Sarah Silverman has a new talk show on Hulu called, I Love You, America. It’s produced by Funny or Die and airs on Thursday evenings. Has anyone seen it? I was going to give it a try the other day but got sidetracked and never got around to it. I’d like to hear any thoughts on it. I want to check it out because I like some of Sarah’s comedy and want to support women-driven shows. Also, because I can’t quite grasp the concept – it’s a 30-minute talk show where Sarah is trying to connect with people who are ideologically opposed to her. According to the few reviews I’ve read, she’s seems to be legitimately trying to understand ‘the other side’ so for that, I commend her. Feelings are mixed about whether the show is working but most are willing to wait and see, especially because apparently Sarah said up front that everything is subject to change based on if it’s working.
Sarah spoke to The New York Daily News’s Confidential about politics and mindfulness, which is the bent of her show. According to Sarah, our worship of the Almighty Dollar is detracting from our mindfulness.
Is Sarah Silverman going soft? The actress and comedian, who has bluntly and even shockingly addressed sexism, religion and racism, wants to do something different on her new Hulu talk show “I Love You, America,” which she describes as “social politics wrapped in a big, doughy bready sandwich of aggressively dumb and silly, which is my favorite.”
“I’m trying to be mindful, especially with this show,” the 46-year-old told Confidential. “It’s trying to remember humanity, lean into vulnerability, just try and be human.”
“You know this theme of division is not something that’s coincidental,” Silverman told Confidential. “I think it behooves certain people, oligarchs, certain corporations, people within the far right, wealth addicts, keeping a country divided makes it easier to control. I find that wildly blatant these days and I find myself susceptible to it too.”
Silverman, who grew up in a political family — her mother was a photographer on the George McGovern presidential campaign — says part of the problem today is teaching children bad values.
“It’s really bizarre,” she said. “It’s “Real Housewives,” and Kardashians and Trump. This is just worshipping money no matter how that money is made, no matter whose blood is on it. If young kids were interested in Ruth Bader Ginsberg, then things would be different, but they’re not. I wish they were.”
I can’t really find fault in what she says, people do worship money without caring how it’s made. But I can’t absolve myself from that so it’s hard to comment on it. I don’t want to be a Real Housewife or a Kardashian but I have found myself envious of some part of those people’s lives, whether it’s the extensive traveling or the lavish parties or massive wardrobes. I’d like to think I’d turn down money if it had blood on it but I still want a beach house so what am I worshiping? I would prefer Ruth Bader Ginsburg came to dinner at my house but I’d rather have Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe collection than Judge Ginsburg’s. I understand her concerns about kids, mine talk about money all the time. But that is largely due to my saying no to them, usually because “we don’t have the money for that.” As they get older, they understand that we aren’t broke, be we must 1) live by a budget and 2) decide which is the best use of any extra money we do have. I see that as my responsibility, though, not the Kardashians. Like I said, I don’t find fault in what Sarah is saying, I’m simply unclear as to whom she’s blaming.
In related news, Samantha Bee, who hosts her own show, recently made all the late night women talk show hosts metallic bomber jackets with the word “Nasty” embroidered in a heart because Samantha Bee is awesome:
She’s a damn mensch @FullFrontalSamB pic.twitter.com/kAXfoJJBvs
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) October 13, 2017
Congrats on an amazing premiere @SarahKSilverman! Thx 2 @iamsambee, we’re jacket sisters! Btwn us 3 & @chelseahandler, are men extinct now? pic.twitter.com/Nd2FEi3Fs1
— Robin Thede (@robinthede) October 14, 2017
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Twitter
Talk about making money “the right way” is also laced with class privilege and not really thinking about the bigger picture. As long as what you’re doing isn’t harming another person, I’m not sure I have an issue with the way you make money. People always bring up the Kardashians, the Real uHousewives, people like Cardi B, etc in these conversations, but what about the tobacco companies, pharmaceutical companies, clothing brands that own sweatshops, Wal-Mart whose employees need welfare to make a living, and other “respectable” ways to make money. In the big scheme of everyone working within a flawed system (ie capitalism) the Kardashians et al aren’t doing the actual harm (and simply make for an easy punching bag). If you’re one for change, talk about economic injustice, racial injustice, and other social ills.
I hate this (the reality of it), but I do agree with you. It’s like someone who grew up in poverty and seems to feel they never have enough so they are willing to get the money where the money is. “Art” or the “respectability” isn’t really a priority, but the safety and power that comes with making money. I have to respect that.
And I would like to say that if I was in a position to make money doing something not necessarily aligned with my values (I’ve studied advertising and have many issues with it for example) I wouldn’t do it, but I grew up filled with financial anxiety so there’s a big chance that I actually would. It’s just very comfortable to be sitting on my sofa saying I wouldn’t simply because I have never been exposed to those opportunities.
HH good point about Walmart etc. Cardi B is who I thought of too, but I thought her song was tongue in cheek and pointing out that she had to step on people to get her blood shoes. So a bit different than the Kardashians in that they deny deny deny any thing bad . But maybe to teens it’s equally bad because they don’t get it
She’s not wrong.
SS makes dick jokes for a living, which pays very well, so unless she’s planning to live in my shit-ass apartment and struggle to NOT buy food, she can piss right off with that elitist crap. RBG is awesome, but so is Kim K. She’s a massively successful media personality, and even though I can’t actually stand any of the Kardashians, I will never fault people for hustling and getting paid. I’m certainly not going to say that one of those women is somehow “better” than the other, because while RBG may do more serious work, a helluva lot more women look up to Kim K for being a kind, fun-loving feminist. Exposure matters. And have you seen her political tweets? She’s not dumb. She can market the hell out of literally ass, and I have zero problem with that. It’s not blood money if you’re selling apps. What, are kids obsessed with becoming gun lords? SS is so exhausting.
When I see people celebrating someone just because “they are getting the money” I always wonder if how they got it matters. That’s usually secondary simply because other’s didn’t care so why does this person must care? Why should this person carry the burden of having a conscience?
Even when they make money through advertising I think about this. What are they promoting exactly? Is that aligned with the faux sanctimonious stuff they say in interviews?…
But right now I’m going through a moment of “I hate everything” so my empathy isn’t really strong and so I’m probably being unfair to some.
I don’t know. Materialistic people have always been around, even before the Kardashians and the internet. Trump is a perfect example of someone who worships wealth and has zero philanthropic inclinations unless it can give him a tax break. I think the key is raising kids who understand the bigger picture, that not everyone has money and even those who do aren’t immune from unhappiness. And that giving back is as rewarding, if not more so, as making money.
The ‘aspirational lifestyle’ bloggers/vloggers on social media is just another layer of a lower class trying to get to the highest class. That neverending social class ladder can now be represented with a camera to make the theory current.
In the end, not much has changed. It’s a lie and it does hurt people. Once somebody dares to peel away the fake layer to reveal a sad truth (e.g. I looked fabulous but was bored and depressed; my clean lifestyle was a front for an eating disorder; I traveled to loads of places but was broke; I was an Instamodel but in reality doing escortwork in Dubai) you see how the same mechanism are still in place. Aspirationalists work their ASS OFF creating fresh content every single day for not that much money and accruing different skills so they don’t have to spend money outsourcing talent.
Even if you make money with ads (after attracting as many followers as possible and juggling to keep up with the different expectations from these followers which is damn near impossible), they can’t enjoy it because they’re too busy pretending to be happy and working 24/7. It’s a cult of people hoping they can be ‘better’ when they make more money. You can’t tell me that happiness is tiny bowl of 3-leaf salad, 3 hours in the gym or laying by the pool showing of the hard work. Sadly for many it does seem to be that way. And tbh, if that would be my life, my ass would be on social media too because that life is so restrictive and controlled, I would need external validation to keep going and I wouldn’t balk at some pocket money either.
The outcomes are rarely worth it though, either you’re forgotten in a few years when you’ve aged out of this trend or somebody offered the same thing as you but better. And the people behind that camera will never be seen as truly famous or talented and they sure as hell knew they were never rich. But for some, it still beats having to come to terms that having an average life and accepting not everybody is meant for greatness or richness is probably going to be healthier in the long-term.
It doesn’t help that in the past you could feel relatively ‘safe’ at home from all the madness that happens in society. Now we’re connected 24/7 and we have to do things like mindfulness to have some grip on reality. And this too is now commercialized.
THIS.
Agree. Especially with the 24/7 news/ social media. Yeah there have always been people like DT but being aware of it and seeing it all of the time everywhere you look is new and the young people growing up with all of this are being impacting by it. So we shall see.
I love you, Artemis. Your post is on point.
I agree with her. In many ways America is suffering from success. So the bar is continually raised as to what defines success. In America’s brutally capitalistic pov that’s usually defined as money and things.
Back when I was broke, I wanted the money and things desperately. Not always for shallow reasons. I wanted to live in a safe neighborhood, have reliable transportation and not go hungry. Now that I’m very comfortable, I want health, happiness and peace.
But I’m grateful for the money. It was the answer to many of my problems. It’s just that we have to clearly understand what money is and what it isn’t. It will obviously pay the bills and if you have enough, some awesome perks. It won’t buy you peace or permanent happiness. It won’t buy you class or make you a better human being. We often fail to make these important distinctions.
Yes. Seems like the capitalist myth of never-ending economic growth plays out in the life of individuals in such a destructive way. We are living in a society that fosters an exclusively extractive, completely non-sustainable “slash and burn” mentality.
I like the satin bomber jacket Sam Bee sent. That’s it.
I love Sarah. But why did not one of her handlers tell her she forgot her shirt?