Entertainment Review

Issue 62

This Issue: Portlandia

Review by Steven Kramer

In case our readers haven’t noticed, there is a new TV sketch Comedy called Portlandia, starring, among others, Fred Armisen from Saturday Night Live. SNL is generally a funny show. However, just because a comedian is featured in a successful comedy, does not mean all of his work will be equally successful. Portlandia, is a good example of this: the show is set (and shot) in my current residence, Portland Oregon. That is the primary reason that I looked into it. People around town talk about it, and I wanted to see it for myself. However, by the end of the first episode, it became clear that the show was not all it was cracked up to be. While it was somewhat funny, I feel it would be better described by the words annoying and confusing. Like most sketch comedies, it involves staging of everyday events, with e purpose of satirizing Portlanders and our countercultural culture, a survivor of the previous decades. Indeed, they managed to capture this successfully, several of the characters possessed a similar philosophy. They captured the strange people, businesses, and personality of the city as a whole. But the buck stops there. Even as a man familiar with Portland (having lived here for the past twelve years) the jokes seldom made sense, and were overly drawn out. The characters would berate each other (in much the same way as overly-sensitive portlander do.) But while it may have been funny for short jokes, the sketches went on and on, making an extreme example of portlanders. The characters in the show behave in a manner I have seldom seen even on the streets (for example bringing a blender into an outdoor concert) or overblowing truth (a transgender book store owner being offended when a customer points a finger) Still others became hideously confusing. A chicken at a restaurant had complete paperwork on its lifestyle (a parody of the preference for organic, free-range food) Yet it was revealed that the owner was a polygamous cult leader (here, the chickens disappeared, and it was a confusing flurry of denim skirts, and weird personalities that had nothing at all to do with Portland or its culture.) Perhaps I am being too hard on the show, but as a Portlander, I was confused by the show. It was nothing but a collection of drawn out,  irritating, confusing skits.

Rating for Portlandia:  ★☆☆☆☆