Tina Fey and Amy Schumer's Impact
Beyonce and Emma Watson are two of the most heard about celebrity feminists. Their feminist speeches and actions are loud and constantly spread throughout the media, and like mentioned in the previous section, their feminist actions and voices may not actually be helping the feminist movement to progress much. But there are other celebrity feminists who are just as popular as Watson and Beyonce, and known for being celebrity feminists. However, while Watson and Beyonce’s feminist projects (HeForShe movement and Flawless) were scrutinized by the general public for their watered down and neoliberal form of feminism they espoused, some celebrity feminists’ projects also get called out for not representing feminism properly. However, the deeper effects of the harm from these projects go sort of unnoticed, and hidden. Two of these celebrities that will be focused on in this section are Tina Fey and Amy Schumer. Both Schumer and Fey are American actresses and comedians who have built their careers around feminism [1], and both have them have directed and starred in their own movies. Fey’s movie is called ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’, where she plays a news correspondent and travels to Afghanistan in order to experience something new. And Schumer’s movie is called ‘Snatched’, where she plays a tourist who becomes trapped in Ecuador.
Both of these films, that were not written by either of these women, were marketed with Fey and Shumer’s brand of feminism. Media outlets immedietly labeled both films as feminist stories of self disovery because of the fact that the women in the movies played roles that were largely reserved for men, like the war journalist (Fey) and the hard partying tourist (Schumer). [1] Reviews of both movies stated that it was a feminist project by it’s “very existence”. [1] Even in the interviews and press related events for the release of these movies, both women have mentioned their feminism. It’s clear that both these celebrities regard these movies as feminist projects, and the media does too. Some have seen this as progress of the feminism movement, where while there has been movies in the past that have feminist themes, none were made by outspoken celebrity feminists who actually became more popular after the release of these movies. This is, again, proof of the gradual change in how feminism is percieved by the mainstream media and general public that was explored in the first section of this case study. These two movies that are labeled under ‘feminist movies’ actually recieved decent amount of attention, and both of the feminist actresses starring in these movies have also seen their relevance increase.
However, there is a problem with these movies (there are many, but since this case study is not really about Hollywood films and rather the celebrities themselves, only few will be focused on as it will tie into the bigger picture at the end). Both Whiskey and Snatched have racist tropes and ‘jokes’ that are not so subtle, and the public has picked up on this. Schumer’s Snatched feeds into stereotypes and insensitive characterizations of South America and its residents. Fey’s Whiskey has the problem of ‘whitewashing’ because almost all of the important Afghan characters are played by white men. [1] People on social media outlets have pointed these problems out and have called Fey and Schumer out for their if not racism, then tone-deafness. [1] However, most major media outlets have not called out either Fey or Schumer themselves, and have instead limited their criticism to just the movies. This is seen even in the general public, where these movies may be getting a lot of scrutiny and disapproval, but people (especially fans of Fey and Schumer, are more hesitant to call out the celebrities themselves. It is important to mention that out of the two celebrities, Schumer does get more hate and is more critiqued, while Fey is the one who is largely excused for a lot of her comments, and given the benefit of the doubt. [2] Schumer is seen as the celebrity feminist who has promoted body positivity, so female fans have looked up to her for that. Fey is seen as the ‘superfunnysmart’ feminist who is real and genuine. Both of these women encourage women to be confident and stay united together as feminists. And because these messages and their brands are so well liked by the mass public, most major media outlets and some of their feminist fans as well hardly hold these women accountable for their racism and their promotion of white feminist supremacy as well. Both Fey and Schumer’s movies avoids any meaningful discussion on how whiteness plays a role in a place that is not predominantly white, but both these celebrities themselves have also hardly commented on their privileges as white feminists. [1]
All of this shows how white feminist celebrities like Fey and Schumer essentially have a ‘shield’ because they are are 'loud' feminists who are unapologetic, and their feminist identity protects them from criticisms about any of their projects [1]. Of course, this is not to say that Fey and Schumer have not received any criticism, but the magnitude of the hate and backlash for these celebrity feminists have been much lower than the backlash seen for other celebrities engaging in the same racist behavior but without a feminist identity. [2]
Feminism, and the feminist identity, is now turning into a shielding characteristic for these celebrities, instead of an important necessity for the world. This takes away a lot of the meaning behind meaning of feminism, as it is increasingly seen as a ‘safety net’ for these celebrities’ faults to go widely excused. Also, like it was brought up earlier about how both Schumer and Fey do not address their whiteness, feminism’s depth and intersectionality is also not being recognized because of movies like this and celebrities like Fey and Schumer who do not acknowledge their privilege as white feminists. All in all, because of celebrities like Fey and Schumer who center their fame and brand around feminism, the movement is becoming more and more percieved as a shallow label that can protect celebrities, and that is mainly about how ‘women can be just as successful as men’ (like it was mentioned earlier how these films were considered feminist because women were in traditonally men’s roles).
It’s also important to consider the effects of the name of feminism being linked and associated with these movies that receive a lot of backlash and disapproval. While critics do not attack the feminist themes in these movies are focused on the racism and other problems, the connotation of feminism as it is surrounded by more negative news may also become more negative. In the next 20 years, we may even see that the term feminism will yet again become misunderstood or avoided because of all it’s connections to these problematic projects by these problematic celebrities.
1. Michelle Colpean and Meg Tully, “Not Just a Joke: Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, and the Weak Reflexivity of White Feminist Comedy,” Women’s Studies in Communication, May 2019, https://web-p-ebscohost-com.mutex.gmu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=553d7751-c6b7-4873-b130-ff2b4c23caa0%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=137380952&db=ufh
1. Anne Helen Peterson, “It’s time to stop apologizing for Tina Fey,” Buzzfeed News, March 4, 2016, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/the-dangerous-privilege-of-tina-fey#.cem201AZZ