glasses

Tina Fey gives us (men, women) something to aspire to. She represents how with hard work, perseverance, and luck (and ok, looking like a certain political figure) -- we can achieve our ultimate personal and professional Nerd-vana. Bossypants confirms what 30 Rock often seems to reflect: small town girl with a penchant for theatricality and lack of social grace does good.

On 30 Rock, Liz Lemon tries so hard to do the right thing by her show, her boss, her colleagues, her friends -- and often fails. But we fall in love (or pity) her because of her pluckiness, her willingness (or utter avoidance) of doing the unthinkable--the path of most embarrassment.

Bossypants is everything you expect and more. The account of how she made it to SNL, how 30 Rock got off the ground, and that whole Sarah Palin thing. What I didn't expect was the true moments of vulnerability-- despite (or in spite of) the jokes, Fey's youth and her current conflict between workaholic mania and motherhood, make you empathize with her. And then she makes a joke about telling someone to go "s**k a bag of d**ks".

Tina Fey does exhibit a filthy mouth in the book. (Which makes me think: is it ok for women to use the "c-word"? Is it "empowering" or what? I mean is it ok for me (a big Asian dude) to use "the Asian c-word"? Regardless, the Brits seem to use the "lady c-word" like no one else. No one should use the Asian "c-word" unless you are describing weaknesses in your suit of armor.)

She does address her scar right off the bat--she was a victim of a random attack when she was in kindergarten. Crazy. She does state pretty honestly that she was made to feel extraordinary through out her life because of the attention she got, but she realized that it was because it was to compensate for being slashed. But in true Fey fashion: "I guess what I am saying is, this has all been a wonderful misunderstanding. And I shall keep these Golden Globes, every last one!"

That quote seems to summarize the whole book to me. Tina Fey seems humble and despite all the awards and attention, she still seems amazed. But she will always emphasize hard work, gumption, and the people that support her in her life and career over anything else. 

I do expect her to write a follow-up to the book. I'm sure she's got plenty of stories about her SNL days, working on films like Mean Girls and Baby Mama, and 30 Rock.  More, please. I want to go to there!



Finally, I'll relay my brief brush with Fey-ness: My little brother J was a child actor (he won a McDonald's talent search and was in a few commercial spots, etc.) and in April of 2005, we took him to an audition at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. We had been on dozens of these, mostly in nondescript office buildings. Going to 30 Rock was a real experience--the lights, the glamour! (Ok, not really, but it was cool to be in the building where SNL and Conan were taped). We ended up at NBC casting and waited for J to be called in.  Outside, there were monitors and we watched Cameron Diaz practicing a sketch for SNL. Pretty cool.

Soon after J was done (he didn't get the part), we went to get the elevator to leave. While we were waiting we soon realized that we had been standing for five minutes next to Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph,...and Tina Fey.

We crowd into the elevator and I smile at Rachel Dratch and she smiles back (I would later see her two more times outside my old office building. Strange!) and just like that--they exit. I noticed that they were all shorter than I thought they would be and Tina Fey was very, very pasty white. But regardless, I remember screaming in my head "I LOVE YOU TINA FEY!" ... and I still do.

You've done us proud, geek mama.

GeekOmnivore SCORE: Fey-tastic! 

*images sourced from around the Web. Thank you, Internet!*