Something amazing is happening. A slight shift in the world has taken place, and finally, finally, women are being viewed as funny. It wasn’t easy. It didn’t happen over night. It has been a long, slow, tedious process. And we’re not there yet, but it’s happening.
Women are finally taking center stage in the comedy world, and it’s fucking amazing.
If you’re new to female comedians, welcome, welcome. They’re a whole new breed of strong, passionate, beautiful women who want to change the world, one laugh at a time. And if they’re not your literal role models yet, they’re about to be.
Recently, The Hollywood Reporter had the honor of sitting down with six of the most influential women in comedy right now: Lena Dunham (“Girls”), Amy Schumer (“Inside Amy Schumer”), Gina Rodriguez (“Jane the Virgin”), Ellie Kemper (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”), and Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live”). In the interview, these fierce comedians talked about life, their careers, and what it means to be women in today’s society, and it. is. everything. We’ve gathered a few of our favorite quotes from the interview to show you just how fantastic these females are.
- “I think people hate women. I don’t think they want to hear a woman talk for too long.” -Amy Schumer
- “I remove myself instantly if something’s perpetuating a stereotype. But the only way to stop stereotypes is to say, ‘I’m going to wait for a journey that suits me.’ When you compromise, you don’t do your best work.” -Gina Rodriguez
- “There are a lot of men who fly business class still rooted in the idea that women aren’t funny.” -Ellie Kemper
- “I also hate how the comedy community is so defensive. People are unwilling to learn.” -Lena Dunham
- Dunham: “The ’12 Angry Men’ sketch Amy did is the most important thing that’s happened on TV in a long time.”
Schumer: “It’s very important to me. I heard this heated debate once between two male comic friends of mine about whether [actress] Michelle Williams was hot. One was like, ‘I don’t think I’d have sex with her.’ I’m looking at them, both in their 40s…”
Dunham: “Bald.”
Schumer: “Gargoyles. (Laughter.) Actually, gargoyles are interesting to look at. And I’m like, ‘You guys would both die to f— her.’ Then I watched [SNL’s] Cecily Strong host the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. She did a great job. Then right away, the cable news anchors are deliberating whether she was funny. Um, are you guys comedy experts? People love burning somebody at the stake. So I just burn myself first!” - “There was an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race where they did stand-up, and [comedian] Rita Rudner told them, ‘There’s nothing funny about a confident person who’s doing well.’ So I start from a place of exploiting things in me I find objectionable and display and celebrate them.” -Kate McKinnon
- “Because we get our periods at night.” -Amy Schumer (on why women are absent from late night television)
- “I once heard an exec say, ‘If you don’t ask for it, we can’t give it to you.’ We can’t go through our lives just being grateful for everything.” -Ellie Kemper
- “I noticed when I had a suggestion for [Trainwreck director] Judd [Apatow] on set, I would say, ‘Um, sorry but…’ I started all my sentences with ‘sorry.’ I’ve made an effort to not do that now.” -Amy Schumer
- “There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.” -Ellis Ross
- “[Fame] can change your perspective unless you catch yourself.” -Ellie Kemper
- “Let’s never apologize for anything.” -Amy Schumer
If that doesn’t make you so freaking excited for women’s roles in comedy, and in society, you’re doing it wrong. Finally, the ladies are speaking up and joking with the boys, and it might just be the best thing to happen to the world, and to television..
Read the whole interview here.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]
Image via Youtube / The Hollywood Reporter
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Rachel Varina
(yeahokaywhat) Aspiring to be the next Tina Fey, Rachel spends her free time doing nothing to reach that goal. While judging people based on how they use "they're" vs. "there" on social media, she likes eating buffalo chicken dip, watching other people's Netflix, and wearing sweatpants way more than is socially acceptable.
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