Earlier this year, Saturday Night Live saw some of its biggest ratings in recent seasons with Tina Fey's portrayal of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and cast member Amy Poehler's impersonation of Sen. Hillary Clinton.  But last weekend's episode stirred quite a lot of negative buzz.  In the “Weekend Update” portion of the show, Fred Armisen portrayed a lispy Gov. David Paterson who often looked in the wrong direction and mistakenly walked in front of the camera when it was not his turn to speak.

"Come on, I'm a blind man who loves cocaine who was suddenly appointed governor of New York. My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie," Armisen said in the skit.

Mr. Paterson, who is blind in his left eye and has limited vision in his right eye, is known for having an irreverent sense of humor that is cheekier than most politicians would dare.  But after seeing last weekend's Saturday Night Live, the first legally blind man to be governor was not amused.

"I don't mind that they make fun of me, but I thought it was important to speak up for those who don't have a voice and don't have a job," Paterson said.

Moreover, the governor's communications director, Risa B. Heller, said that the skit “amounted to nothing more than cheap ridicule.”

“The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can certainly take a joke,” Ms. Heller said in a statement.  “However, this particular Saturday Night Live skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.  The governor is sure that Saturday Night Live with all of its talent can find a way to be funny without being offensive.”

Besides Gov. Paterson's camp, Lighthouse International, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving vision, and the National Federation of the Blind, also criticized the skit calling it an attack on all blind Americans.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: CNN, NY Times
(Image courtesy of NBC)