Wednesday, August 27, 2014

SNL: Obama Is Unparodyable

From the continuing category of how delusional liberals can be, we had a series of articles about Saturday Night Live last week in which they openly spoke about how they hoped to hurt Sarah Palin, how they hated the idea they helped George Bush, how they struggled with parodying Obama, and how they are just comics without bias.

The one that really got me, of all of this, was their discussion of Obama. In particular, check out this quote from SNL producer/writer James Downey:
“If I had to describe Obama as a comedy project, I would say, 'Degree of difficulty, 10-point-10. It's like being a rock climber looking up at a thousand-foot-high face of solid obsidian, polished and oiled. . . There's not a single thing to grab onto — certainly not a flaw or hook that you can caricature.
This is why Downey wrote his Obama “jokes” as being “about the effect he had on other people and the way he changed their behavior.”

Uh. No flaw to hook onto. Really?

Ok, how about this... even when Obama was still a phenomena, the joke about him (a MUCH repeated joke) was about him needing a teleprompter to sound erudite. That’s a HUGE treasure trove of caricature. In fact, when he spoke away from the teleprompter, his speech patterns became dangerously close to being a classic speech impediment. At the very least, he did things they poked fun at Bush and Palin and Clinton and Bush for.

Within weeks of taking office, you had Obama getting flipped the bird by tiny Honduras. How is that not ironic and funny? That’s the mouse that roared. In fact, it’s the mouse that told the Messiah to f-off.

Then suddenly you had Obama moving the Oval Office to local golf courses. He became so out of touch that he even found himself having to ask “whose ass to kick”... a classic “Read my lips” parodyable moment. At the least, his golfing deserved(s) a running skit where he would strip off his suit to reveal golf clothes beneath or hiding golfing gear around the office.

What else? You had him insulting the British by returning gifts and by not telling them he had dumped terrorists in their territory. He gave the queen an iPod with his own speeches on it... talk about arrogant and tacky. His wife went on insanely expensive vacations (I still remember them attacking Nancy Reagan for having expensive tastes). He got ignored at Copenhagen. He sent a ludicrous plastic-prop reset button to Russia. He told a nasty and inappropriate joke about Hillary drunk texting him.

And most importantly, none of this is political. None of this is aimed at his ideology or could be considered a political attack on him. In other words, all of this could be done safely without them having to poke fun at their own beliefs... not that a true “political satirist” as SNL often likes to consider itself would have a problem poking fun at their own beliefs. In fact, if you add that to the mix, you get these things too:
● His frosty relationship with Congressional and Senate Democrats, including his refusal to help them shape Obamacare.

● His failure to close Gitmo or stop torture or stop droning.

● The courts throwing out almost every executive decision he’s made.

● The surge in inequality and poverty.

● The lack of jobs and their attempt to pretend otherwise: “created or saved.”

● More debt than every other president combined.

● Cronyism, zero oversight over Wall Street, “too big to fail” becoming “too even bigger to fail.”
There is a wealth of material here, material that would have been easy fodder had the President been Bush or Bush or Reagan or Romney. Yet, somehow Downey and the others weren’t able to see any of this. Imagine that.

Not coincidentally, Jay Pharaoh, who does the Obama impression now for SNL stated in the article that he wanted to be sure that Obama wasn’t offended by his portrayal (they even dropped a skit that Obama felt was inappropriate). It’s funny how that was never a concern with Republicans. To the contrary, check out this pretty stunning quote from cast member Horatio Sanz...
I always kind of felt bad when Will Ferrell did his Bush impression because he was such a good old boy that you really didn't think, ‘Oh, this evil little rich prick whose dad and his friends got him in office.’ You thought, ‘Oh, he's just a good old guy I'd like to drink beer with.’ As funny as Will's impression was, the audience as a whole, the whole country, would probably see that as, ‘Oh, I like Bush. Because he's Will.’ You know, if Will hadn't done that impression, or at least made him likable, it may have tipped it the other way. I honestly think so. We made up for it. I think Tina's impression basically killed Sarah Palin.”
Bias much?

26 comments:

Kit said...

Simpsons, who would mock Democrats in the 1990s, now lionize Democrats. SNL gave Clinton hell over the Lewinsky scandal.

Now they are lapdogs.

Kit said...

And there is fodder for every candidate/politician. Romney was an alien cyborg from another planet. I voted for Romney in both the 2012 Primary and General elections and I can see that. Carvey's impression of Bush, Sr. was genius.

Anyone who has ever sought a at least a state or national office has something about them you can mock. And a great parody can have even the targets of the parody acknowledge the genius of it (see, Dana Carvey's H.W. Bush) —unless the person is a thin-skinned idiot.

Koshcat said...

These would be funny if they weren't so tragic.

How about a skit where Mr. Narcissist just sits and admires his reflection all day listening to his own speeches.

Anonymous said...

Ironically, James Downey is the show's "token conservative." He describes himself in one of these articles as a "conservative Democrat" and for some folks, that still makes him a McCarthyite. (His words, not mine.)

I've been saying for years that the show's political satire has sucked for a long time. I recall the awesome debate sketches they did in the 80s and 90s and they don't do anything like that now.

Tennessee Jed said...

SNL is like most of the rest of the media when it comes to ploitics. Even though over 90% are libs, in the old days, they were much more careful about openinly displaying their political bias. The political skits became so popular, and they began to see they had a huge audience, and with Fox News Channel, the gloves came off. I think these people felt like "never again" after they inadvetently showed algore and his lock box.

BevfromNYC said...

Well, Key & Peele don't seem to have any problem parodying Obama. And it is good fun and spot on. I watched the first two seasons on Amazon Prime and it was hysterical! There are tons of parodies they have done featuring Obama. Search "Key & Peele Obama" and pull up "Obama's Anger Translator" - it's golden.

KRS said...

To help SNL out, here are some skit ideas:

1. Commercial for the Obama "Pocket Teleprompter"
2. Michelle Obama singing, "Second Hand Rose"
3. A reset button that spews insults in any language
4. Hillary sexting Obama
5. A special forces team charged with setting up greek columns behind him whenever he stops to speak.
6. A safety suit for women attending an Obamma rally that inflates when they faint, making them look like the Michelin Man
7. A debate where Obama comes on stage, dripping wet with seaweed hanging from his shoulders, and asking where "Mary Jo" is ... oh, wait ....

Kit said...

One thing I realized about the South Park is that they rarely mocked President's Bush and Obama the way SNL mocked Bush. In fact, the characterization of both Presidents has changed in episodes. In some episodes a President (or even his wife) will be a complete moron, in others a level-headed, reasonable guy, depending on what is needed for the episode. If the episode needs the President (Bush or Obama) to be an incompetent dumbass, then that is

The only time I can remember them really mocking Bush was maybe the Terry Schiavo episode. When the demon said he will "call the Republicans".

In fact, their satire has been more cultural than straight political, targeting things like Honey Boo-Boo, Facebook, World of Warcraft, Pokemon, loud and obnoxious bikers, Islams going crazy over cartoons, people keeping their phone on speaker, and, my favorite, Black Friday.

They even had an episode where they mocked the practice of telling "little white lies" ("Pinewood Derby").

Maybe that is why they have remained relevant while other shows have slipped into irrelevance.

AndrewPrice said...

Kit, The Simpsons has fallen apart as well. The original episodes were great about skewering everyone, but for years now they've been pretty far.

AndrewPrice said...

Koshcat, That would be a devastating skit if they did that because it would cement the image of him as a narcissist for half the country. It would be his "I can see Alaska from my house" moment.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, He may think of himself as conservative, but he's clearly not. He reminds me of a lot of people I met in DC who would claim to be something like a conservative or a fly-over type, but then were truly doctrinaire leftists except that they didn't like one particular Democrat.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, That's entirely possible that they were just more careful. I think it's also likely that they were just more focused on turning out funny skits than being part of the political process. I suspect that none of them felt that they had any hand in hurting any Republican or helping any Democrat until Palin. And once they believed that, they went all in.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I'll look for that! There really is no reason they can't parody Obama. They don't even need to hit him politically to do it. The fact they think it's impossible is a sign of blinding ideological bias.

AndrewPrice said...

KRS, I like some of those ideas a lot! LOL! Personally, I think they need to hide golf equipment all over the oval office and wherever he goes.

AndrewPrice said...

Kit, South Park picks whatever target they feel is currently relevant, and they tend to be fair in the sense that they are mocking legitimate issues. SNL tries to mock Republicans on a personal level.

BevfromNYC said...

All they need to do is follow the political cartoonists and could come up with SOME ideas. I can say that the cartoonists faltered for a few months trying to come up with right caricatures. But once they did, they have been very pointed.

Anthony said...

Meh. SNL's golden age was before my time and I'm 40. I can't think of any skit they've done in recent years which really caught fire aside from the Sarah Palin skit (which was admittedly funny).

KRS said...

Andrew - Good idea! Sorry I missed it. In the Oval office, whenever Obama is about to do the right thing, he steps on a golf club, the handle comes up and beans him, changing his mind.

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew & KRS - THAT skit with the hidden golf clubs would be hysterical!!!

Critch said...

SNL used to be funny, their skit of Jimmy Carter at the nuclear power plant, I believe it was Dan Akroyd, was one of the funniest moments on TV, they skewered Ford,. the Bush's, Clinton etc...but not Obama...amazing...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, True. The political cartoonists did their jobs quite nicely and all SNL really needed to do was copy what they did in live form.

Anthony, They haven't been good in a long time, but that doesn't mean they aren't still relevant.

AndrewPrice said...

KRS and Bev, I think it would be hilarious. Imagine if everywhere someone looked, they stumbled upon hidden golf gear... and then when they leave, Obama strips off his suit to reveal golf clothes beneath. They could even go further with Obama describing his policies in golfing terms, and then people having accidents with the hidden clubs and balls.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, That's a pretty sad accounting -- two half-hearted conservative sketches in a decade.

AndrewPrice said...

Critch, Yeah, they seem to have stopped cold with Obama. I think it's because they actually began to believe that they could swing elections.

Kit said...

Also notice that South Park has more or less dispensed with the "I learned something today". The last time they did it was the episode 201.

BevfromNYC said...

Well, you know what, the new season of SNL is gearing up and Obama is a lame duck. So they will try some political satire again since they can't really harm Obama anymore. But if they steal our golf club sketch, we're gonna sue, right? :-)

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