Saturday Night Live is racist and misogynistic

[grantcart]

Saturday Night Live used to be hip, smart and funny.

Having lost their intellectual sharpness they prefer racist, misogynistic and outrageous.

Sometimes outrageous is funny. For those of us who lived in very conservative homes and areas SNL was a weekly respite from the conventional tawdry drivel that we faced on a daily basis. Now they are the drum major leading the parade.

Last night’s skit combined with last weeks homage to “bitch” provides DU with a unique moment of potential agreement. SNL has become racist and misogynistic.

Its racist quality was captured in the opening skit which showed an incompetent Obama calling Clinton at 3:00 am. It has a humorous premise. Satire and parody rely on exaggeration. The skit would have been fine if it showed an incompetent Obama who was too studious, too pompous, or too inspirational and had taken his words or themes and exaggerated them. That is fair. It might have been funny. I do it here all the time. Take a basic line of argument from somebody extend the logic until it becomes absurd.

That is what they could have done to make Obama look like a potentially bad future president. What they did instead was to give him the vocabulary of a pimp. Having him repeatedly use the word “Motherfucker” was racist. Obama is often critiqued as having an uneven debate performance because he halts and chooses his words so carefully. Putting that word repeatedly into his mouth was not magnifying him. It is also relevent to note that SNL used to have major Black voice and strong Black actors. That is long gone, they are now left with painting Obama with the language of drug induced rapper with a white actor.

Having Obama repeatedly rant in obscenitities including the word “Motherfucker” is an attempt to say you can take the Black out of the Ghetto but you cannot take the Ghetto out of the Black.

The etymology of Motherfucker is obscure, but some say it is traced to a practice of entertainment by slave masters of having slaves perform the actual act in front of groups of slave owners during their nights of debauchery. This is difficult to know because America’s academic examination of crimes against humanity is much more rigorous and thorough when it involves Germans or other nationalities.

Some say,” Many consider "Motherfucker" to be one of the most offensive profanities in the English language. A study published in 2000 found that British people consider it second only to "cunt" in severity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherfucker

So we can all now know what we can look forward to someday from SNL.

For those of you who might want to agree with the above but are not convinced let me ask you a simple question. Can you really imagine them putting the word “motherfucker” into a hysterical rant from the mouth of Bill Clinton or any other prominent politician?

The label of misogyny is harder to pin on any specific point in time. Now please remember in the skit SNL wasn’t portraying Obama as a pimpish suit ranting motherfucker, they were putting those words into Senator Clinton. She, not they, were promoting the ghettoization of Barack Obama. There was last week’s show where they made a vigorous effort to bring back the word “bitch”. It really isn’t a point in time as much as their prolonged sexist treatment of Senator Clinton that comes to mind.
SNL is no longer hip, smart or funny.

Some will try and argue the subject of this OP and I just don’t know if I will have the stomach to discuss it much further.

I wonder how will SNL characterize Senator McCain? Will they parody his political positions? Will the create a premise that plays on his awkward balancing of vastly competing wings of the Republican Party? No this would be hip, smart and potentially funny.

Me? I am betting that they will involve some completely tasteless exercise that will include his withstanding prolonged torture as a POW, his heroic stand for illegal immigrants and the word “Cunt”.

[goclark]

1. You are so right ~ didn't I read that one of the SNL

producers has given money to McCain?

There was a post here today about it.

SNL is lost in the 60's and without the real genius of star comedy.

[cbayer]

17. Actually it premiered in 1975.

There was an OP about Lorne Michaels giving money to McCain for the NY primary. Very unusual for him, as he has given 9 times as much to very liberal democratic candidates.

One article I found said that McCain's daughter was interning at the show at the time. And it may have been an anti-Guiliana donation.

All that aside, the show hasn't been on it's game for a very long time.

[Skinner]

2. They said "motherfucker" on network TV?

I didn't think that was permitted.

[grantcart]

3. it was bleeped but you heard the m and you knew what he was saying

[Skinner]

6. Gotcha. (nt)

[Big Blue Marble]

4. I was highly disturbed by how low they have gone.

See my comments posted here earlier:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4989113

[grantcart]

56. tks

[annie1]

5. i'm ok with the bitch part. people think it's bad that she might be a bit of a ...

bitch, but i think it's great. i'm still laughing over her asking if barack is comfy and needs another pillow. :D

[Cha]

33. hilary thought it was clever too and tried

to simulate it in her debate in Texas and it went over like big ol' lead balloon. She got booed and she thought she was sooooo fucking funny.

Poor hilary she just can't get a break.

[Danger Mouse]

7. SNL disgusted me years ago...

when they referred to Paris as 'the city of whores' (this was back when the U.S. was pissed off at france over Iraq) and ran a skit called 'burqa baddies' which was stunningly offensive, stupid, and racist.

[annie1]

12. i don't like their lame gay jokes. one whole skit was supposed to be funny...

*just* because someone was gay. there was no actual humor, just the guy was gay. it was about the stupidest thing i have ever seen, and the audience thought it was hilarious.

[Danger Mouse]

16. SNL used to be great. their quality has been utter shite in recent years.

SNL was great in the 70's, okay in the 80's, great in the early to mid-90's, then started to suck, and suck hard.

[annie1]

19. yeah. and the gay who played barack annoys me in every single skit...

he SUCKS.

[LisaM]

52. He is HILARIOUS. He looks just like him.

I didn't even realize that BO had that permanent frown till the SNL skits started.

Of course, it's the first time anyone's dared make fun of BO, and his supporters are aghast! Simply aghast, I say! They can't stand it.

[senseandsensibility]

8. Have they even touched McCain yet?

I predict they will treat him with kid gloves all the way through the GE. They certainly will not do anything tasteless about his military service.

[SKKY]

28. No, but you just know a Cindy McCain stealing drugs from her charity...

...skit is in the works. Hell, I'll write it for them.

[senseandsensibility]

Have they even touched McCain yet?

I predict they will treat him with kid gloves all the way through the GE. They certainly will not do anything tasteless about his military service.

[annie1]

15. oh please, he'll be having a heart attack in every scene.

[senseandsensibility]

20. What are they waiting for then?

Post when it actually happens.

[annie1]

22. he's not news yet. all anyone is talking about is Bo and Hil.

[senseandsensibility]

26. Again I'll wait until it actually happens

We'll see who is right.

[whopis01]

58. I think they are waiting for him to be in an election race....

The writer's strike pushed back SNL episodes until after McCain already had the primary won - as soon as we have a nominee, I am sure they will be spending plenty of time on McCain as well.

[UALRBSofL]

9. Yes, SNL is very racists

Because Obama and his camp says so and whatever he says is the gospel.

[Danger Mouse]

11. SNL has been pandering to bigoted humor for years...

i stopped watching them a long time ago.

[grantcart]

18. no actually I said they were both misogynistic and racist

and gave a detailed reason for it. Now since this has nothing to do with promoting either candidate you are free to defend SNL, their characterization of Senator Clinton and Senator Obama.

[hisownpetard]

10. And not only that - it isn't funny!

[Cha]

13. I haven't watched snl since

Al Gore was on there and it was funny and healing. I've tried to watch since but the jokes fall flat like weren't they vetted?

They actually had the Obama character saying Mother (*&^%$ on tv?

They're making themselves beyond irrelevant.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. "Live from New York...We're for Clinton.!"

No surprise.

Good for her.

Part of the bennies.





Edit to add: Now if the Second City could just get it's shit together!

[SKKY]

21. So when Dan Aykroid said to Jane Curtin, "Jane, you ignorant Slut!"...

...or when Eddie Murphy sang "Wookin pa nub", making fun of Buckwheat, that was hip and smart? It was funny alright. I think you're taking SNL way, way too seriously.

[grantcart]

35. In the 70s it was funny because we had never heard it before

and he wasn't saying it every show. But the point here is they were not putting those words in somebody else's mouth.

[SKKY]

37. Ah, so because it was the 70's, and we had never heard it before...

...it was funny? What kind of logic is that?

[SoCalDem]

72. Anyone who was not young in the '70s will never understand them

:) Times were different then.. I'm glad I was a 20-something back then...instead of now..

people said and did outrageous things, and other people did not get all analytical and angry.. we just went on with our lives..

that said.. times are different now, and people truly DO have to watch what they say, because most of the time, they are NOT being funny.. there IS an undertone..

It was not always like that..

[anonymous171]

23. It's called Hillary Night Live now.

[annie1]

27. why, b/c the host of one episode endorsed hil? they snapped on her this week.

[Barack_America]

24. I thought McCain was the "fuck you" guy.

So why would they put that word in Obama's mouth?

Saturday night is unfunny, irrelevant and frankly offensive.

[SKKY]

30. No, that was the other senile white guy Cheney.

[Barack_America]

41. Cheney is the "go fuck yourself" guy...

Leahy was the target.

McCain told Cornyn to "fuck off".

That's one thing that I've always appreciated about Republicans, they're the party of civility and family values. :eyes:

[pajjr]

25. I for one

Thought it was hilarious. Not a bit racist!

[Danzo]

40. Me too.

[Tuesday_Morning]

29. racist, sexist

and not funny at all.

It was pathetic.

[ellisonz]

31. The writing is just dumb and the actors are annoying.

Thank God for Comedy Central!

[Crunchy Frog]

32. Ah for the good old days.

Chevy Chase's portrayal of Jerry Ford, Dan Akroyd's portrayals of Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, Bill Murray's portrayal of Teddy Kennedy. ~sigh~

[0007]

34. Saturday Night Live is still hip, smart and funny. I love 'em.

[Swamp Rat]

36. SNL is dead to me.

:D



SNL hasn't been funny for a very very long time.

[Cha]

42. That's right they haven't and

now they're trying for the worst kind of comedy and it's falling as flat as the other years. The only ones who appreciate it are hilary and those who think racist/misognistic skits are funny as hell.

[Swamp Rat]

43. The comedians were better, the writers, the guests, the musicians... (Lot of Pix:)

[Cha]

48. Comedically talented bunch

of peeps! Wonder what happened to the 21st Century snl's comedy touch? Will Farrell is funny but he's in greener pastures. Not all of Will Farrell but it's mainly the writers who have to write it funny in the First Place. :)

[BenDavid]

38. So obama has really place the yammy on you folks and

his campaign is all about race....WOW!
Oh excuse me for saying that I might be labeled a bigot......

[cali]

44. only because it would fit.

You're more careful now, but some of us remember your ugly OPs that got locked.

[cali]

45. only because it would fit.

You're more careful now, but some of us remember your ugly OPs that got locked.

[debbierlus]

39. I think SNL skits have sucked this election season -

Now, the 2000 debate between Gore & Bush (with Ferrell as Bush) - OMG, that was HILARIOUS!

[Breeze54]

63. Ah...they've only been back 2 weeks.. the writers were on strike,

remember?

[Apollo11]

46. Let's ban the MF word from DU

When the 1984 movie Repo Man was shown on British TV, they covered over every use of the MF word with "Melon Farmer" B-)

[chill_wind]

47. It was offensive and lazy. Usually satire starts with an existing trait

ripe for exaggeration, even however small. Obama has never given them the least basis for the portrayal they used.

As you yourself put it--

"Obama with the language of drug induced rapper (...)"


"Having Obama repeatedly rant in obscenitities including the word “Motherfucker” is an attempt to say you can take the Black out of the Ghetto but you cannot take the Ghetto out of the Black."

or maybe it wasn't lazy at all. They had to really purposefully work at inventing him from scratch as something he in no way is.

As a side note, The MSM played that clip and laughed appreciatively every time they aired it this AM.

SNL--- one of the new Superdelegates. Who knew?

[whopis01]

60. Did you even get the joke at all?

It was supposed to be Clinton's ad against Obama. It was an attack against Clinton, not against Obama. It was showing Clinton trying to portray Obama that way in an ad!

[chill_wind]

65. Got the gist. Hated the device. n/t

[TheDeathadder]

49. grow up

they've made fun of people in politics for years...not to mention endless amounts of skits about the Clintons.

Back during Iowa, I heard nothing but praise for the whole Obama dressing as Obama for Clinton's costume party.

[2rth2pwr]

50. This OP is a parody, right?

"The etymology of Motherfucker is obscure, but some say it is traced to a practice of entertainment by slave masters of having slaves perform the actual act in front of groups of slave owners during their nights of debauchery. This is difficult to know because America’s academic examination of crimes against humanity is much more rigorous and thorough when it involves Germans or other nationalities."

Anyway, all I heard were beeps, you had to use your imagination to fill in the blanks.

[grantcart]

51. No it is entirely serious.

I have read serious accounts including first person oral history accounts but it was a long time ago and I cannot cite it. The first cited uses were in the 1920's among African American jazz performers.

There has been very little investigation into the actual life histories of slaves and what their daily lives are like. Granted the farther back in time you go the more difficult it is to investigate. Even more recent events like the Tulsa race riot have recieved very little academic examination and remain almost completely outside of the American consciousness.

I am fairly certain that more college educated Americans would be able to identify the basic events behind Kristallnacht than have any understanding of the Tulsa Race riots.


The words were only partially obscured and you didn't have to be a lip reader to understand exactly what was being said.

[NOLALady]

66. I'd heard the MF word was directed at the

slave owners who repeatedly raped the women.

[bajamary]

53. Get a Grip. People - It's Comedy

I can't believe all the nasty comments about a TV Comedy Show from the Obama folks.

Get a grip it's called comedy for a reason.

The Daily Show (which many posting here presumably like) has featured Hillary several times of late. She's one smart lady to figure out that it's a good idea to appear on these TV Comedy Shows that also make fun of her.

Hey, did Obama also appear on SNL as himself? Wasn't that funny? I don't recall a big uproar from the Hillary folks saying that SNL was pro-Obama.

Good satire always uses elements of reality, that's why it's called satire. Oh, boy, this SNL has really hit a nerve. I wonder why?

There's an excellent review at Second City called: "Between Barack and a Hard Place".

Bet there are people reading this that would also go nuts about this (2nd City is the home of many comedy giants). Gee, maybe they'd even picked in front of Second City, that is if they would actually see it. They get everyone: Obama, Hillary and even the Queen of America: Oprah !

It's a satire and it's comedy and it's fabulous.

Lighten up .

[grantcart]

59. Thats what they said about Amos and Andy

and no we are not fucking going to lighten up


some people get it and some people don't

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

54. The Only Thing I Find Racist Is Your Insinuation That Motherfucker Is A Black Term.

I use it all the damn time. I ain't anywhere near a ghetto. You seriously need to get a grip. The skit was pure humor and quite funny.

Seriously. If you are going to interpret things in such an irrational fashion, it may be an indication that it's time for a break.

[grantcart]

67. I am not surprised to hear that you use it all the time.

The point is that Obama does not use it all the time. That putting that speech in his mouth is not satirization or parody it is taking the most revulsive possible language and putting it in the mouth of a person who is particularly careful with his speech.

That some white people take on speech, dress or other attributes of hard core ghetto culture does not mean that those elements are not fundamentally understood by the population to be ghetto culture.

[spoony]

76. Sorry, but there's nothing exclusively "ghetto" about swearing

For fuck's sake.

[grantcart]

78. there is nothing exclusively "ghetto" about swearing. There is nothing

in the ghetto that is exclusive to it. Everything that you find in the ghetto can be found somewhere else.

The word "motherfucker" is more representative of ghetto or rapper lyrics than it is of say Harvard or the Senate. The use of the

the word was to associate Obama as just another foul mouthed Black politician who has one foot in the ghetto. And even more

dispicable was the fact that they were saying that it was Senator Clinton's image of what a President Obama presidency would look

like.


Thank you for your vigorous defence of the word motherfucker.

[me b zola]

55. I haven't seen the skit

But your description reminds me of O'Reilly's racist rant about the Harlem restaurant where Bill-O is shocked that the black people there 'weren't yelling for their mother-fucking iced tea'.

Yep, snl seems to have forgone the traditional use of satire by exaggerating a personal characteristic/problem/issue and instead opted to go with attributing racial stereotypes to a person of color (whom is not known to have ever used that phrase) as a source of 'humor'. Blech.

[DontTreadOnMe2008]

57. Barack Obama and SNL's minstrel show comeback

grantcart, is on the pulse and articulates what I was thinking, too.( That motherfucker historical reference is painfully instructive) I've sent emails to NBC and plan to send out more emails and faxes tomorrow...I wonder if Obama's campaign will confront this...Man, talk about throwing the kitchen sink at him.

When it was first revealed that Saturday Night Live opted to cast a white actor in the role as Barack Obama, I gave them the benefit of the doubt for color blind casting. However, this sketch clearly illustrates specious overtones that seek to rally America's racist underbelly with a minstrel show chorus...Exactly what aspects of Senator Barack Obama's persona are being parodied here? Has he shown himself to be a stumbling and bumbling idiot? Is there any evidence of his abject incompetence? The Jim Crow characterization of Obama is clear. I'm old enough to vaguely remember Jack Benny and his valet sidekick, Rochester...I would have to look it up, but I remember Jack Benny as being very level headed & Rochester, not so much...In the SNL skit Hillary was Obama's, Jack Benny...America is on the verge of potentially electing it's first Black President...SNL will greet him with Fred Armisen in Blackface...Now, I get it... SNL's 21st century Al Jolson...(another racist icon) A real knee slapper.

[woolldog]

71. he (Obama) can't talk about it

politically. Most people just don't get the unconscious racism here and he would come across as a whiner, or even "playing the race card" (ridiculous I know).

Other people, not associated with the campaign do need to bring it up.

[AZBlue]

61. I was interested in the Hillary white face and the white actor playing Barack in black face.

Not sure what to make of it - can't really make my mind go there...

[tomreedtoon]

62. So what else is new? They have been from the start.

Look at the treatment they gave their original token black member, Garrett Morris. Look at the way they sidelined their original women cast members, while Belushi, Ackroyd and Chase got the spotlight. And if you look at the history of the show, it's been biased towards white, young, male college students - the "dorm and bong water crowd."

[Breeze54]

64. BS! Here's a quarter.

Buy a sense of humor! ;)

[grantcart]

68. You may wish to consider that for some of us these issues of racial degradation

are not hypothetical issues but are elements that our families and our children are subjected to.

[Breeze54]

69. I have considered that and I think you need to laugh a bit....

er ... lighten up. Have a laugh. Let your hair down!

Not everything is racially or women hating motivated.

There were also women & black people in those skits.

I'm pretty sure they would have protested.

It's called sarcasm and irony.

[grantcart]

79. So is that what you say when your friends crack a racist joke too

just laugh. Don't be serious? Simply because actors participate in racists skits doesn't mean that they don't know what is going

on. Amos and Andy went on for years and if your a black actor there were only so many roles. But in point of fact there were no

black actors in the skit. It sounds like your defending a skit you did not see.

[Breeze54]

85. I don't have friends that make those kinds of jokes.. my friends are liberals and educated.

[davidthegnome]

70. Hmm

An impersonator using the word motherfucker makes them racist? No kidding? It seems to be a rather popular insult with people of all kinds of different backgrounds today. I fail to see where anything sexist was said of Clinton, or to her, or to or from one of her impersonators, no doubt.

One of the things that makes a good comedy is the fact that nothing - and I do mean - nothing - is sacred. Racism, sexism, bigotry of all sorts is welcomed and applauded and laughed at - even by those of us who would normally reject it.

Why? Because it's a joke, it's meant to be funny - often by being absurd, and so beyond the bounds of PC that it's hysterical. Of course neither of them would act like their impersonators.

I really fail to see the issue.

[marions ghost]

77. hmm ...well let's look at it:

I'm assuming this is the skit:

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/SNL_spoofs_Hillarys_3AM_phone_call_0309.html

Here's a debate about it on Huff Po:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/09/snl-hillary-gets-3am-cal_n_90598.html

----------------------------------

I thought this skit was funny--both of the candidates are portrayed as pretty spooky & absurd. The message is clearly "look below the surfaces and sound bites." The question is "what is the value of this vague "Experience" we often rely on so delusionally? So this skit gets across to me, too, but obviously not to some.

One of the issues we have in defending political lampooning even when it offends some is that we now live in a world where reality and unreality are becoming blurred. I mean --for example many (younger esp) people get their ONLY news exposure from Jon Stewart because the real news is too boring or too disturbing. And look at all the delusional RW people who get their ONLY input from talk radio, where absurdities are given shape on a daily basis.

So what happens to the concept of "absurd" when there is no context for comparison? Do stereotypes turn back on themselves and become the reality? The OP is expressing a hypersensitivity to images and quick negative portrayals that is not unfounded. I wouldn't be for censorship but I would also consider that these days seemingly benign cultural criticism can have unintended interpretations.

My answer to this debate is NEVER to adopt a single point of view as a shortcut for making one's own decisions about the issues that directly affect us.

[TheDonkey]

73. Will Hillary be plugging this episode as well??

[Justice Is Comin]

74. First time I've loved a

Saturday nite sketch since John Belushi and Akroyd left.

That wasn't even satire. That was reality on steroids.

[spoony]

75. "A study published in 2000 found that British people

consider it second only to "cunt" in severity."

That doesn't say anything about offensiveness, though, since "cunt" is used quite often in British slang.

[Ordr]

80. No, it's not.

n/t

[lame54]

81. You guys are really bent over this show...

sounds like they are still doing their job

[joeybee12]

82. Hmmm...I guess satire doesn't appeal to "true believers" n/t

[grantcart]

84. satire would have taken a percieved trait like, being pompous

erudite, overly symbolic speech something that is an exaggeration. A Sen. Obama screaming obscenities typical of a low class rapper. And a careful viewing of it actually says that none of it is representative of Obama it is an example of how low Clinton will go to invent obvious untrue things about Obama. In any case it is not satire and doesn't come close to the clever satire of the show's past.

[youthere]

83. Meh..I thought it was funny.

[Dems Will Win]

86. Their audience is 80% for Obama. I think they blew their hoped for comeback

on Saturday night.

They have one more chance to redeem themselves or this could actually be the end of the show, as the young Obamaniacs boycott it and its sponsors.