Janeane Garofalo

From Philosopedia

Garofalo, Janeane (28 Sep 1964 - )

A comedienne and television/movie actress, Garofalo, has appeared on the Ben Stiller Show, Saturday Night Live (1994-1995), and numerous other programs.

The Newton, New Jersey, daughter of two executives has twelve tattoos, some in places she will not show to strangers. A few are in plain sight, however: She has the Japanese character for wisdom on one shoulder and the character for happiness on the other. A black floral design rings her forearm, and underneath it, Garofalo has etched the word think.

Since starting her stand-up comedy career in the late 1980s, this daughter of a New Jersey oil executive and his secretary wife established herself as one of her generation's most intelligent and approachable comedians. She tells jokes not so much as she talks openly to an audience—her audience reports that going to a Garofalo show feels like hanging around her living room, listening to her bitch about dating, politics, popular culture, and anything else that ticks her off.

Garofalo in 1992 hooked up Ben Stiller, her frequent artistic partner (and one-time boyfriend), for his Emmy-winning but short-lived Fox sketch comedy program, The Ben Stiller Show. Two years later, she was a regular on Saturday Night Live and as Winona Ryder's best friend in Stiller's directorial breakthrough, Reality Bites. Since then, Garofalo has been omnipresent on television (Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show) and in such films as The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), Mystery Men (1999), Steal This Movie (2000), and Wet Hot American Summer (2001).

Along the way, Garofalo has picked up a few critics, notably Joan Rivers, who ridiculed Garofalo on TV in 1997 for wearing a favorite pair of black pants and a brown sweater to the Emmy Awards. "Janeane Garofalo looks like a bag lady," Rivers shrieked during her critique of the evening's fashion. "Is this girl a pig or what?"

Garofalo was interviewed in Showbiz (Aug 1995), saying she did not believe in God: “He just seems very man-made to me. There are so many theories, and not every one can be right. It's human nature to need a religious crutch, and I don't begrudge anyone that. I just don't need one."

During an appearance on David Letterman, Garofalo, saying she is an atheist, joked that some higher power must be responsible for making her see the same reruns over and over. And in reference to religious belief she said "the glass is half empty as far as I'm concerned.”

Garofalo appeared as a panelist in the 14 July 1998 installment of ABC's Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. In discussing the Pope's recent apostolic letter where the traditional rules of the church were reaffirmed, the subject of marriage annulment is brought up:

Bill: Janeane, you Catholic?

Janeane: Well, I was. I'm not religious anymore, but I think it's like papal infallibility, which is a ridiculous man-made tenet, like what I believe most religious tenets to be, are man-made after the fact.

Bill: I agree.

Janeane: The Bible, I've said it before, is a beautifully written work of fiction. [Light applause ] No, no, don't clap, don't clap. That's what gets me killed.

Bill: Yeah. Laughter]

Janeane: But I just think that papal infallibility and what you're saying, it's like a fascist thing, shut up, get in line, this isn't a focus group. Well, you know, that's a very fascist type of statement. I mean, Catholicism? Yes. So don't be a Catholic, I guess you're right. There's something to that. But it's supposed to be about tolerance and acceptance, and also keeping an eye on pragmatism. And it's 1998. There's got to be certain concessions made for the times.

Arianna Huffington: Well, you could become a Southern Baptist. I mean, instead of having to obey the Pope, you could just obey your husband.

Janeane: Right, exactly.

Feel This Book, which she wrote with Ben Stiller, further describes her outlook:

• Organized religions and their dogmas only serve to indoctrinate the participants into sheeplike common behaviors. This type of blind assimilation promotes the popularity of top-forty count down radio stations and movie sequels. Skepticism towards groups, holy or otherwise, is enriching and makes you a far more entertaining person.

In USA Weekend (1 Aug 1999), Garofalo told the interviewer who asked if God exists, “For other people, yes. I don't have a particular allegiance to one."

{CA}