Last week brought me a couple of "I thought he was better than that" moments. One from Adam Lambert in his Rolling Stone interview, about which I've already commented. The second from David Letterman and his unfunny "jokes" about Sarah Palin and her daughter, while they were visiting New York. I won't dignify his words by repeating them, but if any passing reader remains unaware of what was said, a glance at this article at Huffington Post will clarify - though the author of that article concentrates on a political angle, and appears impervious to the kinds of objections I'm outlining here.
I'm no fan of Sarah Palin or her politics, but I do sympathise with her on this occasion. I'm no feminist either, I've always tried to look on people as people, not as men and women, gay and straight, black and white......just all human beings getting along as best we can in this mad, mad world.
Just why is it thought funny and acceptable for male comedians to be offensive to females? Poke fun at their political mis-steps and guffs by all means. Criticise their lack of knowledge and political stances if they don't match yours, but why try to denigrate their appearance or sling around smutty innuendo about their family members? Cheap laughs? Lack of creativity on the part of writers?
I shouldn't have been surprised at Letterman's words really. I've shouted at the TV on several past occasions when he has smirked about Hillary Clinton, her trouser suits, her appearance, her marriage.
On good days, I'd had Letterman down as a basically kindly character who likes to appear unpredictable. I'm beginning to think that he's an unpredictably unpleasant character who likes to appear kindly. He has a son of around 5 years old. I wonder if he'd censor his writers' jokes more closely if he'd had a daughter?
Let's have a look at Letterman's chart. Born on 12 April 1947 in Indianapolis, IN, at 6am (Astrodatabank).
I'm looking mainly for any indication of his apparent attraction to reciting "jokes" which denigrate some members of the female sex. Oh,I know he loves some of his female guests, and is very respectful of his mother, who ocasionally appears on the show. I'm not implying that he's a woman hater. He's inconsistent. If he wants to retain the respect of his audience, more consistency is needed.
The Moon is the most feminine factor in a natal chart. In Letterman's nativity Moon was in Capricorn (serious, a bit old fashioned, business oriented) not likely to enjoy the kinds of jokes to which I'm objecting. But look - look at the glyph one degree from the Moon - that's Black Moon Lilith. I wrote about BML (here). Perhaps it can have a kind of anti-feminine effect, especially when close to natal Moon, meaning that, as in Letterman's case, Moon was almost as far away from Earth as it could ever be; Black Moon Lilith marks the Moon's apogee. The Moon in astrology represents one's inner life and the subconscious, the female, maternal instincts. At Moon's farthest point away from Earth what happens? Lack of appreciation for Moonly matters? I don't know - but I do think it's more than a coincidence that Letterman's Moon is at its apogee.
His natal Mars, (Mars is probably the most masculine factor in a natal chart) is at 00 Aries, the Aries Point a very strong point in the chart, Mars rules Aries - in other words Mars here, the masculine, is just about as strong as it gets. Now,
Letterman doesn't strike me as being overtly masculine, physically, but inwardly, I'd bet he is.
Saturn in Leo trines his Aries Mars, adding a harder and more showy edge to the Aries need to be a bit belligerent on occasion. Sun is in harmonious sextile to shock-worthy Uranus which brings in Letterman's occasional unpredictability. Mercury in gentle Pisces trines Jupiter which lies in darker, more intense Scorpio, thus blending his kindlier side with that rather darker element we occasionly see from him.
To be fair to David Letterman, he did make a kind of apology, after Sarah Palin's objections. He also tried to justify himself. I'd have had more respect if he'd been totally apologetic on all counts. That, apparently, is just not in his nature.
I'm no fan of Sarah Palin or her politics, but I do sympathise with her on this occasion. I'm no feminist either, I've always tried to look on people as people, not as men and women, gay and straight, black and white......just all human beings getting along as best we can in this mad, mad world.
Just why is it thought funny and acceptable for male comedians to be offensive to females? Poke fun at their political mis-steps and guffs by all means. Criticise their lack of knowledge and political stances if they don't match yours, but why try to denigrate their appearance or sling around smutty innuendo about their family members? Cheap laughs? Lack of creativity on the part of writers?
I shouldn't have been surprised at Letterman's words really. I've shouted at the TV on several past occasions when he has smirked about Hillary Clinton, her trouser suits, her appearance, her marriage.
On good days, I'd had Letterman down as a basically kindly character who likes to appear unpredictable. I'm beginning to think that he's an unpredictably unpleasant character who likes to appear kindly. He has a son of around 5 years old. I wonder if he'd censor his writers' jokes more closely if he'd had a daughter?
Let's have a look at Letterman's chart. Born on 12 April 1947 in Indianapolis, IN, at 6am (Astrodatabank).
I'm looking mainly for any indication of his apparent attraction to reciting "jokes" which denigrate some members of the female sex. Oh,I know he loves some of his female guests, and is very respectful of his mother, who ocasionally appears on the show. I'm not implying that he's a woman hater. He's inconsistent. If he wants to retain the respect of his audience, more consistency is needed.
The Moon is the most feminine factor in a natal chart. In Letterman's nativity Moon was in Capricorn (serious, a bit old fashioned, business oriented) not likely to enjoy the kinds of jokes to which I'm objecting. But look - look at the glyph one degree from the Moon - that's Black Moon Lilith. I wrote about BML (here). Perhaps it can have a kind of anti-feminine effect, especially when close to natal Moon, meaning that, as in Letterman's case, Moon was almost as far away from Earth as it could ever be; Black Moon Lilith marks the Moon's apogee. The Moon in astrology represents one's inner life and the subconscious, the female, maternal instincts. At Moon's farthest point away from Earth what happens? Lack of appreciation for Moonly matters? I don't know - but I do think it's more than a coincidence that Letterman's Moon is at its apogee.
His natal Mars, (Mars is probably the most masculine factor in a natal chart) is at 00 Aries, the Aries Point a very strong point in the chart, Mars rules Aries - in other words Mars here, the masculine, is just about as strong as it gets. Now,
Letterman doesn't strike me as being overtly masculine, physically, but inwardly, I'd bet he is.
Saturn in Leo trines his Aries Mars, adding a harder and more showy edge to the Aries need to be a bit belligerent on occasion. Sun is in harmonious sextile to shock-worthy Uranus which brings in Letterman's occasional unpredictability. Mercury in gentle Pisces trines Jupiter which lies in darker, more intense Scorpio, thus blending his kindlier side with that rather darker element we occasionly see from him.
To be fair to David Letterman, he did make a kind of apology, after Sarah Palin's objections. He also tried to justify himself. I'd have had more respect if he'd been totally apologetic on all counts. That, apparently, is just not in his nature.
Twilight, this an excellent analysis and it was just plain interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteI've only ever seen Palin in a suit since she's been a politician so I don't understand the slutty part of the joke.
ReplyDeleteElsa ~~~ Thank you - glad you liked it, and kind of you to say so :-)
ReplyDeleteBadGlue~~~ Hi! Me neither. I loved those jackets she bought with the election funds (- I drooled!)
ReplyDeleteGov. Palin said, in her response to Letterman, that she felt sorry for flight attendants rather than being offended herself. That made me like her (for the first time.)
I enjoyed this in depth analysis of Letterman's chart too. I agree that his chart shows an abundance of masculine energy, and he is known for his cutting remarks. The moon is definitely debilitated by that square to neptune, showing that Dave's feminine energy is a bit of a mystery to him, hence his inferior comments.
ReplyDeleteThough Letterman comments on politics and current events, I do not sense any hidden agendas of a political nature. I think he is going for laughs pure and simple, but this one definitely missed the mark.
Also, thanks for the further lesson on Lilith. she is starting to make some sense to me.
No doubt Letterman went beyond "cutting" to stepping over the line of civility and taste. He deserves all the whacks he's getting from the Great Unwashed and from both sides of the political aisle,
ReplyDeleteBut what bothers me almost as much is: he was able to turn Sarah Palin into a sympathetic character! She was quickly on her way becoming a political afterthought, but now SHE'S BACK - and people are feeling sorry for her! Oy, vey!
Hmmm. Am I now the one being overly tacky? :-)
I've always thought that comedy of insult is no comedy at all. And certainly a person's family should always be kept out of it.
ReplyDeleteShawn ~~~ Yes, he goes for laughs rather than political points, on the whole. He really does need to get him some new writers though.
ReplyDeleteGlad it was of interest.
:-)
TNPOTUS ~~~ That's true - and I agree she's taking advantage of it.
ReplyDeleteIf she goes too far though, sympathy will disappear as quickly as it emerged.
AN ~~~ so true! Remember Bernard Manning? He made a career out of insults. :-(
ReplyDeleteGenerally I like Dave. I think on the hole that he is a gentleman.
ReplyDeleteLaura~~ Hi! I did think so too, but I'm beginning to suspect he could have "feet of clay" - or maybe it's just that his best writers have abandoned him for someone fresher. There's something of a late-night show struggle going on just now with Leno's move causing a bit of a re-shuffle. Could be he's doing this kind of thing on purpose to up his ratings.
ReplyDelete