SNL VP Debate Sketch: Fox News v CNN
- The SNL skit mocked Harris watching the vice presidential debate between Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance. Harris, played by Maya Rudolph, and Doug Emhoff, played by Andy Samberg, are seen watching the debate while drinking wine.
- Walz, played by Jim Gaffigan, and Vance, played by Bowen Yang, are seen having intense moments of agreement. Rudolph reacts to this agreement in disbelief stating: "Why are they friends? Why are they vibing?"
- After both candidates fail to answer a question about the Middle East, Rudolph remarks that she should’ve picked “Josh” as her running mate, referring to the wine brand.
- After Samberg reassures Rudolph that Gaffigan won’t say anything crazy, Gaffigan says "I've become friends with school shooters”. Causing Rudolph to break the wine glass in her hand
- Biden, played by Dana Carvey, shows up and says, "You've been watching this guy, come on Walz! What's wrong with that guy? He's crazy, get your facts straight, Jack!"
- Gaffigan and Yang depicted multiple important moments from the real debate.
- Questions about whether Walz was in Tiananmen Square
- Vance calling out fact-checking
- In response to Vance’s answer to a question regarding whether former President Trump won in 2020, Samberg remarked: "Honey, we did it, we got the soundbite! What are the pollsters saying?” to which Rudolph replied "This is a huge victory, it made no difference!"
- Maya Rudolph played Kamala Harris and Andy Samberg played Doug Emhoff in the cold open of the latest SNL episode
- Rudolph and Samberg got cozy at home by pouring a glass of wine and tuning into the vice presidential debate between Walz, played by Jim Gaffigan, and Vance, played by Bowen Yang.
- Gaffigan and Yang went head to head on various topics.
- Both candidates avoid answering questions at one point causing Rudolph to remark about Gaffigan, “Ok, ok. He’s out there, he’s doing his thing, whatever that may be…”
- A response given by Yang impressed Gaffigan, causing him to say “This guy’s good, he’s got an answer for everything”. Yang appeared touched by this compliment.
- The skit played into the civility of the real-life debate by having the two candidates agree on topics and say in unison “That’s an area where we have a lot of common ground.”
- The song “Take My Breath Away” played as Gaffigan and Yang held a hand up to each other in a moment of unison
- Rudolph spat out her wine and remarked “Why are they friends? Why are they vibing?!”
- Biden, played by Dana Carvey, shows up at Rudolph and Samberg’s viewing party and tells Rudolph “You’re going to make a great president” as he gets ice cream on himself and Rudolph.
Discussion:
The most obvious bias I found in the two news articles was in the Fox News. This article seemed to focus solely on the jokes made at the expense of Harris and Walz and largely ignored the jokes made at the expense of Vance. I think the CNN article did a little bit of a better job highlighting the ways in which the sketch mocked all of the candidates.
I personally really enjoy political satire in sketch comedy. I think that it can give viewers a break from the tense nature of political situations and allow them to view politics in a different light. I feel like political satire has the power to bring people who hold different ideological viewpoints together. It does this by highlighting how every politician has flaws and showing that no one is perfect. I think this allows people to feel comfortable acknowledging the flaws of the candidate they support instead of feeling like they have to constantly defend everything their candidate says.
What do you think, is political satire a useful tool for bridging the ideological divide or does it make the divide worse?
I think this is a very good example of the different biases between news companies. To be cliche "laughter is the best medicine". It's a two-way street I think that there are people out there who take things far too seriously so political satire would cause them to be even more angry and divided as well as people who can laugh and let it ease the tension. I also think who publishes the satire matters. People might be too skeptical of sources who are more favorable of a different political belief for them to even want to view it in the first place. I personally enjoy the (sometimes) lightheartedness of the humor.
ReplyDeleteEverything in politics is serious. From the campaign itself to the campaign merch. You can visibly see the difference in perspectives between FOX News and CNN. Its almost like siblings fighting on who is better. You see how FOX News presented the candidates and how CNN presented the candidates. This is a prime example of how the media influences politics through attitude. When they present candidates a certain way the views take that same view and make it there own. And when the perspectives are turned into comedy skits there will be different responses from people, especially when its about the candidates they support.
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