GMU Pop Culture Journalism

Tina Fey Feature Response

Last January, Vanity Fair did an excellent profile of Tina Fey. It featured some great quotes by Fey and people close to her which helped paint a better picture of who Fey is aside from her 30 Rock character and Sarah Palin impression.

The crux of the article, which the author seemed to want its readers to take away, is that despite her caustic wit and sexy-librarian looks, Fey is a very conservative person who is governed by her own personal set of rules that she lives by.

The writer of this story, Maureen Dowd, obviously spent a lot of time researching the story. It describes several meetings with Fey herself in her apartment and at a café, in addition to a meeting with her husband Jeff Richmond, and scores of other people who know her including 30 Rock actor Alec Baldwin, SNL creator Lorne Michaels, and 30 Rock staffer Marci Klein, among others.

I think the author seemed to answer just about every question that might’ve been relevant to the story. The piece really is quite lengthy, though I suppose some other questions about, say who can make her laugh and who her biggest influences were might have been welcome in a profile such as this one.

The feature is organized well. It starts with an interesting lead, then moves on to a conversation between the author, Fey, and her husband in their New York apartment. It then moves on to Fey’s background, which includes her interests, and quotes from people who have known Fey since the start of her career. Then the focus is on quotes her husband says during a meeting over coffee, followed by tales of Fey’s career and more told during cocktails in her apartment. More time is spent on her background, and more quotes from people she has worked with are included. The feature moves on to the story about Fey’s scar on her lip, and how it inspired her life. A little bit of time tells of Fey’s anxieties, then it moves to how Fey has transformed in her career. Information is given about the start of 30 Rock, and then her breakout thanks to her Sarah Palin impression, and the impact it’s had on her life. Finally, the article concludes with a few more quotes and information about Fey’s life today.