SNL has long been the king of satirical sketch comedy, and with their recent skit The Jay Z Story, they have truly outdone themselves. In the sketch, Jay Z is played by Mike O'brien, who wanders around New York on his road to rap stardom.
The funniest and most obvious form or satire in the sketch is that all of the black characters are played by white people. Kanye West is played by Jason Sudiekas and Nas is played by J.K. Simmons. This leads to an incredibly funny effect, seeing white actors purposefully turn up their whiteness to completely butcher the reenactment of Jay Z's come up. Not only is the awkward portrayal of the story funny, but also the astounding inaccuracy of the script which claims to be "100% accurate". I think it's safe to say that you don't usually hear rappers say "Holy Guacamole" very often.
Not only is the sketch hilarious but also telling. This sketch takes on a form of the Chappelle complex in where it so aggressively throws stereotypes in your face that you can't help but realize that the sketch itself is poking fun of stereotypes. It creates a side splitting-ly funny dichotomy of a black story portrayed in white face. It tells the completely wrong tale of Jay Z, depicting a fast and cheery road to the top of the charts, leaving out all of the hardships and struggles that not only Jay Z faced but that Black Americans face everyday when trying to be accepted in a society that has been constructed to oppress minorities.
I watched this skit when it aired, and thought it was funny, but also making a larger argument. By making fun of traditional stereotypes about rappers and white people, it shows that traditional culture does not value some people as much as others.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy SNL, mostly for its instances of satire. I think you chose a very satirical sketch, but think the "Weekend Update" is the most satirical part of the show, filled with irony and hyperboles.
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