Writing a sketch wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. We had lots of ideas, but when it came to sitting and writing them out, they disappeared. We initially thought about how we wanted it to look objectively, a sketch is meant to have some kind of context to the start (Medd, 2012). We then had to decide if we wanted it to be “character-based, situation-based [or] premise-based” (Bent, 2010). We had none of this worked out when we began writing, and it was the feedback from the class, and the helpful notes of Cal Wilson that made our sketch what it is now.
The final sketch, while still containing the end joke of the first draft (although no longer as pivotal), is a near-complete change of pace from draft one. The initial idea was sparked from the prompt “an anti-feminist character beating the odds”, and the difficult task of an audience viewing an anti-feminist character as the hero. Enter the ‘surprise factor’. Draft one of the sketch depicts one man (Harry) looking increasingly disgruntled at two younger gentlemen talking about women in a very out-dated manner before he finally turns to them and tells them off for it. But then, as he turns back in his seat, the audience sees that he is using a woman as a foot-rest and is, therefore, just as bad, if not worse, than the other guys.
Family Guy “Women in the Workplace video”
In the script-reading session, Cal Wilson gave us some very good feedback and told us to build on the end joke. However, it was listening to everyone else’s scripts that we realised a key thing. To demonstrate sexism isn’t necessarily to talk provocatively about women. We began brainstorming ideas and one took flight: the parody sexual harassment video from Family Guy. We moulded the tutorial video idea into modern settings, and set it up as a video men can watch to learn how not to be sexist in 2019. The new sketch follows Harry’s attempts at educating men through a series of ‘everyday’ scenarios. However, in these scenarios, it’s actually Harry that ends up being the sexist one. Cal Wilson gave us some great advice; if something’s funny, don’t change it. So we kept our final “plot twist” joke at the end, with Harry putting his feet up to rest on a girl while talking about equality. We felt the main theme of irony would help with jokes, while simultaneously driving a message about feminism home.
One comical device found in our sketch is irony. The “unintended consequence” (Ferguson,) of Harry is the entire premise of the plot. Harry is teaching people not to be sexist while being very sexist himself. Comic irony is particularly evident at the end of the sketch, when, after explaining how to avoid being sexist, and the importance of it, Harry sits down and puts his feet up on the girl he is using as a footrest. Furthermore, when he says in front of the girl/foot-rest “it’s all about respect” and then proceeds to cut her off as she isn’t allowed to talk, is dramatic irony. Where, due to Harry’s “lack of knowledge” (Ferguson,) (or in this case, lack of realisation), his words are “laced with… opposite meaning for the…audience” (Ferguson).
There are also elements of exaggeration throughout the sketch, all demonstrated by Harry, one particular scene is the ‘No-go zones’ scene, where Harry pulls out a pointer to dramatically demonstrate where ‘not to touch a woman’. The exaggeration in this joke/scene works on two levels.
On one hand, it creates a solid joke based on exaggerated ridiculousness of anyone “honka-honking” a woman. While delivering an underlying message of the inverse of the ‘no go zones’ of a woman, stating where it is okay to touch her. This implies the similarities between men and women and essentially tells the audience the message liberal feminist keep trying to convey; ‘for God’s sake, we’re the same!’.
Liberal feminism is “often seen as synonymous with feminism” (Beasly, 1999). It is based on a theory of “un-equality” where women are seen as fundamentally the same as men but are hindered by “artificial barriers to… participation in the public world” because of their sex. Liberal feminism theorises that there isn’t the need for a “revolutionary change” but simply a “reform of society” (Beasly 1999). The small “reforms” Beasly refers to is the central point for our sketch. The idea that it’s just small actions and attitudes that need to be changed to not be sexist.
To help push this message, a grain of truth can be found throughout our entire sketch. As an almost unavoidable device when writing a sketch on feminism, the truth behind all our jokes is that the message Harry is trying to deliver needs to be said. While the audience laughs at Harry for shutting down a conversation that wasn’t remotely sexist, the underlying message stands: you don’t have the conversation that Harry was implying those men were having. The liberal feminist idea that we are equal to men and only impeded by our sex is ironically demonstrated by Harry when he says, “a congratulatory pat on the arm is okay” when talking pointing out ‘where to touch a woman’. It implies that women aren’t completely off limits – just the parts that make us ‘women’.
Our final sketch ‘Navigating Sexism in 2019’ took a long development process. We employed the feedback given to us by both the class and Cal Wilson during our script writing session, which sparked an entirely new concept. Throughout the sketch ‘gag devices’ such as irony (both comic and dramatic), and exaggeration can be found. However, it is the underlying grain of truth throughout our sketch that conveys the message of liberal feminism and equality.