Caught in the crossfire over whether The Daily Show has a problem with women or not has been Olivia Munn, the show’s newest correspondent, who has been cited by some as an example not of the show’s inclusiveness but of sexism. To wit: she was hired, the implication goes, not because she’s funny but because she’s hot. She answers some of these critiques in an interview with Salon.
Munn aired her first field segment last night, from Arizona. The subject: a legislator who co-sponsored the state’s law allowing officers to stop anyone they think looks like an illegal immigrant—but who believes that cameras on the highways to catch speeders are unconstitutional. (Bonus punch line: he considers speeding probable cause to stop someone as a possible illegal. But not to give them a ticket for speeding.)
Intriguingly, judging from her few appearances so far, including an earlier bit concerning Vietnamese fishermen in the Gulf, the show is playing up not her ladyness but the half-Chinese Munn’s position as “multiethnic” correspondent—an issue for the once largely-white show that’s gone overlooked in the “women problem” debate.
Here’s the video. Looks like comedy to me!
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