Pat (fictional character)
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Pat was an androgynous fictional character created and performed by Julia Sweeney for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.
Pat was a somewhat overweight, sexually ambiguous character with short, curly black hair who wore glasses and a blue western-style shirt with tan slacks. The character spoke in a nasally voice that sometimes squeaked. Pat apparently suffers from very sweaty palms, and constantly wipes them on his/her clothing while making a strange whimpering sound, further adding to the character's unappetizing quality. Sweeney wore no makeup and colored her lips beige to further hide any gender clues. The sketches always involved the celebrity guest hosts of the show playing everyday people who encounter Pat and then go to great lengths to discover Pat's true gender without being so rude as to actually ask. Pat remains completely oblivious, endlessly frustrating his/her questioners with answers that leave the character's gender vague. The character often makes statements that seem to reveal his/her gender, only to then immediately confuse things again. (A typical example might be, "Sorry if I'm a little grumpy, I have really bad cramps... I rode my bike over here, and my calf muscles are KILLING me!")
The character was popular enough to spawn a feature length 1994 film called It's Pat...The Movie (from the lyrics of the character's theme song on Saturday Night Live) in which Pat's full name was revealed to be Pat Riley. In the film, Pat breaks up with his or her significant other, Chris, another sexually ambiguous character played by Dave Foley. (On SNL, Chris had been played by Dana Carvey.) Pat spends the entire film trying to win Chris back, all the while becoming an object of obsession of a neighbor (Charles Rocket), who is so determined to discover Pat's gender that he goes insane. Pat also has a brief rock and roll career in the film and plays with the band Ween. The film was a commercial and critical bomb. As of June 2006, it is ranked #39 on the IMDB [bottom 100] list, with a rating of 2.3.
Sweeney also helped co-author a book to coincide with the film's release, entitled "It's Pat: My Life Exposed." Pat makes it through the entire book without revealing her/his true gender.
Pat's gender
Sweeney recently admitted that Pat is probably a woman. This admission stems from a skit with Harvey Keitel in which their two characters, both of dubious sexual provenance, share a kiss. Sweeney reflexively tilted her head to receive the kiss in the stereotypically feminine fashion, a move that was not noticed at the time but was brought to her attention a couple of years later. Sweeney says she normally paid close attention to such details in her performances as Pat and was disappointed that she had made this mistake. Although it was the only such "tell" of which she was aware, she nevertheless accepted that this made Pat a woman.However, a slip of acting is by no means an accurate representation of Pat's gender. Pat remains androgynous.
Pat's gender is revealed in the SNL episode starring Linda Hamilton, 16 November 1991. However, only Hamilton and the cast members (in a sketch set at a gymnasium) learn the truth, when Pat accepts the use of the showers. The audience is still left wondering.
Trivia
Sweeney has said that her mother particularly disliked Pat because the character was so unnattractive, often suggesting that Sweeney should wear some nice makeup and a more feminine hairstyle. In response, Sweeney pointed out that such things would of course be completely inappropriate for a character who is supposed to be indeterminate gender. In one SNL skit Pat's parent was revealed to be Frances/Francis, yet another androgyne.
See also
External links
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