On SNL's Obama skit, why isn't the president black? (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
While host Ryan Reynolds and musical guest Lady Gaga made headlines this weekend on Saturday Night Live, another issue was glaringly evident that no contrast adjustment to one's TV could fix--Barack Obama is still not black on SNL.
In an Obama skit that featured Fred Armisen portraying the leader of the Free World, I wondered how long it'll take SNL show-runners to cast an African-American capable of playing the commander-in-chief.
During the 2008 campaign, comedy writers bemoaned the idea of making fun of Obama, stating the future president just "wasn't funny." He didn't stumble over his words like George W. Bush, nor was he entrenched in a Bill Clinton or David Letterman-like sex scandal.
But, a year later, a bigger question looms--how can a Barack Obama impersonator be funny if he doesn't look like Barack Obama?
Sure, Fred Armisen can wear an Obama wig and suit well, but when did the president get three shades lighter?
Lorne Michaels, creator and producer of Saturday Night Live, must be questioned. His decision making is certainly odd--Michaela Watkins' dismissal after just one season remains perplexing. But on a comedy staple such as SNL--which features no black female comedienne and just one black male cast member--Saturday Night Live cannot even properly lampoon the president and his wife without stooping to watered down blackface.
Some may not care, while others may shrug their shoulders. But SNL makes its name in political comedy. Phil Hartman and Darrell Hammond's Bill Clinton impersonations were classics. Dana Carvey was able to portray both Ross Perot and George Bush to perfection. And Tina Fey won an Emmy for her depiction of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Poking fun at politics is SNL's bread and butter. Just as you wouldn't force Andy Samberg to portray Al Sharpton or Bill Cosby, the lack of melanin in Armisen's skin is a hindrance to making his version of Barack Obama funny.
Watch the Obama SNL skit below.
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Comments
i dont think its an 'impersonation' at all. he's not even trying to make his voice sound like the presidents (in fact it sounds like a bit of a latin accent) I think they dont have anyone who can do a good obama imp. but they still want to poke fun, so they just do the skit anyway. but its a skit...using an actor. its not about doing a dead-on impersonation.
and WHY does everything have to be about race?
would you be happy if they went and hired a black guy just to do this role? no. you would have a problem with that too. the race issue will NEVER be gone, because ppl will not let it go.
Dear Michael, thanks for your note. I am proudly 50% African and my skin tone is a light milk chocolate. Fred Armisen is Venezuelan, Japanese and German and so about the same mix of brown. Your claim makes about as much sense as someone getting mad because someone playing me on TV is not Irish.
Get over it.
Sincerely,
Barack Hussein Obama
Cry me a river.
I'm sure Mr. Michaels will really appreciate your suggestions as to how to make SNL more funny. Oh yeah, my bad, that wasn't your intent. Maybe we should get the Federal Government involved, to institute a quota on the racial distribution of SNL cast members. And why do you refer to BHO as "Black," when his ethnicity is 1/2 Caucasian? Because his whole campaign has been about smoke and mirrors, image over substance and experience, verbal tactics over effective problem solving.
Another race rant...please...REALLY...it has become quite clear who are the racists in this country...it is old and tiresome.
I was gonna make a movie about Barack Obama, but I was afraid I would be called a racist for casting a black guy.
Why not ask Chris Rock to come do a skit for them then? he's dark enough. Seriously, wondering why they couldn't get a "darker" person to play Obama is like "fact checking" the skit like CNN did.
Listen, if you had a black person do Obama it would not look like him and if you did a white person for him it would not look like him. Obama is half white and half black and therefore only a half black half white person could really play him. Not only that, but obama it pictures and on tv, looks more light then he does dark, sometimes i have to squint to realize that he is african american
Rubbish.
If you're going to critique Lorne Michaels' choice of an actor to impersonate Obama, then you have an obligation to suggest a better alternative, i.e., someone who is FUNNIER in the part. It's a comedy show, Moore. "Good" and "funny" are the criteria that matter, not "cocoa" or "latte."
With this thoughtless article, you are playing into the hands of the crypto-racists. GET A CLUE!
Are you serious, Beed? So now it's a writer's obligation to do the thorough work of a producer in terms of casting?
See, this is my problem with people who share your thinking. You assume that because there is no black female on SNL or no black man playing Obama that that automatically means no African-Americans are funny and accurate enough to pull off the part. To that, I say, is "rubbish."
If SNL took some time to commit to being both funny AND diverse, they might be able to find a few gems out there. I'm not saying finding actors to portray the president and First Lady would be easy, but I think it's absurd that they cannot accurately depict them because of the lack of black actors on the show.
And hell, it's not like the Obama they have on the show now is funny. Lorne Michaels should be ashamed, but why would he be. He's got Keenan Thompson, so it's all good, right?
1. Obama is only half African-American
2. We are now in a post-racial world
3. By the time they found someone who looks and acts the part, we will have voted this stiff out of office
I just don't understand this type of criticism, if anything the flaw in this type of argument shows racial bias. I even saw an article on cracked (!) all outraged and calling the portrayal a "racist blackface". The reason why this argument is so flawed? He's HALF WHITE! He's just as black as he is white, so how is it more racist that white man Fred Armisen is playing him as opposed to Donald Glover or Kenan?!
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