OPINION:
Saturday Night Live recently had its 50th anniversary special, in which the program showcased an extensive array of comedy skits, musical guests, celebrities and even more controversy. In the “Black Jeopardy” skit, Actor Tom Hanks reprised his 2016 character, Doug, a racist man with a southern drawl who sports a red “Make American Great Again” hat and refuses to shake a Black man’s hand.
The rebelliousness of SNL came near the culmination of our counterculture era. It included “Word Association” — a skit in which the N-word was used — a “Wayne’s World” bit mocking former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton and the ripping up of a photograph of the Pope by guest host and singer Sinead O’Connor. These were controversies that most likely attracted an audience that rejected mainstream values and sought a more peaceful lifestyle.
However, SNL’s “Black Jeopardy” has brought an outpouring of social-media antagonization from even the show’s own past cast members. Victoria Jackson, a staunch Trump supporter and an SNL cast member from 1986 to 1992, called the skit “stupid” and asked, “Did anyone make fun of the Kamala supporters?”
Being a fan of the “original” SNL cast members (Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner), I close with an affirmation from an unlikely ally: Joy Behar of “The View,” who when defending the uproar against Hanks’ “Black Jeopardy” skit, said: “The fact remains that they’re making anyone who voted for Trump look like a racist, and that’s why they’re mad.”
RICK KNIGHT
Henrico, Virginia
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