Since the interview part is often short and guarded in these celebrity portraits, the magazines would do well to hire writers who are well versed in the particular popculture the subject works in (comedy, TV drama, superheroes, country music etc) to be able to write interesting stuff about the context at least. Seems as if Anolik was completely out of her depth, when another writer could have done something compelling about the niche McKinnon carved out on SNL, and political comedy in general. That Trump-Clinton part though.... ooof!
I definitely think there would be a cool angle to take here, contextualizing McKinnon more thoroughly as part of SNL history, especially since the show has a wobbly history with politics and McKinnon is, in my opinion, the best Hillary impersonator. Anolik is typically very good at this beat. She has a really fun and enthusiastic approach to these cloistered worlds of fame and the elite. Her Bennington College podcast is a good example of that. I think she may have just panicked a little, and Vanity Fair didn't want to kill the piece because replacing a writer at the last minute for a cover just doesn't happen.
I had completely forgotten about the whole Trump/Clinton as screwball comedy couple angle, as in I have blocked that from my memory because it makes me physically recoil. One thing I love about your writing here is that you are generous to both parties- it seems like it would be easy to let the Celebrity Angle obscure the humanity of everyone involved and I appreciate your balanced approach. Excellent as always!
Since the interview part is often short and guarded in these celebrity portraits, the magazines would do well to hire writers who are well versed in the particular popculture the subject works in (comedy, TV drama, superheroes, country music etc) to be able to write interesting stuff about the context at least. Seems as if Anolik was completely out of her depth, when another writer could have done something compelling about the niche McKinnon carved out on SNL, and political comedy in general. That Trump-Clinton part though.... ooof!
I definitely think there would be a cool angle to take here, contextualizing McKinnon more thoroughly as part of SNL history, especially since the show has a wobbly history with politics and McKinnon is, in my opinion, the best Hillary impersonator. Anolik is typically very good at this beat. She has a really fun and enthusiastic approach to these cloistered worlds of fame and the elite. Her Bennington College podcast is a good example of that. I think she may have just panicked a little, and Vanity Fair didn't want to kill the piece because replacing a writer at the last minute for a cover just doesn't happen.
Thanks so much for commenting!
Tl;Dr VF should hire you to do the interview next time 😊
I love Kate McKinnon but cmoon, if you agree to an interview, give the journalist something to work with! It takes two to tango
I had completely forgotten about the whole Trump/Clinton as screwball comedy couple angle, as in I have blocked that from my memory because it makes me physically recoil. One thing I love about your writing here is that you are generous to both parties- it seems like it would be easy to let the Celebrity Angle obscure the humanity of everyone involved and I appreciate your balanced approach. Excellent as always!