BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I love sketch comedy, therefore I love SNL. I’m not going to be one of those “SNL hasn’t been funny since…” assholes who like to complain about anything new and hype up certain obviously great years of the show. These people suck at life and don’t like ANYTHING that’s currently going on. They miss out on enjoying the awesome things right in front of you. That’s why sketch comedy rocks. It’s “in the moment” and is small chunks of comedy that work or die based on what happens in that moment. There isn’t much room for redos or change-ups. You are the page, for better or worse.
I could ramble about why I love SNL for hours. I have autographed photos and old shots of SNL on my wall within my reach. It’s a huge part of my creative influence. When you’re an avid fan for years and you live the life you lived, you notice certain things. One thing I’ve always noticed is the lack of diversity.
I’m thrilled that Saturday Night Live is finally adding a black female to the cast. In EVERY news report I heard or read it brought up that “this is the first black female cast member in six years” as if it was part of the press release SNL encouraged every outlet to say. We all remember Maya Rudolph. Why bring it up? Why does race have to do with ANYTHING here? SNL is a sketch comedy show.
It feels like SNL was bullied into this. I’m sure they’d love to have a black female on the cast that can make them funny and make them money. Are there really a lot of black females knocking down the SNL audition door? I have no idea. A few years ago a friend and I had a long debate about how few black female stand-up comedians there are. There ARE some, but not a whole lot on the mainstream level. There has never been a whole lot of black dudes on the show either. Garrett Morris, Chris Rock, Tim Meadows, Eddie Murphy, Keenan, and then a few other talents who didn’t make AS much of an impact like Finesse, JB Smoove, Damon Wayans, and that’s about it. It’s not just a black female thing. It’s a black dude thing too.
But what about the Hispanic representation, the Asian, the English, Little people, deaf people, handicapped people, etc? Aren’t all of these genres of human beings representing in comedy and production? Who brings this up? And if IS brought up will SNL suddenly hold a “little people audition” to fill out a cast role? Then when the topic is hot will SNL then in turn announce the casting of a new little person to the cast? That’s exactly what happened here.
There is a sense of “what the fuck” when it comes to stuff like this. Would it be offensive if someone pointed out that the old In Living Color cast only had like two white people in it? Is there ever a snarky blog headline that says “The Knicks finally added another white player!” It’s that fine line of bullshit that we’re shoveling here. It’s like we’re pointing out that SNL is adding a black female cast member so we can all talk about it and boast a big “look how fair and progressive WE are!”
It should just be natural. If SNL realized they needed to broaden their cast they should have done is this past off season or the next off season. To be so obvious and blatant about it is insulting to anyone’s intelligence who has any intelligence.
Since they are presenting their hiring as “the first black female since Maya Rudolph” they’re all but admitting or leaving open to the interpretation that they’re not hiring the funniest person available, but the funniest black female who auditioned available. It’s unfair to the “four white guys they hired” and everyone else who got their spot through the traditional route. SNL is known for being a struggle for camera time. Now the new hire automatically gets spotlight leverage because of the special treatment of the whole announcement and hiring process. I’m sure it’ll work out, but this whole situation has just created a strange dynamic.
It’s not fair to anyone. I know for a fact that Sasheer Zamata is funny. I’ve seen her web videos and she stood out on Inside Amy Schumer. I see no reason why she won’t show up, take advantage of this really fucked up situation, and in a few years she’ll be so funny that people will be talking about how funny Sasheer is and not that SNL has a black cast member now.
She has a great opportunity here. ANYONE would want to be on SNL. She’s going to have the spotlight on her at start because of the strange situation that is what it is. The press releases and news coverage for her being added to the cast is almost bordering on “novelty”. It really sucks, but it’s not her fault and it’s not any one viewer’s fault. We just move on, get past this bullshit, and keep watching. On SNL the funny rises to the top.
Sketch comedy is a white man’s game. That’s not me saying it. It’s just me pointing it out. I WANT it to be different. I really do, but it’s interesting to think about why. It seems to me that most African American comedy figures(actors, stand ups, etc.) came up from doing stand up and working the hustle and grind of the road. I heard on some random awesome podcast (no idea which one) a theory that it could be because of the wealth status. Improv comedy is a paid luxury. Not many people get a comedy troupe together in the hood to go out and put on shows. I’m sure there are exceptions, but it’s not as common as a group of fairly well off white college kids trying to get their “Whitest Kids You Know” on. Second City and the improv schools aren’t opening up in Gary, Indiana or Compton. But there’s always stand up. I don’t know if any of this is true or if it’s bullshit. It’s just something to ponder. At the end of the day, we all just want to laugh. For that job, race and sex do not matter.
I know that what I’m saying is bullshit, but its reality bullshit. I know things are changing, but it’s not changing overnight. I’m happy SNL is stepping into the 19th century with their casting, but are supposed to hold them accountable for the lack of variety out there in their chosen field? Is it the NBA’s responsibility to make sure more Hispanic children play basketball so one day a percentage of them will be good enough to “diversify” the NBA? Is it the NHL’s job to get more black people? No.
Welcome to 2014. Even non-racism is racist.
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