For the first time since Justin Timberlake regifted what his mother gave him, Saturday Night Live is in the news.
In a presidential debate last month, Hillary Clinton brought up SNL sketches that satirized overt Obama favoritism in the media, and all the blogs got to chattering. Her apparent desperation aside, Hillary does have a point. The sketches feature a bunch of news media talking heads unreasonably fawning over Obama in debates (Tim Russert: "Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister. Can you name him?" Hillary: "..." Russert: "Ojo Maduekwe. Senator Obama, same question.")
In recent years SNL has become increasingly irrelevant and unfunny, yet its reappearance in the spotlight speaks to one of its merits: The show's political impressions are always worth a laugh or two. Who can forget the debate skit in which Dana Carvey played Ross Perot and George H. W. Bush simultaneously? This time around, it's shrill, blonde and aggressive Hillary being played by shrill, blonde and aggressive Amy Poehler. No brainer. But to cast an impressionist for Obama has been a far more difficult job.
The resident black guy on Saturday Night can't fill the role: Kenan Thompson has indulged in one too many Good Burgers to play a walking beanpole like Obama believably. Where's that lanky Kel when you need him? (No really, where the hell is Kel?)
A second problem with Kenan (and other potential Fauxbamas), is that the skin color isn't quite right. Obama's mixed heritage is tough to characterize, and as a result questions in the media about who should portray him arose like prostitutes crossing state borders on a New York State tab. In addition to Kenan, half-black Maya Rudolph had her name tossed around as an option since she has played men convincingly, is a superior impressionist and was the writers' go-to for ambiguously ethnic characters. But because Rudolph left the show during the writers' strike hiatus, the job controversially fell to the Venezuelan-Japanese comedian Fred Armisen. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune was just one of many media personalities who got riled: "They couldn't find an African-American performer who was funny enough to play the junior senator from Illinois? They couldn't find one in New York? Not anywhere in the country? Really?" she wrote.
Armisen has a huge task ahead of him if he hopes to quiet all the talk about issues of racism. Obama is a tough impression: all cool, unflappable confidence. He rarely stumbles and never raises his voice. Thus, Armisen has had to grasp at straws to find a distinctive vocal tic or quirk. What he's settled on is a deliberate, almost halting speech in which every other word might as well start a new sentence: "Well look. I think there's a lot of. Truth. In what. Hillary says. I really do." To complete the impersonation, Armisen furrows his brow so fiercely that Christian Siriano would be proud.
Yet Armisen is still struggling to nail the impression. That stilted speech is often so exaggerated that you begin to wonder whether Kenan isn't under Armisen's seat interrupting his vocal patterns by intermittently tasering himfor having stolen his presupposed role.Armison's biggest mistake, though, is that his Obama never, ever smiles. It's as if all his concentration has been channeled into that brow, and that consequently there's little energy left for the bottom half of his face.
The real Obama is virtually programmed to say "Yes we can!" -- clearly, it's not as if the guy frowns a whole lot. If Armisen keep this permanent frown thing going, I'm sure Lindsay Lohan will be phoning soon -- self-imposed face paralysis is cheaper than Botox, which is especially good when you spend all your money on rehab and designer leggings.
There's less to say about Amy Poehler's take on Hillary Clinton. Hillary is strangely hard to impersonate, and Poehler does a fine, if unmemorable job. But for what it's worth, Poehler's Clinton did make for the season's most unintentionally funny and freaky moment. When the real Hillary made a cameo appearance on SNL and stood next to Poehler, it was frightening. Attack of the Twin Helmet-Hair Bobbleheads in Frumpy Pantsuits.
In comparison to the brilliant political impressions of SNL seasons past, and despite the controversy their Obama bashing has caused in the media, these incarnations of Hillary and Obama bore me. I'm more entertained by this Post Secret entry about the candidates that I read the other day: "What I wouldn't give for them to start making out in the middle of a debate." Now there's an idea. Your move, SNL.
