Absolutely Fabulous! This MOMocrat Wishes You Happy Mother's Day

When I'm not holding hands and singing kumbaya, I indulge in a guilty pleasure: the snarkiness of Absolutely Fabulous, or AbFab. It's sort of the World Champion of Extreme Snarkiness /Politically Incorrectness. Patsy, the tall blonde one, is a fashionista. Edina, or Eddie, is in public relations. They are literally Best Friends Forever. 

What can I say? I love funny women. Carol Burnett, I heart you; you taught me how to make a ball gown from curtain rods. Tina Fey, you rule, you Alpha Mama you. Plus, you're a brunette! Lucille Ball, forget that Cleaver lady, I vote you uber-tv mommy and work/life  balance and interracial marriage pioneer, during the 1950s, no less. Mae West, if you're throwing a party, I'm there. Margaret Cho...you ARE the one that I want. Polyamory much? Whoopi Goldberg, your characters have both broken my heart and made me laugh til my sides split. And Lily Tomlin? Yes, I would take all of you.

One of my favorite AbFab episodes involves the deliciously shallow, self-absorbed Patsy's fear of breast cancer and her need for a breast exam. Patsy, having never read Our Bodies Our Selves and the last one on the planet to use a Diva Cup, can't bring herself to touch herself, you know, there--and it's Saffy, Edina's crunchy, tree-hugging daughter and Patsy's sworn enemy, who has to give it to her. The moment's a bit like the Soviet Union and the U.S. reaching detente at the height of the Cold War. And peace between two lifelong enemies lasts about the length of a fake eyelash.

Patsy and Edina are ridiculously ill-behaved, caustic, self-absorbed, and silly to the nth degree--completely unpleasant, and yet, I find them funny. (Perhaps because I've been to Beverly Hills. Oooh, snap!) And, yes, human. Maybe because you have to go to British humor to see class differences skewered? You know how the Brits like to take the piss out of each other.

Or the characters are such an exaggeration of the worst of ourselves, held up to a fun-house mirror, they can't help but be funny--but also with enough redemption that we want them to do the right thing. And they really do believe that they're fighting the good fight (in their scatter-brained way) against the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest, and yet, achieving better living through make-up and fashion--dammit, you can have both!

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to everyone at MOMocrats. Because we know you're nothing like Eddie or Patsy, but, er...you might know someone like them? (Doesn't everyone?) We know you care passionately about the issues. You've got smarts and votes and will use both. For that, you're absolutely fabulous.

But you deserve some belly laughs too. Now, sweetie darling, break out the champers and fire up the dvd, won't you? (And don't forget the breast exam.)

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k, where she occasionally takes the piss out of herself. It doesn't hurt at all.

Comments

[Jozet]

Wait...did you just call for us to all get together and give each other breast exams?

Because that's the kind of kinky politics I can get behind, Sweetie Darling.

Pass the Boli and Happy Mum's Day!

[Jozet]

Wait...did you just call for us to all get together and give each other breast exams?

Because that's the kind of kinky politics I can get behind, Sweetie Darling.

Pass the Boli and Happy Mum's Day!

[cynematic]

Jozet! *runs in slo-mo happily into her arms for a hug from across a flowery meadow* Yes I am, babe--I am talking self-checks or mutual checks or however you roll, and KUMBAYA to you, too!

I am holding open that elevator door for you. Ain't going anywhere without you. Bring your gun, I'll bring my Moby Dick, and we'll talk Victory Gardens. Are you planting tomatoes or beans this year?

Happy Mum's Day, sweetie darling!

[Summer]

For writing about the joy that is Ab Fab you now have my undying respect.

[Debbie]

Stoli, sweetie. STOLI.

sweetie sweetie sweetie.

drat. what is my favorite ab-fab line? oy. oH! Pats (re: Jane Fonda's aerobics videos, as she and Eds are smoking out in Eds' wc on Eds' bday, and she's avoiding her two ex-husbands, and their hilarious and brilliant partners, one of whom was played BRILLIANTLY by Mo Gaffney, one of the funniest women alive, downstairs): "I paid for those tits. I want them when she dies." "She'll be nothing but bumps and bones in the grave. Bumps and bones, sweetie." (or something like that.)

sigh. ab fab. so effing divine. thanks for the memories, Cyn.

oh. and also, I loved the ep where Eds was shopping for ART, and upon being ignored by the snooty clerk, she said something snarky like "you needn't be so haughty, darling. you're merely a shop assistant."

yeah. yep. fab, indeed.

(and of course you loved it, too, lady Jozet. of *course*. kiss-kiss to you both.)

[Jozet]

Ah, shucks...

You know, it's not like me to get all fanatical about politics. Thanks for bearing with me as I go through my zealot stage. I promise I'll calm down and begin acting like a respectable, sane person.

In the meantime...squish squish, Darling, squish squish.

[jen]

Ahhh tne Diva Cup. Got mine a few months ago and just love it! Got it at South Coast Shopping for $16.99. No more tampoms!

[Donna]

For those of you who don't have the DVD but do get BBC America, they are having an AbFab marathon for Mummy's Day! (And Cyn - some day I'll tell you about lunching at Harvey Nick's -- with kids.)

[Debbie]

Jozet, I love you in any/every form. Cyn, this post, again, brill. Jen, the Diva Cup - you only paid HOW much? jeeez. I coughed up around $35 for it, plus another ten for the "diva wash." but I don't regret it, b/c it's rad and I -- am getting used to it, *ahem*, plus -- yay! no more landfill tampon nasty grossness.

[magpie]

OMG - must put AbFab on Netflix queue.