Lorne Michaels realized that Saturday Night Live’s absence was really, really being felt during the summer hiatus, so NBC organized these late-summer “Thursday Night Live” specials, which are just extended Weekend Update specials, basically. Last week’s Weekend Update featured Bill Hader doing the Mooch, which was great, even though the Mooch had already been gone for a while. This week’s special involved guest appearances from Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and yes, Tina Fey. Here’s the opening:
Here’s Jimmy Fallon doing George Washington and Seth Meyers doing Thomas Jefferson.
This was sort of meh, although I do love Seth Meyers.
Here’s the Tina Fey segment. Tina went to UVA, in Charlottesville, and so she had some thoughts about neo-Nazis and a new movement she calls “sheetcaking.”
“Who drove the car into the crowd, Hillary’s Emails?” I thought Tina was actually pretty great, and this is from someone who thinks Tina has come across as white-privilege-y when she’s done political humor in the past. But Tina, in my opinion, can reach that certain demographic of middle class and upper middle class white women, half of whom voted for Donald Trump. What I’m saying is that when white women stop supporting Donald Trump completely, then maybe we’ll get somewhere. And maybe Tina can be a part of that. As for her idea about staying home and letting the neo-Nazis shout into the air… I think that just comes from a place of not wanting to see anyone else hurt. Of course it won’t happen. There will probably be lots of white-supremacist-driven protests this weekend, and there will be counter-protests everywhere too. Stay safe, peeps.
Screencaps courtesy of SNL.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_59952cfbe4b0acc593e51ae5?utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_source=main_fb&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063
I am so down with this idea instead. The more you march, the more we donate to anti-hate causes.
That’s beautiful.
If you’re looking for some good local causes in Charlottesville:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AGgvBjo6XvE2vEq0J9HnRSlyNIizg6q0cYYiyIfwAIU/edit
These are not available on demand and it’s driving me crazy.
I thought that too, but I found them under SNL at the very end of the list of episodes. It lists the regular episodes with guests and musicians and then at the end “Weekend Update: Summer Edition.” I’ve got DirecTv.
Presidential Part:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z50OazqL6Xo
Tina Fey:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iVvpXZxXWZU
Scaramucci:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Q671j1MO4
I saw it on YouTube so you might look there.
The sheetcaking bit really was funny. There she was destroying the sheetcake while shouting into it. When she got to the part about how many neonazi/white supremacist rallies are still scheduled, Michael Che reached over, grabbed some of the cake, and started stuffing his face with it also.
I wish more people were familiar with the evil Mercer family (Trump’s biggest backers). Tina could probably do a wicked send up of Rebekah Mercer.
Tina Fey is my spirit animal.
I love her so hard. This is great, especially because I was at Standing Rock and the more people, with a platform, that speak on the differences I love. My friend is still going through the court system after being hit down to the ground and arrested while he was praying.
Yeah, gotta crack down on those dangerous praying people. Maybe if your friend had been waving a Nazi flag, would have been left alone.
The white women who voted for Trump ain’t gonna change, they might stop supporting him, but they will support any racist POS the GOP puts in front of them and like it.
Exactly.
And I don’t love this sketch.
I agree 100%. I went on an absolute tirade after all this happened in Charlottesville and the next day someone spray painted a swastika on a slide at a local elementary school. I mean, I went BANANAS (in my defense, I can be very diplomatic, but this is so. out. of. control). I ended my facebook rant by saying “If you still support this maniac after this, the unfriend button is yours to click”. And I meant it. Shortly after another friend posted about how in light of all these people unfriending others for holding different belief systems he welcomed opposing sides as “maybe we can learn from each other”. It struck a nerve with me, it really did, and I wondered, am I being childish? Am I part of the problem if I’m not willing to try and coexist (even in the digital sense) with people I disagree with? And after some thought, I’m confident in my decision for exactly the reason you stated. People who support 45 even after all this (ESPECIALLY WHITE WOMEN) have a fundamental disregard for objective fact, and when someone has made a decision to commit to irrationality there is no way to reason with them. None. It’s no longer about conservative/liberal, whether someone is pro/anti gun control or abortion. What has happened is an attack on humanity and there really are only two sides: people who condone (at best) hate, racism, extermination, nationalism, dismantling of the free press and objective facts, and people who stand for unity, cooperation, progression and intelligence. One could even make the argument had it not been for those who were “meh” about the whole thing Hitler would never have risen to the level he was. Silence is permission. I could *tolerate* family members who were supporters about a week ago as being solely motivated by money, but to stay on board after this….no. I don’t want you in my life. I don’t want you in my son’s life. There is literally nothing I have to give them that they want or would be receptive to, nor I would want from them. And people who are looking to “learn from each other” are flirting with a dangerous line. One has to wonder – what does a neo-nazi, white nationalist or sympathizer have to teach that would be productive and good?
This tweet has a screen grab of a post that has garnered tens of thousands of likes, expressing the brain addled views of this kind of person:
https://mobile.twitter.com/sydneyevans_/status/898015034181287938
Yet another Christian who decided to vote for the Anti-Christ. Or maybe The Beast. I don’t understand what’s going through their heads either.
Good news: Some alumni of Liberty University have been sending their diplomas back because of Jerry Falwell’s support of Trump’s racist and Nazi-supporting statements. Trump had given a commencement address there that was his usual strange offering.
One woman said she was hesitating to put Liberty University down on her resume these days because of such unpleasant associations.
In understand the need for comedy and that there’s an endless supply of comedic fodder… too much in fact. But for me (and I’m normally making jokes to hide interior feelings), the humor is gone. I’m so sick of everything unfolding that the best I can do is not cry, or run to the bathroom to puke – – Charlottesville. There is absolutely N. O. T. H. I. N. G. funny about this administration and the fallout stemming from it.
It’s scary out there. For me (and probably a lot of us) humor is the only way we can even begin to stomach it all. I’m not going to let these asshats make me afraid – I’m going to take that rage and do something good with it. I owe it to the many decent people in this country and to my Jewish great-aunts, uncles and cousins in Olkeniki who were shot at the edge of mass graves by the Nazis .
I understand how you feel Mabs. There are times I feel like I need a rubber band to snap on my arm whenever I start to think about the lasting damage not only Trump, but also the entire Republican party, are doing to this country. Fixating on it sends me into a downward spiral. On the other hand, I can see how people need the release in humor. I also feel that presenting the problem with humor can reach the people who choose not to look too closely because they wish to maintain their willful ignorance of the dire straits we’re in. For me, it’s almost like the comedians saying “Oh, you thought you’d just tune in for some laughs? Well, guess what. It’s not actually funny. This is really happening.”
Tina’s comedy has relied on stereotypes for years. I hope she is now doing some thinking. This “bold” racism we’re currently dealing with didn’t develop in a vacuum. And folks, even folks like Tina, need to start wondering why the soil was so fertile for these hatemongers. (Hint: It’s not just a Republican problem.)
Tina Fey’s comedy brought back the Nazis?
Please. I did not say that. But we, as a country, have been ignoring the race problem for years. And the majority of white folks still don’t understand how casual racism leads to threat-level red racism. Tina Fey’s comedy is classic casual racism at times. So, please spare me the argument ad absurdum.
Edit: posted this to the wrong comment.
Oh yeah, +1000
Fey’s solution is to protest by buying a cake from your local minority and screaming at the problem from the safety of your home… WTF?
Tina Fey is white feminism in action. She’s tone deaf and awful. She has the privilege to sit inside and do nothing because she’s white. POC do not have that luxury; their lives are on the line here.
Amen. What if we all sat home and ate cake the weekend of the Muslim ban, so that nobody got hurt? What if women sat home and ate cake the day after the inauguration? Protests and counter protests make points and get people thinking.
I came here to say something similar. The words coming from her mouth are funny and all but the solution is to agitate for change, not sit around and drown your sorrows in cake. Passively watching and doing nothing is Vichy-level thinking right there. It’s probably not what she intended but that’s how it comes off.
Yes, thank you. I can’t believe … strike that. I can believe anything now.
i’m just really effin tired of it all.
Yes, this. I was annoyed, not amused, by this sketch.
I’m conflicted about Tina’s bit (and I generally like her humor). That said, I did like her comment about supporting local, minority-owned businesses: yes! This exactly! (To that end, I’d like to suggest Amara Chocolates and Coffee in Pasadena, which is owned by a Latina woman and makes the fantastic churros and drinking chocolate.)
I’ll also admit I’m worried about this weekend, given how emotional everyone is.
When I was in high school, a mid-sized town a couple of hours from me had a KKK rally. People were outraged about it, but city officials pretty much said: They have permits, we have to let them assemble. So the cultural institutions of this city got together and announced they would all be open and free the day of the rally to celebrate culture and inclusion and the best of human achievement.
I still remember the photos of these 20 or so white dudes marching around with signs protesting … nothing. It was them and the media. They looked like total losers. Meanwhile, the museums and other institutions had record attendance.
Part of me feels like that’s what we should be doing this weekend, rather than protesting people who have no interest in listening.
At the same time, I went to high school before there was a Nazi (sympathizer) in the White House. They’re still the minority and a fringe group, but they somehow have power and a lot of it at present. We tried ignoring them and this is where we are. So ignoring them doesn’t seem right either.
I would just like a solution that gets them out of the White House and other positions of power without violence.
But I do think we should have a nationwide free cultural day to protest cuts to the arts budget.
She’s a comedian. She’s playing off the idea of sitting around a table binge-eating ice cream and/or cake, complaining about the latest disaster in your life (usually male-induced). She wasn’t telling people not to protest publicly when the spirit moves them and the body is able. Don’t expect comedians to get heavy-handed and do your job.
Not everybody can or will go out and protest and there are many good reasons for that. My street protest days are over myself. I just do what I can when I can. But if all they feel they can do is scream into a cake – that is ultimately helpful because they will remember those screams on Election Day. And their children will hear them…. plus a few neighbors.
Change starts one by one and we never know what makes the most difference. A casual conversation with a cake screamer in the grocery store checkout line may have more of an impact than all the marches. We just don’t know and we have to take people where they are, not force them into the mold that we have decided will save us all. I learned this a long time ago while working with people locally and elsewhere. I got over the idea that my way was the only way pretty fast. People who didn’t get over it found meeting attendance dwindling and their effectiveness diminishing rapidly. We need to provide as many options as possible to help people find the way that resonates with them, because that’s the only way they will stick with it.
So keep marching and publicly protesting, just stop complaining about “all the people who aren’t there”. You don’t really know what that means about how they feel and what impact they have on others. Focus on the people who are indeed there and what you can accomplish together. Public protest is important especially in our culture, but not the only way people can help to make changes,