South Park Goes Where SNL Refuses
tmc...@gmail.com
Tonight is one of the best nights of the year: The premiere of the
13th season of “South Park.” I consider myself one of America’s
foremost “South Park” scholars and if I had to sum up the reason I
love the show, it would be this: it spares no one. Take last season’s
“About Last Night…” episode about Obama’s electoral victory–Obama,
Palin, McCain, McCain supporters, and Obamaites are all evenly
trashed. In South Park, satire trumps politics. Since 1997, “South
Park” has been America’s safest bet for the splendid fusion of
irreverence and insight.
They took up that mantle from “Saturday Night Live,” which now offers
us neither.
While Wednesday has been “South Park” night for as long as I can
remember, last Saturday night was spent in the usual way: not watching
SNL. Unfortunately, due to the internet, I happened to view a
smattering of last week’s show:
Do you remember how they terrorized George W. Bush? Or how they tried
to make a bozo out of Sarah Palin? And this is what the chickens over
at NBC have to offer us now? How pathetic. How inconsequential. How
unfunny. “The Rock Obama?” This is a cutesy joke too juvenile for
Little Leaguers.
The alternative media has correctly observed SNL fails to cultivate
humor around President Obama. Big Hollywood’s own sketch comic,
Steven Crowder, wrote a letter to Executive Producer Lorne Michaels
saying as much just last week.
Perhaps the problem is with the man who plays the sitting President,
Fred Armisen. If you’ve watched any of his sketches, you know Fred
Armisen is about as funny as a screening of “Sophie’s Choice,” but
that doesn’t mean the writers can’t pick up the slack. Armisen, even
donning mulatoface, isn’t enough to sink the mighty SNL ship. The
problem with the Obama sketches is the skewed political agenda driving
the writing staff. I submit to you the last 30 seconds of this clip
as evidence.
The premise of the sketch tries to answer this simple question: “What
would happen if Obama got angry?”
We get our answer during the dream sequence: Obama doesn’t get angry.
It’s as brave as it is funny.
The first four minutes were almost as fawning, as an angry Obama
becomes a superhero who throws Republicans out windows (brought to you
by the people who declared dissent “patriotic”). In the end, the joke
is on “Rahmbo” Emanuel and his bad temper and the audience is left
with a warm, fuzzy reminder that Obama is awesome — head and shoulders
above everyone else in Washington. Good times!
If SNL intends for us to believe there’s nothing humorous about our
President, they’re delusional. Ignoring any scandals and political
decisions he has made, can we at least see a sketch about the
Teleprompter? If George W. Bush had been as dependent on his
Teleprompter, wouldn’t he have been mocked unmercifully as a puppet of
the “Cheney/Rove Cabal?” And yet, Obama is still regarded as the
greatest orator of our time. Obama is a fount of humor yet untapped.
Despite his shortcomings (and all Presidents have shortcomings), SNL
can proffer only Rahm Emanuel’s irrelevant “The Rock Obama” wet dream.
So far Obama-era SNL lacks irreverence and insight, but worst of all,
it lacks humor. To put it mildly, it stinks.
Can’t wait for the “South Park” premiere.
nos...@nospam.invalid
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/amarlow/2009/03/11/77734/
> If SNL intends for us to believe there’s nothing humorous about our
> President, they’re delusional.
It's not that there's nothing humorous about Obama, it's just that he's
genuinely likable. And black. So anyone who tries making fun of him
comes off as either a mean spirited asshole, a racist or both.
The only option SNL has, at least with their current lame lineup, is to
make fun of his policies instead, and other people in his administration.
But there's no question truly talented comedians and writers would
have no trouble lampooning Obama. I mean Chevy Chase made
Gerald Ford hysterically funny for chrissakes, and he didn't even
look or sound anything like Ford.
Antonio E. Gonzalez
><tmc...@gmail.com> wrote in message news:01a7ccf8-b190-4426...@w24g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
>http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/amarlow/2009/03/11/77734/
>
>> If SNL intends for us to believe there’s nothing humorous about our
>> President, they’re delusional.
>
>It's not that there's nothing humorous about Obama, it's just that he's
>genuinely likable. And black. So anyone who tries making fun of him
>comes off as either a mean spirited asshole, a racist or both.
>
The worse part: they usually are . . .
>The only option SNL has, at least with their current lame lineup, is to
>make fun of his policies instead, and other people in his administration.
>But there's no question truly talented comedians and writers would
>have no trouble lampooning Obama. I mean Chevy Chase made
>Gerald Ford hysterically funny for chrissakes, and he didn't even
>look or sound anything like Ford.
>
Hell, that The Rock Obama skit was well-recieved anyway . . .
As for South Park, the subject of their premiere? Jonas Brothers,
with the "high-ranking official" they ridiculed being Mickey Mouse;
yes, Mickey Mouse himself. Still, funny episode, helped not only by a
Kenny-death after a long while, but how he died.
--
- ReFlex76