Is mocking Donald no longer funny?

[Clodfobble]

SNL is, and always has been, staffed by amateurs. All of the good bits they've been known for over the last several years (which, again, were okay but not THAT funny) were guest appearances from bigger stars like Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy. It's ironic because it's not the performances that are usually lacking, but the writing.

[DanaC]

I don't really watch SNL. From time to time I've seen an odd sketch on youtube that's funny, but mostly there's something lacking.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Much of it is the mood of the live audience, live performers get instant feedback from them and can kill enthusiasm of the cast in a heartbeat.

[BigV]

I believe the time to stop mocking Trump's actions will probably never come.

I find the silly funny things, like seeing his image made over in clown makeup, not so funny anymore. But they take on new value and validity when he himself mocks the appearance of others.

Your observation that more statesmenlike behavior (McCain?) would be an effective response to the unpresidented behavior of the current holder of the Executive Office. But I don't see any statesmen doing the mocking. I see comedians and pundits mocking Trump, and Hilary fucking Clinton, really, when does the statute of recriminations run out on that one? They're getting paid for it. You can vote with your wallet and affect the result that way.

I think the ongoing abuse of privilege, utter tone-deafness, outright pandering and condescension, and especially the hypocrisy are textbook examples of attributes displayed by leaders that SHOULD BE mocked. That's right at the top of the list of low hanging fruit for mockery. He's actively destroying the trustworthiness of the *office* by his shenanigans. I'm prepared to use the means I have to expose his bullshit and fight against the destruction he spreads. Very few other levers have any traction against such abuses.


One more point. It's not mockery to have his statements revealed to be wrong. Fact checking is not mockery, even if he cries and whines about it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yeah, he supplies plenty of valid material without making shit up.
If you think "Respect for the Office" should take precedence over his shenanigans, you probably thought respect for the church should take precedence over priests diddling little boys.

[sexobon]

Let's not forget that Trump's presidency was disadvantaged in its youth. The Norwegian Nobel Committee didn't nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, on his eleventh day in office, like they did for his predecessor. Trump is having to pull himself up by his bootstraps. Gotta cut the guy a little slack. Maybe hold out an olive branch by inviting him to host SNL.

[xoxoxoBruce]

What's the alternative to mocking him, silence acquiescence? Fuck that! Give this asshole a pass because he figured out how to fool stupid people? No way. Mock the shit out of him, just like they mocked Obama for 10 years. The difference is we don't have to make shit up.

[Griff]

But is it at all funny? Pete turned on another Colbert tonight. I tuned out during the monologue and back in for Amy Mann. The situation is serious. I have never spent so much time contacting politicians, but it ceased to be funny or watchable long ago. The comedy about Trump is pret near as depressing as Trump himself. It isn't cathartic so what exactly is the point?

[footfootfoot]

While I generally support mocking politicians, in Trump's case I think it is a bad idea because making light of his actions normalizes them and, as in UT's description of his ex, makes it about "us" being better than him, when people should really be holding him accountable for his actions.

At this point I feel, as a nation we are so beyond fucked that a zombie apocalypse would be welcome.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Griff

But is it at all funny? Pete turned on another Colbert tonight. I tuned out during the monologue and back in for Amy Mann. The situation is serious. I have never spent so much time contacting politicians, but it ceased to be funny or watchable long ago. The comedy about Trump is pret near as depressing as Trump himself. It isn't cathartic so what exactly is the point?

Has Amy Mann put on any weight? She is scary skinny.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

What's the alternative to mocking him, silence acquiescence? ...

Nawwww, say something like: And that's our interaction for 2017. See you next year.

[Griff]

Very thin, but I adore her voice and this new cut was lovely.

[Undertoad]

Griff I keep on not posting to thread but -- I had your same exact moment but with Seth Meyers, which J put on the other day. And there was one single non-Trump item. And I'm like, at what point does exhaustion kick in? Is nobody just looking for some relief from this shit? Did nothing else happen and is nothing else ever going to happen? Comedy is supposed to be unpredictable, this is the opposite of that; is that why this feels like "B" material?

This is exactly how he won, so I repeat, war or disco.

[footfootfoot]

That brings up a point that I had forgotten about, probably how he won the election in the first place. He is such a catastrophic train wreck and the media love him for that reason. People can't help but look at the train wreck and that sells ad space/time/clicks or whatever you kids are doing these days. Maybe he has some sort of planetary alignment (gratuitous Uranus joke) but whatever, what was the stat about hours of media coverage during the pre-election months? Something like a 400:1 ratio with Sanders and 200:1 with Clinton?

For whatever reason, the guy is loved by the media. Mock him, praise him, gnash your teeth and beat your breast - it doesn't matter.

8 more years? HAH! We should be so lucky, We will be hearing about that asshole until we die.

[Flint]

I voted, 'makes me uneasy,' because as foot3 says, too normalizing. Also, really people?--size of his hands, etc. is more compelling than nightmarish policies and record-breaking incompetence?? Or even legitimate character flaws, and, "he's orange" is what you have to say??

Reading comments, here, reminds me, I don't watch TV, so I really don't know what the volume or content of comedic enterprise is re: Trump, other than memes, and the FB highlight reel.



And whether 8 years, or "rest of our life," one thing is for sure: if you EVER supported him, I'll never be able to fully respect you, ever, ever again. I'd have to be a completely different person with unrecognizable values in order to make that untrue.