Pat (Saturday Night Live): Difference between revisions
→Plot: minor they/them-self gender ambiguity correction, 4th sentence. ~~~~ |
Expanded Pat's gym experience sketch, since it is the one most apparent to deliver the answer of Pat's gender; added subcategories for a few more episodes |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
[[Image:Itispat.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Julia Sweeney]] as Pat]] |
[[Image:Itispat.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Julia Sweeney]] as Pat]] |
||
'''Pat''' is an [[androgyny|androgynous]] [[fictional character]]<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=p60N-QvxvD8C&pg=PA136 Transgender Nation - Gordene Olga MacKenzie<!-- Bot generated title -->]. pp. 136-137.</ref> created and performed by [[Julia Sweeney]] for the [[United States|American]] [[sketch comedy]] show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'',<ref name="GUSPC">[http://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&pg=PA710 The Guide to United States Popular Culture<!-- Bot generated title -->]. p. 710.</ref> and later featured in the film ''[[It's Pat]]''. The central aspect of sketches featuring Pat is the inability of others to determine the character's gender. |
'''Pat''' is an [[androgyny|androgynous]] [[fictional character]]<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=p60N-QvxvD8C&pg=PA136 Transgender Nation - Gordene Olga MacKenzie<!-- Bot generated title -->]. pp. 136-137.</ref> created and performed by [[Julia Sweeney]] for the [[United States|American]] [[sketch comedy]] show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'',<ref name="GUSPC">[http://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&pg=PA710 The Guide to United States Popular Culture<!-- Bot generated title -->]. p. 710.</ref> and later featured in the film ''[[It's Pat]]''. The central humorous aspect of sketches featuring Pat is the inability of others to determine the character's gender. |
||
== Physical appearance == |
== Physical appearance == |
||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
== Personality == |
== Personality == |
||
Pat is socially awkward, to the point of impairment. Pat speaks in a [[nasalization|nasal]] voice which is much louder than everyone else Pat is around. Pat often ends sentences by making a strange whimpering, giggling, or 'thought-in-process' sound. Pat apparently has very sweaty palms, and is constantly wiping them on clothing, as if to dry them. Pat is annoying, self-pitying, and pathetic. The other characters are generally sympathetic, and attempt to include Pat. An exception to this is when Pat speaks of sexual and romantic interests, to which other characters react with disgust or, at least, disinterest. |
Pat is socially awkward, to the point of impairment. Pat speaks in a [[nasalization|nasal]] voice which is much louder than everyone else's whom Pat is around. Pat often ends sentences by making a strange whimpering, giggling, or 'thought-in-process' sound. Pat apparently has very sweaty palms, and is constantly wiping them on clothing, as if to dry them. Pat is annoying, self-pitying, and pathetic. The other characters are generally sympathetic, and attempt to include Pat in conversations or activities. An exception to this is when Pat speaks of sexual and romantic interests, to which other characters react with disgust or, at least, disinterest. |
||
== Sketches == |
== Sketches == |
||
| Line 18: | Line 18: | ||
The sketches always revolve around the gag of Pat's unrevealed gender. The name "Pat" can be short for "[[Patricia (disambiguation)|Patricia]]", a female name, or "[[Patrick (given name)|Patrick]]", a male name. The celebrity guests on the show play everyday people who encounter Pat, and who then try to discern Pat's gender, without being so rude as to actually ask outright. Pat remains oblivious, and endlessly frustrates the questioners with answers that leave Pat's gender vague. |
The sketches always revolve around the gag of Pat's unrevealed gender. The name "Pat" can be short for "[[Patricia (disambiguation)|Patricia]]", a female name, or "[[Patrick (given name)|Patrick]]", a male name. The celebrity guests on the show play everyday people who encounter Pat, and who then try to discern Pat's gender, without being so rude as to actually ask outright. Pat remains oblivious, and endlessly frustrates the questioners with answers that leave Pat's gender vague. |
||
Pat often makes statements that seem to reveal a gender, only to then immediately confuse things again. A typical example might be, "Sorry if I'm a little grumpy, I have really bad [[menstruation|cramps]]... I rode my bike over here, and my calf muscles are KILLING me!" In another sketch, Pat tells [[Kevin Nealon]] that |
Pat often makes statements that seem to reveal a gender, only to then immediately confuse things again. A typical example might be, "Sorry if I'm a little grumpy, I have really bad [[menstruation|cramps]]... I rode my bike over here, and my calf muscles are KILLING me!" In another sketch, Pat tells [[Kevin Nealon]] that the name is Pat Riley, "same as the coach of the [[Los Angeles Lakers|Lakers]]," only to add, "except there's a big difference between him and me... I'm not the coach of a professional basketball team." |
||
Other gags include Pat's attempts at humor, which serve to confuse everyone further: when asked what "Pat" is short for, the character replies, "Pat is short for P-a-a-a-a-a-t!" |
Other gags include Pat's attempts at humor, which serve to confuse everyone further: when asked what "Pat" is short for, the character replies, "Pat is short for P-a-a-a-a-a-t!" |
||
=== ''It's Pat: Pat at the Barbershop'' === |
|||
Aired on May 18, 1991. When Pat goes to get a haircut, the hairdresser ([[George Wendt]]), has no idea whether to administer a male or female style. The stylist asks which magazine Pat would like to read, naming gender-specific titles (''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' and ''[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]''). In response, Pat asks for ''[[People (magazine)|People]]''. |
|||
=== ''It's Pat: Physical Evaluation'' === |
|||
Aired November 16, 1991. [[Linda Hamilton]] was the host in this episode, in which Pat decides to join a gym. Gym employee Andrea (Hamilton) cannot figure out Pat's gender, so, filling in the application form, she asks for "age? ... height? ... sex?" and looks up hopefully. Pat says, "'Yes, please!' [stuttery laugh] That's my little joke." When Pat is asked for a middle name, the eager audience then finds out that the middle name is "O'Neill," again continuing the joke. (Pat never uses the middle name, as it is "embarrassing".) Andrea keeps trying: "Would you say that you're in good health? Do you have regular periods..." When Pat stares at her, Andrea hurriedly finishes, "... of activity?" Andrea tries again: "What kind of body are you going for? I mean, do you want a [[Body shape#Terminologies|muscular V-shape]]?" (That would suggest Pat is male.) "Or something a little more [[Body shape#Terminologies|curvy]]?" Pat says, "Well, I just saw the movie ''Return to the Blue Lagoon''. I'd sure like a body like that!" Andrea doesn't know whether Pat is referring to [[Milla Jovovich]] or [[Brian Krause]]. Andrea and fellow gym employee Ron ([[Tim Meadows]]) ask Pat which of them Pat would be more attracted to; Pat objects to the question; they suggest that Pat should go to [[Changing room|locker room]]. Just as the audience is about to see whether Pat enters either the men's or the women's, [[Kevin Nealon]] as a TV news anchor on ''[[Weekend Update]]'' interrupts with a [[breaking news|Special Report]] alert. When we "return" to the Pat sketch, Andrea and Ron are laughing, with Andrea saying, "I guess our question is finally answered!", but only the [[studio audience]] might have seen which door Pat entered; the television viewer is still in the dark. |
|||
=== ''It's Pat: Birthday Party'' === |
|||
Co-workers [[Siobhan Fallon Hogan]], [[Phil Hartman]], and [[Kevin Nealon]] give Pat a [[Party#Surprise party|surprise birthday party]]. As they chat, Nealon asks whether Pat has a [[Age and female fertility|biological clock]]; Siobhan says, "I think you'd make a really great moth... fath... role model," but Pat tells them about a [[dysfunctional family]] and unhappy childhood. Hartman makes the next attempt: "Pat, would you say that you are more like your mother or your father?", but Pat replies, "I'm a perfect combination of both!" One of Pat's parents, also androgynous, comes into the party; when Nealon asks about Pat's birth, again there are only ambiguous answers. The co-workers start to sing ''[[For He's a Jolly Good Fellow]]'', but have to change "he's" to "Pat's." |
|||
=== ''It's Pat: New Roommate'' === |
|||
The ''SNL'' cast wrote a spoof of the 1992 film ''[[Single White Female]]'', in which [[Melanie Hutsell]] as [[Single White Female]]#Cast|Hedra]], using a wig to look androgynous, plays a new roommate who becomes obsessed with wanting to look like and be like Pat. Other characters are played by [[David Spade]] as a prospective tenant who flees, [[Joe Pesci]] as [[Single White Female]]#Cast|Graham Knox]], and [[Dana Carvey]] as Pat's love interest Chris. |
|||
Graham tries to warn Pat about Hedra, but Pat doesn't understand why anyone would obsess. "Well, maybe she's in love with you. Maybe she's gay. Or, or straight. Or bi." Hedra enters, wearing the same clothes, glasses, and short curly hair as Pat's. Graham says, "Just look at the two of you. You look like bro... sist... twins." |
|||
== Feature film: ''It's Pat'' == |
== Feature film: ''It's Pat'' == |
||
| Line 33: | Line 50: | ||
Sweeney helped co-write a book to coincide with the film's release, titled ''It's Pat!: My Life Exposed''. Pat makes it through the entire 96-page book without revealing the character's gender. |
Sweeney helped co-write a book to coincide with the film's release, titled ''It's Pat!: My Life Exposed''. Pat makes it through the entire 96-page book without revealing the character's gender. |
||
==Pat's |
==Pat's gender== |
||
The character has been described as "[[Hermaphrodite|hermaphroditic]]" in the book ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture''.<ref name="GUSPC"/> The book ''Creating Contexts for Learning and Self-authorship: Constructive-developmental Pedagogy'', states that the character's "gender is never revealed".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Kae8s3oTxiAC&pg=PA188 Creating Contexts for Learning and Self-authorship: Constructive-developmental Pedagogy - Marcia B. Baxter Magolda<!-- Bot generated title -->]. p. 188.</ref> |
The character has been described as "[[Hermaphrodite|hermaphroditic]]" in the book ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture''.<ref name="GUSPC"/> The book ''Creating Contexts for Learning and Self-authorship: Constructive-developmental Pedagogy'', states that the character's "gender is never revealed".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Kae8s3oTxiAC&pg=PA188 Creating Contexts for Learning and Self-authorship: Constructive-developmental Pedagogy - Marcia B. Baxter Magolda<!-- Bot generated title -->]. p. 188.</ref> |
||
Revision as of 15:30, 8 December 2014
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2014) |
Pat is an androgynous fictional character[1] created and performed by Julia Sweeney for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live,[2] and later featured in the film It's Pat. The central humorous aspect of sketches featuring Pat is the inability of others to determine the character's gender.
Physical appearance
Pat O'Neill Riley is overweight, has short, curly black hair, and wears thick glasses. Pat typically wears a blue Western-style shirt, with tan slacks.
In creating the character, actor Sweeney wore no makeup, colored her lips beige, and colored in her eyebrows, to create the character's gender-ambiguous appearance. Sweeney said that the Pat character originated when Sweeney tried to play a male character in a sketch, but looked unconvincing.
Personality
Pat is socially awkward, to the point of impairment. Pat speaks in a nasal voice which is much louder than everyone else's whom Pat is around. Pat often ends sentences by making a strange whimpering, giggling, or 'thought-in-process' sound. Pat apparently has very sweaty palms, and is constantly wiping them on clothing, as if to dry them. Pat is annoying, self-pitying, and pathetic. The other characters are generally sympathetic, and attempt to include Pat in conversations or activities. An exception to this is when Pat speaks of sexual and romantic interests, to which other characters react with disgust or, at least, disinterest.
Sketches
The sketches always revolve around the gag of Pat's unrevealed gender. The name "Pat" can be short for "Patricia", a female name, or "Patrick", a male name. The celebrity guests on the show play everyday people who encounter Pat, and who then try to discern Pat's gender, without being so rude as to actually ask outright. Pat remains oblivious, and endlessly frustrates the questioners with answers that leave Pat's gender vague.
Pat often makes statements that seem to reveal a gender, only to then immediately confuse things again. A typical example might be, "Sorry if I'm a little grumpy, I have really bad cramps... I rode my bike over here, and my calf muscles are KILLING me!" In another sketch, Pat tells Kevin Nealon that the name is Pat Riley, "same as the coach of the Lakers," only to add, "except there's a big difference between him and me... I'm not the coach of a professional basketball team."
Other gags include Pat's attempts at humor, which serve to confuse everyone further: when asked what "Pat" is short for, the character replies, "Pat is short for P-a-a-a-a-a-t!"
It's Pat: Pat at the Barbershop
Aired on May 18, 1991. When Pat goes to get a haircut, the hairdresser (George Wendt), has no idea whether to administer a male or female style. The stylist asks which magazine Pat would like to read, naming gender-specific titles (Sports Illustrated and Glamour). In response, Pat asks for People.
It's Pat: Physical Evaluation
Aired November 16, 1991. Linda Hamilton was the host in this episode, in which Pat decides to join a gym. Gym employee Andrea (Hamilton) cannot figure out Pat's gender, so, filling in the application form, she asks for "age? ... height? ... sex?" and looks up hopefully. Pat says, "'Yes, please!' [stuttery laugh] That's my little joke." When Pat is asked for a middle name, the eager audience then finds out that the middle name is "O'Neill," again continuing the joke. (Pat never uses the middle name, as it is "embarrassing".) Andrea keeps trying: "Would you say that you're in good health? Do you have regular periods..." When Pat stares at her, Andrea hurriedly finishes, "... of activity?" Andrea tries again: "What kind of body are you going for? I mean, do you want a muscular V-shape?" (That would suggest Pat is male.) "Or something a little more curvy?" Pat says, "Well, I just saw the movie Return to the Blue Lagoon. I'd sure like a body like that!" Andrea doesn't know whether Pat is referring to Milla Jovovich or Brian Krause. Andrea and fellow gym employee Ron (Tim Meadows) ask Pat which of them Pat would be more attracted to; Pat objects to the question; they suggest that Pat should go to locker room. Just as the audience is about to see whether Pat enters either the men's or the women's, Kevin Nealon as a TV news anchor on Weekend Update interrupts with a Special Report alert. When we "return" to the Pat sketch, Andrea and Ron are laughing, with Andrea saying, "I guess our question is finally answered!", but only the studio audience might have seen which door Pat entered; the television viewer is still in the dark.
It's Pat: Birthday Party
Co-workers Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Phil Hartman, and Kevin Nealon give Pat a surprise birthday party. As they chat, Nealon asks whether Pat has a biological clock; Siobhan says, "I think you'd make a really great moth... fath... role model," but Pat tells them about a dysfunctional family and unhappy childhood. Hartman makes the next attempt: "Pat, would you say that you are more like your mother or your father?", but Pat replies, "I'm a perfect combination of both!" One of Pat's parents, also androgynous, comes into the party; when Nealon asks about Pat's birth, again there are only ambiguous answers. The co-workers start to sing For He's a Jolly Good Fellow, but have to change "he's" to "Pat's."
It's Pat: New Roommate
The SNL cast wrote a spoof of the 1992 film Single White Female, in which Melanie Hutsell as Single White Female#Cast|Hedra]], using a wig to look androgynous, plays a new roommate who becomes obsessed with wanting to look like and be like Pat. Other characters are played by David Spade as a prospective tenant who flees, Joe Pesci as Single White Female#Cast|Graham Knox]], and Dana Carvey as Pat's love interest Chris.
Graham tries to warn Pat about Hedra, but Pat doesn't understand why anyone would obsess. "Well, maybe she's in love with you. Maybe she's gay. Or, or straight. Or bi." Hedra enters, wearing the same clothes, glasses, and short curly hair as Pat's. Graham says, "Just look at the two of you. You look like bro... sist... twins."
Feature film: It's Pat
The character gave rise to a feature-length 1994 film called It's Pat (from the lyrics of the character's theme song on Saturday Night Live). The film was a critical and commercial bomb.
Plot
Pat meets Chris, another gender-ambiguous character, played by Dave Foley. (On SNL, Chris had been played by Dana Carvey.) They quickly fall in love, and propose to each other at exactly the same time. Before the wedding, however, Chris breaks up with Pat due to Pat's arrogance and lack of direction in life; Pat has a brief stint in a rock band, and starts to believe that they them-self are going to be an overnight celebrity. Meanwhile, Pat has become an object of obsession of a neighbor (Charles Rocket), who is so determined to discover Pat's gender that he goes insane. However, Pat's gender is never revealed in the film. At the end of the film, Pat and Chris are reunited, and, in an epilogue, they get married.
Book
Sweeney helped co-write a book to coincide with the film's release, titled It's Pat!: My Life Exposed. Pat makes it through the entire 96-page book without revealing the character's gender.
Pat's gender
The character has been described as "hermaphroditic" in the book The Guide to United States Popular Culture.[2] The book Creating Contexts for Learning and Self-authorship: Constructive-developmental Pedagogy, states that the character's "gender is never revealed".[3]