Fey: I think in a way "SNL" is a mixed blessing. Because you have to generate your own stuff there, you feel like you are always going to be able to come up with something for yourself; you feel independent of the system in a way that is either great or completely foolhardy.
Poehler: I think we both tend to be kind of late bloomers. We've always been attracted, both of us, to late bloomers in general anyway. There's a lot of women in comedy right now that are actually our age. It's the same kind of thing, really strong women, let's say who were mentioned in that Vanity Fair article. All similar age. I don't know what that means.
Fey: That we're not alone being in that position.
Poehler: All our mothers took a very interesting drug when they were pregnant.
In "Mean Girls," there's a great little scene where a character's baby sister is watching "Girls Gone Wild" on TV, and she pulls up her shirt, emulating what she's seeing. Lindsay Lohan starred in that movie. Why do you think she and Britney Spears and Paris Hilton -- there's more of an interest in women on this death spiral than men.
Fey: They're so young. That's another kind of blessing , even though we're blooming late, it is a blessing to have all this weird stuff be able to start happening later in your life, when you're more fully formed as a person. Because I can't imagine being 19 years old and having $60 million and nothing to do. That's a dangerous situation.
Poehler: It's unfair.
Fey: It is a "Girls Gone Wild" generation. "Girls Gone Wild" did something. The idea of, like, let's get wasted and fake make out with each other to amuse this strange guy.
Poehler: I blame ["Girls Gone Wild" creator] Joe Francis for all of it.
Fey: Ladies, don't show your knockers to Joe Francis. Get your own camera, film your own knockers and get the money.
Poehler: We should start our own business where down-and-out women get their own money from showing their knockers. Being a girl this age, it would be a hard time, I think. A lot of mixed messages. A lot of "Be yourself" but a lot of "Be super skinny." "Save it until you're married . . ."
Fey: "But dress like a whore."
Poehler: And a lot of like, "Think about the world and be green, but buy a lot of stuff." I feel like, growing up, I had a Kristy McNichol T-shirt. It was different.
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paul.brownfield@latimes.com
