[ad_1]
It was not a parody when "Saturday Night Live" announced this week that the distribution of its 45th Bowen Yang, an American comedian of Asian origin, and Shane Gillis, whose wallet includes fanatical jokes about Asians and homosexuals, will be part of the season. And the Muslims. And just about everyone who is not a heterosexual white man.
The late institution NBC launched a shell Thursday in the hours following the announcement. Journalist Seth Simons drew attention to an episode of "Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast" of September 2018 in which Gillis utters a racist insult. (The podcast archives, along with the YouTube page that accompanies it, appear to have been cleaned up as a result of the in-depth review.)
But the not so "secret" podcast and guest appearances on others have been a cornucopia of the comedian 's "overwhelming" comedy of Philadelphia. Simons, writing for Vice, reported Friday night that Gillis had named Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang by the same insult in an episode of the "Real Ass Podcast" recorded in May this year – as well as several other posts in which he resembles a numbskull playing Xenophobic Mad Libros. Meanwhile, Vulture reported that Gillis had also used homophobic insults on his podcast.
This corresponds to the clip that initiated the controversy. Just as silly, the conversation between Gillis and co-host Matt McCusker has long been a reason why they do not support Chinese, Chinese food and, yes, Chinatown – with Gillis using a writable anti-Chinese insult. Gillis and McCusker are also heard as "funny", as inexpensive stories from another era, when they imitated English, speaking Chinese, saying "noodre" and "rogue" ".
Gillis's response to the outcry, posted on Twitter late Thursday, It was essentially to blur the lines: "I am happy to apologize to all those who are offended by everything I said," he wrote.
The non-excuse was more than "SNL" or the network offered. (The NBC representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comments.) The silence of the radio gave the impression that the flashback caught them off guard.
It should not have been
"SNL" has been cultivating progressive good faith, both in skits and casting, for years. On the screen, Chance the Rapper lamented last Christmas with Barack, while Hillary Clinton, starring Kate McKinnon, sang a dark cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" to open the first episode following President Trump's election victory. . Behind the scenes, "SNL" has hired more women of color over the last decade – Nasim Pedrad, Leslie Jones, Sasheer Zamata and Melissa Villaseñor – for the first time – compared to the previous 35 years. Ironically, Gillis 'casting follows Jones' announcement of his departure from the series.
Even though Gillis was hired to represent fraternities deprived of rights – or millennials in distress after a time when women, gays and ethnic / racial minorities did not have the cultural megaphone to say "SNL & # 39; There must be someone else there. who does not reuse the humor of their big racist uncle to laugh. For example, Gillis stated on the podcast that there is only one way to enter the "Muslim paradise" ("You must shed blood, you must praise Allah by shedding blood"), and you talked about women who disguised themselves as men to fight the American Civil War as "the flat chest … bitch[es]. "
A real riot of laughter. If it was 1862.
"SNL" should know a bigot in search of attention when he sees one – and there is no way for them to not see that coming.
The series of once-annoying comedy sketches has a zany history of hate rhetoric – just like the frequent insults of the type they have just hired.
Take the fictional "Racists for Trump" ad campaign of 2016: Intended for the white supremacist vote block, she represents Americans going about their daily business, like ironing their KKK condoms, burning books under fire and wearing an armband swastika.
The following year, the "SNL" animator, Aziz Ansari, presented an opening monologue directly confronting the growing threat of Islamophobia and the fear of immigrants.
A skit depicting a fake group of Hollywood women attacking a sexual assault, telling their #MeToo moments like a scathing comment about Harvey Weinstein and his ilk: "Pandora's box is open and Pandora is furious," said the character from McKinnon.
That's why it is guaranteed that "SNL" catches more flak for Gillis' cast than, say, Netflix aims to give a platform to Dave Chappelle's recent comedy "Sticks & Stones".
Designed to offend, Chappelle is attacking what he sees as a victim culture: the men who claim in the documentary "Leaving Neverland" that they were assaulted as boys by Michael Jackson ; "people of the alphabet" with thin skin (the LGBTQ community); the # MeToo movement; and even schools – to have students who practice active fire drills. So. Do not. Funny.
But while Netflix has promoted liberal ideals with broadcasts like "Sense8", "SNL" has been doing this steadily since Dan Aykroyd's Nixon kept the heat while burning incriminating audio tapes.
Think of McKinnon as Jeff Sessions, whose intolerance to the gay community and the fear of women are comic gold. Or Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer screaming at the press corps: "Moose!" Or Ou Sarah Palin, a bump as thick as a brick. (However, Lorne Michaels, creator of "SNL", was criticized in 2015 for normalizing Donald Trump by letting a White House host hope for an episode during his campaign, and Michaels was among those blamed for the ascent of Capitol Hill.)
In his statement on Twitter, Gillis wrote, "I am a comedian who pushes the limits. Sometimes I miss it … My intention is to not hurt anyone, but I try to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes it entails risks. "
Gillis may believe he breaks barriers with gags based on outdated stereotypes, but "SNL" knows more – and they should be better.
[ad_2]
Source link