Ms. McCarthy isn’t funny as Mr. Spicer because she’s a woman, she’s funny as Mr. Spicer
- 7 years ago
Ms. McCarthy isn’t funny as Mr. Spicer because she’s a woman, she’s funny as Mr. Spicer
because she’s made a career of playing aggressive characters who are often angry for no reason.
As Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, on last week’s “Saturday Night Live,” Ms. McCarthy guzzled
gum, offered an apology “on behalf of the press, to me” and doused a reporter with a Super Soaker.
Add to that the fact that President Trump reportedly wants his female staffers to “dress like women,”
and Melissa McCarthy dressing like a man to play his press secretary feels like a particularly astute way to needle the White House.
Melissa McCarthy’s turn as Sean Spicer is a reminder
that cross-gender casting can be a lot more interesting than just putting a man in a dress — and that when you’re trying to mock an administration that seems almost unmockable in its absurdity, it helps to pick the best woman for the job.
As Megan, in “Bridesmaids,” she broke new ground as a tough, crude woman with bizarre ideas
and no boundaries who nonetheless finds romantic fulfillment, and in subsequent films like “The Heat,” she’s established herself as a powerful physical comedian whose best weapon is her snarl.
Why Melissa McCarthy Had to Play Sean Spicer -
Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of the president as a squinty-eyed, bloviating man-child has gotten under Mr. Trump’s skin since before the inauguration.
See, for instance, the classic Monty Python sketch in which John Cleese
and Graham Chapman, both in drag, pay a visit to Jean-Paul Sartre and encounter his wife, Betty Muriel Sartre (Simone de Beauvoir is nowhere to be seen), played by Michael Palin, also in drag.
because she’s made a career of playing aggressive characters who are often angry for no reason.
As Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, on last week’s “Saturday Night Live,” Ms. McCarthy guzzled
gum, offered an apology “on behalf of the press, to me” and doused a reporter with a Super Soaker.
Add to that the fact that President Trump reportedly wants his female staffers to “dress like women,”
and Melissa McCarthy dressing like a man to play his press secretary feels like a particularly astute way to needle the White House.
Melissa McCarthy’s turn as Sean Spicer is a reminder
that cross-gender casting can be a lot more interesting than just putting a man in a dress — and that when you’re trying to mock an administration that seems almost unmockable in its absurdity, it helps to pick the best woman for the job.
As Megan, in “Bridesmaids,” she broke new ground as a tough, crude woman with bizarre ideas
and no boundaries who nonetheless finds romantic fulfillment, and in subsequent films like “The Heat,” she’s established herself as a powerful physical comedian whose best weapon is her snarl.
Why Melissa McCarthy Had to Play Sean Spicer -
Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of the president as a squinty-eyed, bloviating man-child has gotten under Mr. Trump’s skin since before the inauguration.
See, for instance, the classic Monty Python sketch in which John Cleese
and Graham Chapman, both in drag, pay a visit to Jean-Paul Sartre and encounter his wife, Betty Muriel Sartre (Simone de Beauvoir is nowhere to be seen), played by Michael Palin, also in drag.