SNL's Satirical Response to Ebola

For decades now one of the greatest examples of satire in entertainment has been Saturday Night Live (SNL). The show has commented on almost every major social and political event, and although now there are many comedy shows that seek to comment of the flaws of modern society Saturday Night Live was somewhat groundbreaking when it first aired in 1975. For those who aren't familiar with the show, SNL does sketch comedy and has a rotating cast and hosts. Most weeks they begin with a satirical sketch about a political event happening today. Whether it is in the form of a presidential address or a parody of a Miley Cyrus song SNL usually does a great job mocking American politics.

One of my favorite examples was a sketch that aired a few months ago in October. This time was really the peak of the ebola scare in the United States, as well as the midterm elections. The sketch is parodying a C-SPAN speech given by president Obama and Ron Klain, who was hired to deal with the disease in the country. While Klain makes many passing jokes the journalists that make up his audience ask some questions that many americans really had and were concerned about when it came to ebola. Such as “do you have any actual medical training” which he responds that he does not, although he “did work for Joe Biden so he is familiar with foot-in-mouth disease”. As well as American concerns with a travel ban coming back from West Africa. Klain says people should be more worried about the flu” the journalist then goes on to say that 0.01% of people die from the flu, 50% of people die after getting ebola. The sketch also mentions the upcoming elections by saying “you actually may want to avoid any large, public spaces, like, say, a polling booth.” Unless you’re a Latino, of course: “We believe Latinos in red states may actually have an immunity to Ebola, so they’re good to go.”

This sketch is not just trying to be funny, I believe that it really serves to bring up some important points, including actual concerns Americans are having about the disease as well as many people’s lack of knowledge about the impact of ebola. It also forces the watcher to consider if Ron Klain was hired only for looks and not to serve any real purpose. 

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