Saturday Night Live hasn't been funny in decades...and that statement itself is decades old. Even when the long-running sketch show was funny, every episode had 45 minutes of excruciatingly unfunny material.
Now, according to the Emmy's, and most people on my social media feed, SNL has returned to glory. They have always done political humor, and last year's election from hell gave them an incredible ratings boost. Like everything else these days, the overwhelming focus 12 months later remains on Trump's shenanigans. Sad! Especially since Baldwin's impression is horrible. Beyond that, it's impossible to satirize Trump. His words and actions are more ridiculous than any satire can hope to be. Baldwin essentially repeats what he has actually said, always to roaring laughter, which only serves to normalize Trump. He becomes just another goofball politician that SNL lampoons, no worse than Gerald Ford or George HW Bush.
If SNL was just a comedy that wasn't funny, I wouldn't really care. There's hundreds of unfunny comedies. I'm not gonna rant about Big Bang Theory because it's awful; there's no point in that. It's horrible, but ultimately it's harmless. The thing that bothers me about SNL is that they see themselves as having some value beyond comedy. Their most passionate fans think that these stupid skits mean something. They are part of #TheResistance! If you think I'm being harsh, think back to the episode after Trump won, with Kate McKinnon in character as Hillary Clinton singing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, the most serious sad song ever. This was beyond comedy. This was IMPORTANT! People were raving about how powerful it was. Fans shed tears!
Meanwhile, SNL literally had Trump on as a host; this was past normalizing, it was celebrating him. He danced to Drake! Haha he's just like us! A megalomaniac, billionaire, serial sexual harasser just like us!
SNL even made Dave Chappelle unfunny. That's almost impossible. The entire episode with Chappelle was a catastrophe. He was out there during the monologue talking about give Trump a chance (a statement he now regrets, to his credit). That was literally 5 minutes after Hillary McKinnon sang her little heart out and fought back tears while telling us she's not giving up. Mixed messages much?
If you want to watch SNL because you think it's funny, that's fine. You're wrong and why would you do that to yourself but thats cool. But if you watch because you think it'll accomplish anything or that it MEANS something or that these people really give a fuck, don't kid yourself.
To be fair to SNL, they are not the only ones who normalized Trump. CNN and NBC as a whole deserve more of the blame. NBC saved Trump's entire career and brand by allowing him to portray a successful businessman. He was on prime time television "firing" people during one of America's worst economic recessions, at the same time he was claiming President Obama was not an American citizen. Then Jimmy Fallon tussled his hair like a good little boy.
Celebrities and the rich are not on your side. They will make endless videos and tweets about the unprecedented dangers that Trump and Co. represent, but the reality is they are not affected by his horrible policies like the rest of us. It's just a game to so many of these people. Sean Spicer hadn't been out of the administration for more than 3 months, and the "outraged liberals" were fighting over the chance to give him a big wet kiss at the Emmy's.
I'm surprised Spicy hasn't hosted SNL yet. This is the guy who berated reporters and blatantly lied about things from crowd size to policies to basic history. But it's all good because he can laugh at himself! Awesome.
It hurts to say this because I am a fan, but it was Stephen Colbert who brought Spicer out. Colbert also had Trump on and took it easy on him. Now he has his highest ratings ever because he shits on Trump constantly. The sad reality is, that's what it's all about for the vast majority of these #Resistance celebrities. The head of CNN even admitted that Trump may be bad for the country, but he's great for ratings. Some in the entertainment business probably care about certain issues, but again, most of them are not really affected like the rest of us.
But man, people really believe Alec Baldwin is out there protecting the Republic by scrunching up his face and wearing orange make-up.
People have told me in all seriousness that Tina Fey helped Obama win by mocking Sarah Palin. I'd say that theory got shot to shit this past election. If comedy shows had any real impact on politics, Trump would have lost by 20 million votes and all of the major Republican politicians would never have a job. Just because someone hates the same person you hate doesn't mean they are a good person, and just because celebrities make fun of unpopular politicians doesn't mean they are fighting for you. And it definitely doesn't have any type of significant influence. In fact, you could argue that it has the opposite of the intended effect. Trump in particular feeds off the mocking. He uses it to paint himself as the outsider, an average Joe getting harassed by the Hollywood elite. He and his supporters ignore that he is part of the Hollywood elite, but that's beside the point. Every joke, every satire, every video mocking Trump is just another example of the "liberal" media attacking "real" Americans.
It's a shitty situation because everything seems to embolden Trump and his supporters. Make fun of them and they take it as proof of oppression from the liberal media. Break down Trump's lies and provide evidence, they claim it's fake news and take it as proof of a liberal conspiracy.
I don't know the solution, and I'm certainly not against satire or humor. I also think it's important to call powerful people out on their bullshit. I just think all of the Trump satire doesn't work that well and it definitely isn't effect as a political tool. I love John Oliver, and I think he does the best job of making fun of Trump and explaining all of the real horrendous shit the administration is doing. But I find myself not laughing that much at his show anymore. Frankly, the reality is too sad to laugh.
As far as SNL goes, the writing just isn't good enough to provide any unique, humorous insight or perspective that can't be found on Twitter the day before. Plus, Alec Baldwin is a huge piece of shit, so the social commentary they're going for turns into more of a meta comment on the ruling class. Instead of showing how horrendous it is to have a rich white asshole celebrity for a president, it's just reminding us that rich white asshole celebrities will always remain powerful and can reach the pinnacles of their professions despite their horrendous behavior.
Ha!
I Love You All (No Joke)...Class Dismissed.
Now, according to the Emmy's, and most people on my social media feed, SNL has returned to glory. They have always done political humor, and last year's election from hell gave them an incredible ratings boost. Like everything else these days, the overwhelming focus 12 months later remains on Trump's shenanigans. Sad! Especially since Baldwin's impression is horrible. Beyond that, it's impossible to satirize Trump. His words and actions are more ridiculous than any satire can hope to be. Baldwin essentially repeats what he has actually said, always to roaring laughter, which only serves to normalize Trump. He becomes just another goofball politician that SNL lampoons, no worse than Gerald Ford or George HW Bush.
If SNL was just a comedy that wasn't funny, I wouldn't really care. There's hundreds of unfunny comedies. I'm not gonna rant about Big Bang Theory because it's awful; there's no point in that. It's horrible, but ultimately it's harmless. The thing that bothers me about SNL is that they see themselves as having some value beyond comedy. Their most passionate fans think that these stupid skits mean something. They are part of #TheResistance! If you think I'm being harsh, think back to the episode after Trump won, with Kate McKinnon in character as Hillary Clinton singing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, the most serious sad song ever. This was beyond comedy. This was IMPORTANT! People were raving about how powerful it was. Fans shed tears!
Meanwhile, SNL literally had Trump on as a host; this was past normalizing, it was celebrating him. He danced to Drake! Haha he's just like us! A megalomaniac, billionaire, serial sexual harasser just like us!
To be fair to SNL, they are not the only ones who normalized Trump. CNN and NBC as a whole deserve more of the blame. NBC saved Trump's entire career and brand by allowing him to portray a successful businessman. He was on prime time television "firing" people during one of America's worst economic recessions, at the same time he was claiming President Obama was not an American citizen. Then Jimmy Fallon tussled his hair like a good little boy.
Celebrities and the rich are not on your side. They will make endless videos and tweets about the unprecedented dangers that Trump and Co. represent, but the reality is they are not affected by his horrible policies like the rest of us. It's just a game to so many of these people. Sean Spicer hadn't been out of the administration for more than 3 months, and the "outraged liberals" were fighting over the chance to give him a big wet kiss at the Emmy's.
Fuck both of these guys.
I'm surprised Spicy hasn't hosted SNL yet. This is the guy who berated reporters and blatantly lied about things from crowd size to policies to basic history. But it's all good because he can laugh at himself! Awesome.
It hurts to say this because I am a fan, but it was Stephen Colbert who brought Spicer out. Colbert also had Trump on and took it easy on him. Now he has his highest ratings ever because he shits on Trump constantly. The sad reality is, that's what it's all about for the vast majority of these #Resistance celebrities. The head of CNN even admitted that Trump may be bad for the country, but he's great for ratings. Some in the entertainment business probably care about certain issues, but again, most of them are not really affected like the rest of us.
But man, people really believe Alec Baldwin is out there protecting the Republic by scrunching up his face and wearing orange make-up.
Pretty sure I know the answer to this one, The Atlantic.
People have told me in all seriousness that Tina Fey helped Obama win by mocking Sarah Palin. I'd say that theory got shot to shit this past election. If comedy shows had any real impact on politics, Trump would have lost by 20 million votes and all of the major Republican politicians would never have a job. Just because someone hates the same person you hate doesn't mean they are a good person, and just because celebrities make fun of unpopular politicians doesn't mean they are fighting for you. And it definitely doesn't have any type of significant influence. In fact, you could argue that it has the opposite of the intended effect. Trump in particular feeds off the mocking. He uses it to paint himself as the outsider, an average Joe getting harassed by the Hollywood elite. He and his supporters ignore that he is part of the Hollywood elite, but that's beside the point. Every joke, every satire, every video mocking Trump is just another example of the "liberal" media attacking "real" Americans.
It's a shitty situation because everything seems to embolden Trump and his supporters. Make fun of them and they take it as proof of oppression from the liberal media. Break down Trump's lies and provide evidence, they claim it's fake news and take it as proof of a liberal conspiracy.
I don't know the solution, and I'm certainly not against satire or humor. I also think it's important to call powerful people out on their bullshit. I just think all of the Trump satire doesn't work that well and it definitely isn't effect as a political tool. I love John Oliver, and I think he does the best job of making fun of Trump and explaining all of the real horrendous shit the administration is doing. But I find myself not laughing that much at his show anymore. Frankly, the reality is too sad to laugh.
As far as SNL goes, the writing just isn't good enough to provide any unique, humorous insight or perspective that can't be found on Twitter the day before. Plus, Alec Baldwin is a huge piece of shit, so the social commentary they're going for turns into more of a meta comment on the ruling class. Instead of showing how horrendous it is to have a rich white asshole celebrity for a president, it's just reminding us that rich white asshole celebrities will always remain powerful and can reach the pinnacles of their professions despite their horrendous behavior.
Ha!
I Love You All (No Joke)...Class Dismissed.
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