SNL50 is gaslighting me

woke is the symptom, not the sickness

I would have liked to watch #SNL50, but knowing how much it would’ve triggered me, I decided to #protectmypeace.

In my piece on celebrities endorsing political candidates, I cited Rob Schneider’s complaint that SNL has become “too woke.” I went on to express that

there is something eerily manipulative about a person or outlet that people turn to for entertainment—especially ones backed by corporate money—presuming to speak…as authorities on political matters. It’s perturbing that a comedy show like SNL, for instance, takes the liberty to step outside the bounds of its intended purpose (to entertain) and hand its viewers political messaging instead.

Friends know that one of my spergiest traits is my ability to quote lines from SNL (as well as from Spongebob, Harry Potter, Mean Girls, and a variety of viral videos/memes) from memory. I think SNL put out some incredible comedy from 2008-2015 (and some even better comedy before that), and have a deep esteem for many of the cast members from that era. Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph—sheer comedic genius.

While I do believe it’s true that SNL has become overtly partisan, pushing the standard “woke” platform (except when it comes to Gaza) and mocking the right way more than they do the left, this is not my greatest concern. Rather, I’d argue that the politicization of SNL is a symptom of the real problem.