After 43 years of being on air, Saturday Night Live (SNL) has shattered viewing records several times throughout the show's history. SNL, while making relatively immature jokes, has incorporated its political views within its humor. A mix so the current youth and later generations can understand the humor depicted. One video in specific: "kellywise" only proves the constancy of this humor. Shortly after Stephen King's newest version of It came out in theatres in 2017, the youth of the time found a new favorite horror story. All the while, many of the later generations found their horror story in headlines stating "Donald Trump wins election" in 2016. SNL uses this kind of situation to, instead of positively encourage the US population, motivate US citizens with merely a concession of the flaws that lie in the U.S through humor. SNL, being a strongly liberal show, targets many jokes at the republican population.
While Kellyanne Conway is the the face of every decision that Donald Trump's makes, she is often portrayed as a ruthless woman who somehow can make up for the immature choices Donald Trump tends to make. SNL being the edgy show it is, portrays Kellyanne Conway as an inhuman monster named "Kellywise" (a play off of pennywise in 'it'). SNL has Kellywise mimic many of Kellyanne Conway's characteristics and phrases (but clearly to an extreme extent). A hyperbole of such a woman lead to a success for SNL; attraction to all audiences. This work, while depicts SNL's strongly liberal side, does concede to the flaws the democratic side has. After Hillary Clinton appears next to Kellywise, Anderson Cooper asks Hillary why she is with Kellywise, Clinton responds with "well where did you think i'd be Wisconsin or Michigan?"
After watching this clip upwards of 4 times in a row, one may see that the main goal of SNL is not simply to boast about their political beliefs, but, through hyperbolic language, exaggerate this country's flaws through the media. Similar to "The Stranger" by Albert Camus, SNL is here to remind society that there is so much that the world cannot control, and that there is really no 'right' answer to solve the world's problems. SNL has set the bar high for humor, but also offers a complexity that not other television shows have illuminated. SNL is truly the future of comedy, television, and the US.
I remember seeing this sketch when it aired, and I loved it even without having seen IT. Since then I've seen the movie and I remember thinking that the SNL team did a really good job of recreating the scene from the movie. The way that they make their commentary deliver serious messages in a fun way is important and I think it's probably the best way to try to facilitate change. Good analysis.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job using the vocabulary specific to satire. You were also very honest in the flaws of the work, yet convincing in your evidence that this was a strong example of satire.
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