Monday
Sep292008
SNL Skit Features Black Man Who Attempts to Murder White Woman-Is This Funny?
Monday, September 29, 2008 at 4:03AM The Blogmother
Well I guess one good thing about there being NO BLACK WOMEN on Saturday Night Live is that they can't do THIS to us:
The “Rowboat Date” skit was another one that grabbed my attention. Keenan Thompson always does a marvelous job in his skits. Anna Faris plays the lonely girl who is danger when her ex-boyfriend is killed for a couple of computer discs, which he leaves in her possession. Faris and Thompson’s collaboration definitely made the scene happen. If it had been any other pair, I’m not so sure it would have been as funny. The scene consists of the two on a date on a rowboat in the middle of the lake. They each then take turns singing about what they are thinking about this first date. Anna’s character is love struck on this man that she “safely found on Facebook”, while Keenan’s character is a hit man, getting ready to kill her for these infamous computer discs. The woman finally suspects what’s happening when she realizes “the boat was chained up and he shot the lock off.” East Side Online
So was this funny?
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Reader Comments (17)
This video is anything but funny. First off violence against women is not joking matter. Secondly it attempts to suggest that if she is murdered it would be her fault and not his. I also find it disgusting that once again the "hitman" is black. Wow so original of SNL to show a black man wanting to committ violence against a white woman because everyone knows that is all they exist to do (snark) This skit is in incredibly poor taste.
After laughing at the Palin sketch, I was appalled to see the one mentioned above. Black man planning to kill white woman... Really SNL??? I am glad that it was not just me who was left with some discomfort - I just started watching some of SNL again because of Tina Fey - but I think I'll watch YouTube instead. Violence against women is not funny and the stereotype of the violent black man is also not funny.
Now I remember why I stopped watching SNL years ago - NOT FUNNY.
The skit wasn't funny, but I fail to see why it's so offensive. Faris always plays a bubblehead, which is in fact the going joke, not Thompson's hitman. If you'd watched the show, and any of the skits that proceeded this one, you would have caught that.
Come on ya'll, it ain't THAT deep. I didn't hear anyone complaining about Thompson playing a gay man, or dressing up as an overweight black woman on the same show.
It's called satire people. Get a clue.
I did not watch the rest of the show, but I am also sick and tired of black men playing the stereotypical overweight black women. In some respects, it is almost like black face and not funny. No real comment on gay men - not really my fight.
I understand satire and that sketch was not it.
SNL Fan, the skit was offensive. No if's, no but's, no maybe's.
It is you, who needs to get a clue. That skit was not satire. It was a stand alone piece, and had nothing to do with the rest of the show.
Like many skits on SNL the last few years, this sketch was so NOT FUNNY. yikes! I wasn't offended by it, though.
Mar, Fred Armisen, an asian/hispanic cast member, has been accused of being in blackface during his portrayals of Obama and Prince, so it is safe to say SNL isn't for you. Stick to youtube.
@ rose32
I agree. Unfunny (like most of SNL nowadays) but hardly offensive.
Ditto for Armisen's Fauxbama.
You really had to watch the rest of the show to get this, but then again, I don't expect some of you to look at anything in context. That would be too rational.
BTW, SNL content isn't even ON Youtube.
SNL, you're almost right. I just had material removed by NBC this past weekend. It took them about a month or so to remove my clips so it is possible to watch SNL clips or any other material from the network right after they appear. Most people will keep reposting their clips. It's not that serious to me.
I don't find it funny. But can't say I'm offended.
SNL hasn't been funny to me in awhile, so I never have to worry about seeing their clips until the mainstream news media decide it becomes news. And, that's just odd.
I agree with SNL Fan and Rose32. The skit wasn't funny, but it also wasn't offensive, not even remotely. It's a sketch comedy show, and while all of the sketches won't nail it, that hardly means that the writers of the show consciously thought to themselves while writing the sketch "Hee hee we're so racist let's degrade black people!"
Sometimes
First, SNL has had a history of not knowing what to do with Black talent. Garrett Morris, who was part of the original cast was truly a great comedian, but the writers had no idea what to do with Morris and Cicely Tyson told him so on the show. Chris Rock wondered why most of the writers were white and from the Harvard Lampoon and had little if any contact with Blacks comics. Chris Rock really only did Nat X, which got tired after a while. Damon Wayans, Finesse Mitchell, Tracey Morgan were a total waste. Tim Meadows did his thing not allowing SNL to make a hapless caricature of him, but his role material was substandard. Kenan Thompson unfortunately is going down that ignoble path. Kenan has immense talent, particularly when he did his own thing on “Kenan & Kal.” The skit took full delight in the stereotype that Black folks can’t swim--racist!
Are there any black woman comics in the NYC? I think Ellen Cleghorne is the only black woman I remember. Oh yea! my bad Mya is on now I believe. C’mon, 33 years on television and 1 and 1/2 Black women comics out of hundreds. Has anyone seen Eddie Murphy back on SNL since he left? What kind of institution is SNL? It all starts with the writers.
I won't lie, this wasn't that funny, but racist? Really?
How?
He's a HITMAN, it's his JOB. It's indiscriminate. Really.
Maybe they picked Keenan to avoid using a mob stereotype? Who's to say? Honestly. I don't think the writers meant to be racist, nor was it ever their intent. Were they racist, what would be the point of having Thompson on the show? Sure, they made him a stereotype, I won't ignore that, but the whole inability to swim? Really? I don't think they did that to be racist. It was to add a twist; most people assumed he lost his nerve because he felt bad until they said that.
I really think that this is why we're never taken seriously when something blatantly racist does occur in the media; because we're always trying to be offeneded by something.
Don't make it out to be more than it should be. It's sketch comedy, not bigotry.
I dont think it was racist...but it was just plain unfunny...
I do get why people would be mad but I would rather point out more influential instances of racism...like the fear mongering going on at McCain/Palin rallies than a trivial sketch on SNL...
Just my take on it...
http://andthisismyamerica.com/2008/10/12/the-grim-realities-of-a-financial-crisis/
OK...its not that funny of a skit...but its not racist at all....ever thought that keenan might just be the best person to play the part....i think the people are just trying to find ways to create problems....let alone make up something about racism....racism is a problem when its real not when it is something like this
I am a black male very much aware of how our image is warped in pop culture. Still, I found the SNL sketch in question very funny because it is absurd.
I didn't feel assaulted by it. Maybe it is because I have self esteem so I'm not too phases about what some shallow whites think about black folk. I laugh at them all the time anyway...
It was a lame sketch. But the show's not that great anyways, but out of all the things they have done, really? Because he's going to commit a crime and he can't swim... To me, it's more racist pointing out that he's black.