“Saturday Night Live” opened its 42nd season last Saturday with quite possibly the greatest cold open in the history of the beloved sketch show. What better way to kick off the king of modern parody than to satirize and exploit the already ludicrous presidential debate.
Kate McKinnon has proved herself for well over a year to be one of the best Hillary Clinton impersonators ever, next only to Amy Poehler’s pitch-perfect 2008 Clinton.
On top of this, Alec Baldwin not only proved himself as a capable Trump impersonator, but the best we may have ever seen on “SNL.” I don’t know what made me laugh harder — his weird pronunciation of “China” or his perfect facial expressions.
While this was a pleasant surprise, none of us have forgotten that “SNL” has a strong history of perfect casts for political figures on its show.
From Chevy Chase’s impersonation of Gerald Ford in 1975 to the upcoming impersonations of vice-presidential candidates Mike Pence and Tim Kaine this Saturday, “SNL” has managed to parody every thinkable politician alive in the past 40 years.
Most of these have stuck with us like TV’s most artistic time capsule. Will Ferrell as George W. Bush, Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, Phil Hartman as Ronald Reagan, Larry David as Bernie Sanders and Hammond as Bill Clinton.
Parodying political and authoritative figures has been around since the birth of comedy, and it’s sufficient to say that, after more than four decades, “SNL” is even more effective to us than the political cartoon was for our grandfather’s generation and everything before.
“SNL” has the power to creatively balance the absurd with the accurate. No matter how dull the original, “serious” content may be, the “SNL” writers will be able to find at least five hilarious jokes and gags to throw into their sketch.
Of course, “SNL” is nowhere close to being the only satirical show to be present on cable television.
Comedy Central basically dominates in this area in commentary shows like “The Daily Show” and “South Park,” but multiple other shows like “Last Week Tonight” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” also provide their two cents on political news.
Even news outlets like The Onion can attribute their success to satire. It’s been proven on multiple occasions that people from younger generations will be more likely to visit these sites and watch these shows for their world news, as opposed to genuine news networks.
The dilemma often faced by parody, however, is a lack of neutrality. The writer’s personal beliefs could cause a bias in their work.
Fortunately, this has rarely ever been a case in “SNL.” Producer and creator Lorne Michaels stressed from the very beginning that the show must maintain a sense of composure and levelness in its satire. He wishes for the show to make fun of everyone, not just some people.
And the show definitely does just that in ridiculous, yet not false, caricatures of the subjects they portray. Chase’s Ford is clumsy, Ferrell’s Bush is a buffoon, McKinnon’s Clinton is power-hungry and David’s Sanders is a cranky old man.
It’s important for us to have shows like these conquering our weekend’s viewing list because in times as distressing and ambiguous as election season, the ability to laugh is a priority of the highest order.
The politicians seem to love them too, as shown in the surprise appearances of President Obama, Trump, Palin and both Clintons in past episodes.
So in times of doubt, always know that live from New York, the truth — and the laughs — will out.
afaulds@indiana.edu
@a_faulds9615
