29.11.09

Saturday Night Live RapeWatch: Joseph-Gordon-Levitt Edition

JGL proved a competent host last night, comfortable live on stage, using excellent comic timing to avoid drowning amidst a sea of mediocrity. Yes, even with a competent host the writers of SNL couldn't manage to offer a decent program, making me wonder if this might well be the worst season in the history of the program.

But we're not here to chronicle SNL's slow descent into oblivion, that's what the rest of the internet is for. We're here to examine their insultingly cavalier treatment of objectionable subject matter, which is less exhaustively mapped out.

So, with no further ado, welcome to the RapeWatch!

Decent week here on the show, with no actual rape jokes, and just two borderline comments, which I'll mention, but not officially count. The first occurred in the opening sketch, with a white guy with no wig or makeup portraying the Chinese President Hu Jintao repeatedly telling Obama that China, as a country, would like to be kissed before being screwed. The second was in the news, with a joke about subway gropers.

Things were more active on the homophobia-based-humour front, with Jintao presenting himself to Armisen's Obama counting, and a video that started strangely - with Andy Samberg singing about his love for Reba McEntire, played by Kenan Thompson - then quickly revealed that the only joke it had was that 'Reba' was actually a black man, making him and Andy gay. Hilarious! Wait, that sarcasm might not have played... Not Hilarious!

So the final count this week was:

Rape: 0
Homophobia: 2

In a weird note, during the sketch about America's massive financial debt to China there was a joke from the white guy playing Jintao about how America shouldn't worry about its 50 million uninsured people, after all, China has a Billion uninsured people!

Since that's clearly factually incorrect, what's going on with the joke - are the writers trying to make a point against health care, or are they just stupid?

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