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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media

Vanity Fair takes a clue from lesbians and puts Tina Fey on the cover

The January 2009 issue of Vanity Fair magazine devotes the cover and a lengthy article to writer/producer/TV star Tina Fey, whom AfterEllen.com readers voted the hottest woman of 2008 earlier this year because she's smart, sexy, funny, feminist, and gay-friendly. (Tina's response? She told a magazine she was "flattered" to top the AfterEllen.com list, because "I think those girls take more of a 3-D picture before they decide they like somebody.")

Maureen Dowd's four-page profile in Vanity Fair is full of great information and new comments from/about Tina, on topics ranging from 30 Rock, sexism, Sarah Palin, that scar on her cheek, and why she didn't have many dates in high school.

In the beginning of the article, Tina and her husband Jeff recount a story about how, when they were first dating, he and some of his friends suggested they go to a strip club "ironically."

Tina's response? "I was like, 'The f--k you will!'"

It only gets better from there.

Tina on strippers in general:

I love to play strippers and to imitate them. I love using that idea for comedy, but the idea of actually going there? I feel like we all need to be better than that. That industry needs to die, by all of us being a little bit better than that.

On going to her mother's weekly poker games growing up:

I loved hanging out with the ladies, because they were very funny, and a little bit mean, and had lots of Entenmann’s products.

On dating in high school, and staying a virgin until she was around 25:

I really didn’t have very many dates at all. And that’s not an exaggeration. But also, I don’t think we should discount the fact that unplucked eyebrows and short hair with a perm may not have been the best offering, either ... I remember bringing people over in high school to play — that’s how cool I am — that game Celebrity. That’s how I successfully remained a virgin well into my 20s, bringing gay boys over to play Celebrity.

On deciding to lose weight when she started working at Saturday Night Live:

When you move to New York from Chicago, you feel really big. Because everyone is pulled together, small, and Asian. Everyone’s Asian.

On the scar on her cheek, which was caused by a stranger attack when she was 5 years old (this is the first time she's talking about it):

I proceeded unaware of it. I was a very confident little kid. It’s really almost like I’m kind of able to forget about it, until I was on-camera, and it became a thing of "Oh, I guess we should use this side" or whatever. Everybody’s got a better side.

On a reporter saying that Sarah Palin had been gracious toward Fey when they met on the set of SNL, but Fey hadn’t been gracious toward Palin:

What made me super-mad about it, was that it seemed very sexist toward me and her. The implication was that she’s so fragile, which she is not. She’s a strong woman. And then, also, it was sexist because, like, who would ever go on the news and say, "Well, I thought it was sort of mean to Richard Nixon when Dan Aykroyd played him," and "That seemed awful mean to George Bush when Will Ferrell did it." And it’s like, No, that’s not the thing. This is a comedy sketch on a comedy show.”

The word "mean," Tina contends, is a word only applied to women and gay men.

Then there's the non-advice Alec Baldwin gave Tina about her 30 Rock character Liz Lemon (if he seems a little patronizing/smug here — he comes across even more like that in the full article):

I would say things to her, never giving advice: she’s a woman you don’t easily give advice to — she’s very self-reliant. I’d say to her, "You know, you’re a really beautiful girl. You’ve got to play that. It’s a visual medium. This is not Upright Citizens Brigade, where we’re doing sketch comedy at nine o’clock at night on a Sunday for a bunch of drunken college graduate students. You are a very attractive woman and you’ve got to work that. You’ve got to pop one more button on that blouse and you’ve got to get that hair done and you’ve got to go! Glamour it up."

Saturday Night Live's Lorne Michaels on Fey's rise to stardom:

When she got here she was kind of goofy-looking, but everyone had a crush on her because she was so funny and bitingly mean. How did she go from ugly duckling into swan? It’s the Leni Riefenstahl in her. She has such a German work ethic even though she’s half Greek. It’s superhuman, the German thing of ‘This will happen and I am going to make this happen.’ It’s just sheer force of will.

Tina on Leni Riefenstahl as a cautionary tale:

If she hadn’t been so brilliant at what she did, she wouldn’t have been so evil. She was like, in [her] book, ‘He was the leader of the country. Who was I not to go?’ And it’s like, Note to self: Think through the invite from the leader of your country.

Her husband on what makes her tick (this is one of my favorite quotes of the piece):

She’s half German, half Greek. That is just like loosey-goosey-crazy, and then you get, "Do the trains run on time?"

There is lots more good stuff in the article, including why Tina wants her daughter to grow up to play professional football. And then there are the new photos of Tina by Annie Leibovitz, and a video of the photo shoot:

To the three of you still here reading this blog post — discuss your favorite quotes from the Vanity Fair piece in the comments!

  • Sarah Warn's blog
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  • StuntDouble's picture

    "Oh, are you going crazy?"

    This was my favorite bit of the article:

    Quote:
    When I ask her if she ever gets the urge to straighten out Lindsay Lohan, who starred in Fey’s movie Mean Girls, or to counsel Tracy Morgan or Alec Baldwin when they hit tempestuous passages in their personal lives, she says, “I have no enabler bone in my body—not one. I’m sort of like, ‘Oh, are you going crazy? I’ll be back in an hour.'

    I hope New York Magazine is wrong. I hope there's never a Tina Fey backlash. 

     

    lesgirl's picture

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    Miss_Halfway's picture

    I love Tina Fey. Her Sarah

    I love Tina Fey. Her Sarah Palin bits sealed the deal for me. While I don't generally waste spend my money on magazines, this one's a keeper... :)

    blabbermouth's picture

    I was hoping...

    you'd cover this story, Sarah! Thanks!! There will never be a Tina Fey backlash...not while we're around voting her number one on our hot list, anyway!
    AnnaRG's picture

    my favorite 30 rock quote

    "WHERE'S MY SANDWHICH!!!!??"
    OhThatCris's picture

    my favorite lemon quote...

    "Blerg."
    OhThatCris's picture

    incidentally,

    I've been meaning to try out my favorite non-Lemon quote on the ladies at the club.  It comes from the following exchange:

    Quote:
    Kenneth: [hoping to provoke Tracy into a fit of jealous reconciliation with his wife] Hello, Angie. I hear you're single now. That's cool.
    Angie: What?
    Kenneth: I like your top. I'm a real good sex person. I do it ALL the different ways.
    Angie: Uh-huh. [Tracy looks over, intrigued. She sees this.] Well. I don't have a husband anymore, so you can come over any time.
    Kenneth: I will. I'll come over at night!

    God love you Kenneth Parcell...

    runtothesun's picture

    This woman is amazing.  I

    This woman is amazing.  I feel like whenever there's a Tina Fey post on here, my spidey-senses kick in and I automatically log on.  I'm creepy like that.

    chosenone76's picture

    Guh, she's so sexy.

    Guh, she's so sexy.
    pecola's picture

    Cupcakes

    I thought the article had some highlights, definitely, but Maureen Dowd's ability to irk me persists, even when talking about a topic we both agree on. Everything in that piece comes back to Fey's impression of Sarah Palin. I just felt like, c'mon, can't we talk about something else?

    That said, this was one of my favorite parts: 

    Quote:
    Her true vice is cupcakes. I’ve brought her a box, one frosted with the face of Sarah Palin. She chooses that one, which is bigger, joking that it’s O.K. if she gains weight before her Annie Leibovitz photo shoot in a few days, because “Annie’s going to photograph my soul, right?”

    Hahaha. 

     

    -----
    "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." - MLK

    GThang's picture

    That quote cracked me up.

    That quote cracked me up. She is amazing. It was a tie between this quote and the one about Asians.

    ColetteLala's picture

    Alec Baldwin

    just makes me cringe. Whenever I see him, hear from him or read something from him I just want to go take a shower. He always makes me feel dirty and uneasy.
    NoToriousTori's picture

    Yes!

    I've always always loved Tina Fey since she first popped up on camera on SNL's Weekend Update. I'm happy America's finally on track with me. :-) 
    Pyewacket's picture

    Leni Riefenstahl.

    Ha. I wonder how many people reading Vanity Fair will read Tina's cautionary tale reference and say to themselves...Leni who...?  lol

    And that is what I like about Tina.

    Among other things.

    Oh, back to Leni Riefenstahl...last I heard, Jodie Foster wanted to do the movie about Leni's life...though while Leni's choice was Sharon Stone.

    Now, back to Tina...

    Nice soul, by the way.

    *wink wink*

    :P

    jackio's picture

    A fine line between brilliant and evil

      Anyone who can reference Leni Reifenstahl is ok by me...oh, and Jodie Foster must play her--sorry, Leni...
    Daria89's picture

    Man...

    I love Tina Fey.

    "And she concurs: “I don’t enjoy any kind of danger or volatility. I don’t have that kind of ‘I love the bad guys’ thing. No, no thank you. I like nice people.”"

    She's so awesome :)

    Dying
    Is an art, like everything else,
    I do it exceptionally well.

     

    Sylvia Plath - Lady Lazarus

    DblAgent M's picture

    I haven't picked up

    a copy of the January issue of VF yet, but I'm thoroughly convinced that every word Tina Fey utters(or writes) is pure genius!

    "Ayo! I'm tired of using technology...I need you right in front of me."

    Imsuchanerd's picture

    Someone stole her purse???

    At the Emmys??  Really now.  Aren't those seats filled with those of similar stature?  Did Mariska Hargitay look over at Tina's empty seat and just HAD to have that Fendi clutch?

    I don't get it.  Especially with all the SWAG they get.

    Melissa Hsu's picture

    Maureen Dowd

    I'm glad she wrote the article; she's one of my role models. Having her, Annie, and Tina all together is as decadent as it gets, =).

    Inkblots

    playthemusic814's picture

    Geez...

    AE never stops talking about Tina Fey. SNL, Mean Girls, Baby Mama, 30 Rock... I'll have you know that all the talk lead me to marathon all the episodes of 30 Rock that I had missed up until last month. And, you know what? Best. Show. Ever. Seriously, I know that Tina Fey is a hilarious genius but, that show is beyond any comedy show I've ever watched. Managing to mix smart funny, with outrageous funny, with a lot of wit and a dash of snark is just amazing.

    Liz Lemon rocks hard!

    -------------------

    ~It means pride.~

    Nyssa's picture

    wow

    I need to find this....

    thank you. 

    ~~

    Everywhere I go the cars all follow me, I'm the girl with magnetic tights.

    Voulez-vous travailler avec moi ce soir?

    lauriek67's picture

    Sexy,Sexy,Sexy

    That's all I have to say.
    AMN's picture

    VF will fly off the rack

    I've never been one to buy or probably even glance at a Vanity Fair issue before, but I'll be racing to the nearest store on the day this one hits the stands.

    I absolutely love Tina Fey because she's the complete package.  Although, I will admit to objectifying her (ever so slightly) once I saw that last picture. 

    We need a Tina Fey Day to celebrate! 

    Thatt which you believe becomes your world."

    Linda77's picture

    Rommel, Riefenstahl.. and the unspeakable

    How is it called when everything someone associates with Germany is Nazis? Nazi-ism? It's inverted fascism or something. I don't like it.

    Apart from that: Bad article, good subject.

    edit: I mean the Vanity Fair article, not Sarah Warn's blog post.

    shortypants's picture

    I Want Tina's Shoes So Badly It's Not Funny

     

    For Reals.

    Verde's picture

    really?

     so you`re saying her shoes is what you`re looking at ?

     

     

    Take a sad song and make it better

    shortypants's picture

    I Love Shoes>>

     

    I love shoes and those shoes are spectacular!  I love Tina personality wise but Im not attracted to her physically. So yes- S.H.O.E.S.!! :0)

    Katherine's picture

    yay tina fey!

    though I am a little put off/uncomfortable with how there seems to be only one way women can be "pretty" and "feminine" from everything alec baldwin and others are saying. and there are asians everywhere in new york? where??

    and those pictures are hot.

    and she's hot. because she's intelligent and funny. and hot.

    omg, inbd

    staka's picture

    Pyewacket, you cracked me

    Pyewacket, you cracked me up with nice soul, wink, wink!

    Oh. My. God. Shoes!

    Gotta have this issue, hope it's not off the racks yet, guess Ky and I are going for a midnight walk...

    jennifer from pittsburgh's picture

    The people who are part

    The people who are part German, but grew up with full German relatives, understand the Germans better than anyone. It's the German bedlam perfect storm. I remember how my great-grandmother used to keep M&Ms in her apron pockets. She'd yell at us to wipe our feet and shut up, and then dole out candy between bowls of potato soup. She's also the one who introduced me to televised roller derby and studio wrestling.
    One of the things that I love about 30R and Fey's character is that she embraces this dichotomy, makes it funny (because really, it is), and at the same time makes almost relatable the German version of post modernism to Americans. Liz Lemon isn't exactly nihilistic, but she's fatalistic enough to trend towards it.
    cosmiccowgirl's picture

    The VF article and photos

    The VF article and photos kind of suck. Tina Fey is still awesome, though.
    Wickedbrdway's picture

    i love tina fey! that's

    i love tina fey!

    that's all i can really say on this and...

     she's hot.

    SunriseShadow's picture

    Why oh why

    Did you have to post that last picture?? Instead of a witty and on-topic comment this is what you'll get from me:

    *droooooooooooool*

    ;) 

    You didn't even take your clothes of, yet you've never looked more naked.

    Hannah's picture

    like I need another reason to love her

    I could pull so many quotes that I loved from this article, but I think my favorite was, "New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter calls [Fey] “the sex symbol for every man who reads without moving his lips.”" I think that you could pretty easily replace "man" with "lesbian" in that quote and it'd still be true.

    While it's no surprise that Tina was awesome and lovable, I was pleasantly surprised with how cool her husband is. This article made them seem like such an awesome, adorable, and likable couple. I want to go to a dinner party at their place. Even though, you know, I want to be married to Tina Fey. But I'll get over it. ;)

    notshane's picture

    puzzled

    If she "likes nice people” , why on earth does she work with Alec Baldwin? He's certainly got a nasty side to him, which his ex wife and daughter are intimately familiar with.

    In all other ways, Tina's the bees knees! And AE were so ahead of the curve when we voted her Hottest Woman this year!

    YAY.

    I will actually go out and buy a copy of VF, just for Tina.

    Shannon's picture

    I'm pretty sure

    She's just being diplomatic.  She has to work with the man, remember?  I think more than anything it's a testament to her professionalism to be able to side step any drama he's sure to bring with him if she said what he was really all about. 
    Nicki75's picture

    Tina Fey rocks!

    Oh boy, she's so HAWT and sexy and smart and funny! Nice to see that the mainstream media starts to think so as well. Heh. :) Thanks for posting this, Sarah, great photos by Annie Leibovitz, wow, and great quotes!
    clik212's picture

    Vanity Fair & Maureen Dowd.

    Maureen Dowd the cannibal who used her column to trash and demonize Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin and other prominent women who though we may not agree with their politics or points of views deserve the same respect she willingly throws at her false male idols does not merit the title of journalist and should be made accountable for her bias and vitriol comments she readly displays against women who do not share her views. Along with Cokie Robinson and the rest of those female "pundits" who helped the misogynist media decimate these women.Obviously Tina Fey represents all that is "left and progressive" in this best of all possible worlds. It appears that with such representatives in the world of journalism and media, the women's movement has taken several steps back.

     

    avflupus's picture

    I love her

    i think she is incredible and 30 rock is fantastic. my favorite quote and this nearly kill me ( i was eating cereal and the milk spurs from my nose!! ) " !! My god my eyes look like admiral Ackbar!! " if you  are a fan of starwars this is explosive funny and for the women out there who are thinking who is this ackbar this is it

     

    to this date i can wach the return of the jedi or  mention admiral ackbar  with out remenber tina and Laugh, and to compensate for the photo of the admiral this is a video of the vanity fair photo shot

     

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    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydR_-y3fsIU