Let's talk feminism and fun.
A few weeks ago while reviewing the series Odd Mom Out in this space, I made fun of the bourgeois women in my neighbourhood and their obsessions with food, yoga, Pilates and such. Nothing extreme, just mockery of the fads and fixations of what I think of as a local tribe.
Reaction was mixed. Some female readers were more hurt than outraged, describing the ribbing as "insensitive." And I was encouraged to "give space" to those women who are almost hyperventilating at the local bakery as they choose a pastry.
A columnist in another paper, who shall remain unnamed since she chose not to name me but described me as "one embittered Globe critic," described the column as an attack on women and directly suggested that I have a problem with women leaving the house. As if.
My guess is that the message is this – mockery of narcissistic women of a certain class and attitude is solely the job of women. A man's mockery of such people amounts to vile sexism and telegraphs the man's Neanderthal notion that women shouldn't be allowed to leave the house. That's what I gleaned from the attack on me allegedly "attacking" women.
This is obviously posturing of the worst kind, a casually dismissive, knee-jerk rejection to any mockery or teasing. It does none of us any good.
I ask you: Are men automatically barred from mockery of the fads and affections of bourgeois women? And, should a man be writing at all about comedy made by women that mocks women?
In the case of Baroness von Sketch Show (Tuesday, CBC, 9:30 p.m.), I'm going to have a go. CBC describes the all-female Canadian sketch-comedy series as focused on "the world's narcissistic contemporary culture." The cast and creators are Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora Browne and Jennifer Whalen.
It is made entirely on location in Toronto, much of it literally in my neighbourhood. I know the types being lampooned. I know the coffee shops where the characters gather and behave like nitwits.
As MacNeill told my colleague Marsha Lederman recently, "We wanted people to be able to go, 'I know that person, I've been that person, I don't like that person.'"
It's a good comedy show, not a great one. The sketches are swift, the jokes good, but to me it too often amounts to mere drollery. Any sketch show is going to be hit-and-miss. Some of the real hits in Baroness von Sketch Show are MacNeill engaging, sometimes very bravely, in brilliant physical humour. She's gifted in doing the physical gag, and often hilarious. All of the women are hilarious at times and in the dozens of sketches there are bound to be real gems.
The two episodes available for review yielded some sharp material, especially sketches in which children are featured as a severe annoyance, and some sketches mocking office life that are as good as some great ones on the same topic done by the Kids in the Hall.
At the same time, I got the feeling that there was a reluctance to aim for truly savage mockery. In terms of ground covered and urban satire, Baroness von Sketch Show is similar to the wonderful short-lived Canadian series Sunnyside – the targets being precious parenting, social-media obsession, yoga and all those other bourgeois traits. But while Sunnyside opted for withering sarcasm, this show is gentler and at times less funny.
It's still a breath of fresh air, because so much of Canadian TV comedy looks tired and focuses on the gentle ribbing of the same politicians, over and over. I like Baroness von Sketch Show and recommend it, while finding it less thrilling than advance buzz suggested.
Mind you, it's possible – in the view of some – that it's none of my business.
At this stage in feminism we have a woman running to be president of the United States, half our federal cabinet is female and there is a lot of female-centric comedy on TV, including Samantha Bee, the now-inescapable Amy Schumer, Broad City and the Netflix series Lady Dynamite.
I get the feeling that there's pressure to leave all it alone and never review or express an opinion on those shows. I'm the TV critic and the shows are on TV, but it's not my business. Am I wrong, or what?
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