“In the early ’90s, I remember a director saying, ‘Oh well, the audience doesn’t want to see a scene with two women,’ and then when we started at SNL, if a couple of women were sitting on a couch in the office, they’d be like, ‘Oh, must be a ladies meeting,’” Fey said. “So we’ve always wanted to put things in the world that reflect the women that we actually are, because we came right on the heels of a lot of ridiculous portrayals of women.”
Throughout her career, Fey has seen a shift in the type of stories told and the depiction of different identities.
“When I was first at SNL as a writer, the people running ‘Weekend Update,’ I believe, would have never aired Bowen Yang’s iceberg sketch,” Fey said. “I think this is a great example of how the industry is evolving.
“People try to say it’s impossible to be funny now, but it’s really not. You just can’t be lazy.”
Currently, Fey is working to create more diverse representation on the screen as well as behind the scenes.
“I think there’s still a lot of progress to be made. We need to go beyond diverse casting and focus on bringing in diverse writers, directors and crew members. This goes right down to hiring more diverse assistants, because that’s a pathway and an in-road for the industry,” she said. “Then, as a producer, I’m trying to develop more shows written by women of color.”
Jane Frankel, a fourth-year student majoring in media studies and public policy and leadership, said she was grateful for Fey’s willingness to share openly.
“It was cool to see her as a real person, rather than just as some of my favorite characters on TV,” she said. “Her life experiences are so vast, and we got to learn and hear about her unique insights on the industry.”
Fey dove into traditional course topics taught by Clay, a media studies assistant professor of practice, with personal anecdotes.
People try to say it’s impossible to be funny now, but it’s really not. You just can’t be lazy.
- Tina Fey
“She really touched on a lot of what we focus on in class,” Clay said. “We talk a lot about sexism and look at it on-screen and read anecdotally about these shows, in media or academic journals, but having Tina articulate her experience I think is really inspiring and reflects the progress of today’s television, in that there is so much more possibility.”
UVA’s “Women and Television” course looks at shows in a linear timeline. Currently, the class is moving from television in the 1980s to the 1990s era, which Fey spoke in detail about.
“She saw so much change, and she was a first – the first woman to co-anchor ‘Weekend Update’ on ‘SNL,’ the first head female writer in the writer’s room; she filled so many of these firsts that we look at and can speak to this specific timeframe,” Clay said. “The class moves quickly, but she hit the pause button on her career in the 1990s and really had us think and hone in on that for a moment.”
Before she signed off Zoom, Fey gave advice to students interested in getting into the entertainment industry:
“I recommend not going right to L.A. Don’t necessarily even go right to New York,” she said. “Figure out who you are and what kind of work do you like to do on a smaller scale and then decide where to go.”
