The Carol Burnett Show sketch that inspired Mama's Family
Added 2022-09-28 04:48:16 +0000 UTCIt's linked to in the show notes, but I thought I'd also post the original "The Family" sketch that ultimately morphed into Mama's Family. Written by at least one queer person, it's not funny so much as it is very well-realized about what it's like to be a creative person who does no longer can be understood by their family. I kind of felt like I'd been hit in the gut when I watched this, honestly. Your mileage may vary.
Comments
Btw in NO way do I mean to suggest that people in Phillip’s shoes are there because they didn’t try hard enough or were not good enough. That’s toxic victim blaming, and in some cases I suspect no amount of accommodation would lead to a satisfactory outcome. But I think many of us try anyway and even when it works it can be a hollow victory.
knope2001
2022-09-28 13:58:25 +0000 UTCDang, I've never looked at this one through Phillip's eyes. Playing it for comedy puts the focus on what rubes the others are, and Phillip (who I don't think is mentioned in future sketches) is a plot device. Watching through his eyes today turned this into a very different sketch. At first I felt a wave of sadness for people whose families don't "get" them, who feel like they don't fit, are underappreciated, held at arms length or ignored. And I'm grateful for not having felt that way in my family. But then I realized that a lot of us might well be Phillip if we presented our full selves to our families, if we didn't try hard to fit in and be perfect. I wonder how many of us learned to be the best-little-boy (or girl) people pleasers out of fear of being Phillip. Maybe our families would not have failed us if we let our guards down but we're afraid to take that chance. Now I'm feeling somewhat queasy myself.
knope2001
2022-09-28 13:26:15 +0000 UTCI listened to the audiobook of "This Time Together," Carol Burnett's memoir on creating the Carol Burnett Show, and she said that a lot of Mama's Family sketches would be pretty devastating if played for drama instead of comedy. I believe she said that they actually did a reading of a script that way and it really hit home how heavy this could be.
Jay
2022-09-28 06:37:39 +0000 UTCI'm sorry
Drew Mackie
2022-09-28 06:31:57 +0000 UTCI felt it because I gave my mom a copy of my book and I know she didn't read it.
Jay
2022-09-28 05:54:15 +0000 UTC
