This past weekend, Saturday Night Live featured a skit that mocked ISIS.
The skit featured actress Dakota Johnson and comedian Taran Killam. It was based on a recently released Toyota Camry commercial showing a father dropping his daughter off at the airport so she could join the United States Army.
However, in the SNL skit, the father dropped his daughter off at the airport so she could join ISIS.
Using comedy to undermine ISIS may seem like a good idea. However, this skit undermines the loss recently suffered by ISIS hostages and their families.
Many people, including comedians, may think it is a good idea to use comedy to make the terrorist group appear to have less of an influence than they intend. Making fun of ISIS may send the message that we are not intimidated by them. It makes ISIS appear powerless.
However, by releasing this skit, NBC may have put its employees at risk.
ISIS supporters threatened to kill Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, along with other Twitter employees after the social media site continuously blocked accounts that displayed pro-ISIS content.
ISIS supporters were motivated enough to threaten a large social media outlet, so they may be just as likely to threaten NBC. It seems NBC did not take its employees’ safety into account.
In addition to putting its employees’ safety at risk, NBC showed insensitivity towards parents whose children have actually joined ISIS. Most parents dedicate their life to raising children to be good adults.
It must be especially heartbreaking to parents whose children run away to join a terrorist group. They go through a lot of pain while processing their loss and dealing with guilt. SNL’s ISIS skit portrays those parents as intentionally raising children to be terrorists.
In addition to offending parents whose children have joined ISIS, this skit also undermines the pain of those whose loved one have been captured, tortured and killed by the terrorist group.
This skit shows NBC’s lack of respect for the families who have lost loved ones to ISIS killings.
People all around the world are waiting in anticipation for news of whether or not their loved one has been released by ISIS. Some are begging the terrorist group to let their hostage go. Our government is working tirelessly to find a strategy to help find these hostages.
It doesn’t exactly sit well to know people are laughing at a skit that mocks a group who is gruesomely capturing and killing so many people.
While we need to find ways to undermine ISIS and show them that we are not intimidated, this SNL skit is not the way to do it. This skit was made in poor taste and with lack of respect for the victims.
eshrack@imail.iu.edu
