Did “Saturday Night Live” Go Too Far With Palin Incest Joke?
Does the question even have to be asked? Sadly, it does, because I know there are going to be people who thought it was funny.
Over the weekend, that tired old chestnut formerly known as Saturday Night Live, in an attempt to be funny and topical, decided to poke fun at Sarah Palin, Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, and her husband. Okay, that’s nothing new, and frankly it’s probably to be expected. But it isn’t the decision to lampoon them that has people in an uproar, but the subject matter:
In Saturday Night Live’s second attempt to mock this year’s vice presidential race, a sketch lampooning The New York Times as out of touch has instead touched off a firestorm by casually throwing out a much more insidious inference — incest — between Todd Palin and his pregnant, teenage daughter, Bristol.
While SNL fans had widely anticipated the return of Tina Fey in an edgy yet endearing role as Sarah Palin, Saturday’s sketch has managed to reignite the furor sparked by claims early this month that the Republican vice presidential candidate is not the mother of her 5-month-old son, Trig.
The sketch, say supporters, was supposed to accentuate how disconnected The New York Times is from anything west of the Hudson River, particularly Alaska. But critics say that the sketch backfired by suggesting that Todd Palin committed incest.
In the sketch, New York Times reporters are sitting around an assignment meeting discussing what about Palin to investigate next.
One reporter asks: “What about the husband? You know he’s doing those daughters. I mean, come on. It’s Alaska.”
Guest host James Franco, who played the assignment editor, sets up the joke of proving a negative, saying, “He very well could be. Admittedly, there is no evidence of that, but on the other hand, there is no convincing evidence to the contrary. And these are just some of the lingering questions about Governor Palin.”
After three of the reporters agree to go to Alaska, one sues for sexual discrimination after being called “sweetie” by a school board member, one is killed by a polar bear and a final reporter wins a Pulitzer for “unproven, yet un-disproven incest in the Palin family” and then is killed by a polar bear driving a “snow machine.”
The final shot in the rambling joke is an image of a New York Times page, featuring headlines: “While No Direct Evidence of Incest in Palin Family Emerges, Counter Evidence Remains Agonizingly Elusive” and “In a Small Alaska Town, Doubts Still Linger.”
Oh yeah, super funny stuff, that. I’ll be surprised if this one doesn’t win an Emmy next year.
I’m just going to throw this out there and get it out of the way, and this is MY opinion ONLY…Bristol Palin has handled the pressure from people and the media with nothing less than class and dignity. She and her family have been smeared in the press for Bristol daring to be pregnant while at the same time being unmarried, Republican, Christian, and underage. I’m not here to argue abstinence versus birth control, but I do know that these things happen. She had a momentary lapse in judgement that is now going to affect the rest of her life, but from what I’ve seen she’s doing all she can to handle it while being thrust into the public eye. And she has a supportive family behind her, who have been with her every step of the way. No, I do not think teen pregnancy should be glorified, but sometimes it happens.
Now that I got that off my chest…the children of Presidential candidates of any party should be off-limits, pregnant or not. I could do a whole article just on whether or not a candidate should run for office while they have younger children at home, simply because of the way their lives are turned upside down and inside out. Once you choose to run for President, your life, and that of your family, is never the same again. While jokes and skits lampooning candidates, and possibly their spouses, are par for the course and perhaps even expected (hey, even I thought when I saw Sarah Palin for the first time, “Oh, Tina Fey will so be playing her on SNL”), they are the ones running for office…not their children.
But jokes about incest? Laughs about a father having sex with his daughters? Let’s not overlook that they were not only talking about seventeen-year-old Bristol in this sketch, but also about thirteen-year-old Willow and six-year-old Piper. Oh, the lulz! How funny and cutting edge SNL is, talking about Todd Palin having sex with a prepubescent girl! They are so edgy and fresh, not like stodgy old farts!
Here is just one small example of how someone can be affected by the crime of incest:
Incest can have serious long-term effects on its victims. One study concluded that among the survivors of incest who were victimized by their mothers, 60 percent (60%) of the women had eating disorders as did one-fourth (25%) of the men. Of the 93 women and nine men included in this study, 80 percent (80%) of the women and all of the men reported sexual problems in their adult life. In addition, almost two-thirds of the women stated that they never or rarely went to the doctor or the dentist as the examination was too terrifying for them. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — which includes amnesia, nightmares and flashbacks — also remains prevalent among incest survivors (Vanderbilt, 1992). Additionally, there is research which indicates that children who have been sexually abused by a relative suffers from even more intense guilt and shame, low self-esteem, depression and self-destructive behavior (such as substance abuse, sexual promiscuity and prostitution) than children who have been sexually assaulted by a stranger (Matsakis, 1991).
Oh yeah, real funny stuff. Lulz!
I’m sorry, but I see absolutely nothing funny about incest. It is one of the worst forms of sexual abuse…that of a parent, who is given the sacred duty of raising their children in a loving and caring manner and whom their children are supposed to trust implicitly, who then smashes that trust to pieces by repeated sexual abuses and molestations and rapes.
I’m not here to promote one party over another, or to say Democrats are bad and Republicans are good, or anything so black and white as that. This should not be a Republican versus Democrat argument, or a conservative versus liberal argument…to me, this crosses political boundaries, and anyone who cares about children and decency should be outraged, no matter what your political leanings are. I would be upset no matter who they were pointing fun at. Whatever “point” SNL was trying to make about the ignorance of East Coast reporters and Alaska, and their willingness to believe all sorts of far-fetched rumors about the state, and their obvious bias against the Palins, was totally lost. Disagree with the Palins’ political stance all you want, because it is a free country and we are free to do so. Debate the issues concerning our country and the political beliefs of Obama/Biden versus McCain/Palin. After all, that is what a Presidential election should be about. Yes, there is a time and place for jokes about candidates and something to lighten the serious mood. This, however, wasn’t it.
If SNL is going to go that route, then they should also do a sketch featuring jokes about Barack Obama molesting his daughters. I’ll bet that one would go over real well! After all, he’s not just a Presidential candidate, but he’s a black man…that ups the lulz factor when you make jokes about incest! Or is it only funny when it is a Republican conservative?
DISCLAIMER: Any political commentary in the above piece is k’s opinion alone.
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Please clean the sand out of your mangina. The sketch was funny. If you pulled your head out of your butt, you’d see it was a rather savage attack on NYT reporters, and not your sacred cow Mrs. Palin.
Comment by Howie Feltersnatch — September 23, 2008 @ 10:46 am
dear howie
stfu
this was about as comedic and funny as sandra ugly bernhard’t rant & rave
god, where are people’s manners?
i don’t like palin, but i really don’t like sandra b., margaret cho & snl skit
they may make me vote for palin, oops, i mean mccain
and i think i know glosslip enough to know that palin is definatly not their sacred cow – idiot
Comment by tuffyt — September 23, 2008 @ 11:21 am
i am a victim of child sexual abuse. it is not funny. i live with ptsd every single day and night. to joke about it is to condone it. the only ones who would joke about it are the ones that have not been victims of it because they do not know the pain and anguish of it. snl can get their jokes from some other subject that is not about something so devastating to others.
Comment by stephanie — September 23, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
Howie, hope you read this. The main concern here should be those who see no problem with it being a topic. I suggest you consider why you have the perspective you have that it is not a joking matter regardless if the punch line was ment to be towards the press. I know you would argue this point so it can only make someone wonder…. Or should I say Just kidding!
To think that someone would use a topic that destroys lives for your entertainment….disgusting!
Comment by AZ — September 23, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
While I didn’t think the sketch was particularly funny (because the writing was off), I saw it only as a dig at overzealous reporters and their ambling to come up with a sensational story – ANY story – whether it’s true or not.
Along with the whole “lipstick on a pig” tripe, I think the McCain/Palin camp is over blowing the entire thing in an attempt to bring back Rovesque politiking. IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT YOU!!!
Comment by Moses — September 23, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
There’s nothing funny about incest. EVER. I remember fondly when SNL was funny.Now its just sad.
Comment by Gustav — September 23, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
If you can name me ONE TIME they were smeared in the press I would love it. Betcha cant. I will look back here to see if anyone comes up with anything…
You see, they like to SAY people are smearing them, that is the whole shtick. IF they were so worried about their daughters feelings, why did they then bring her but now with her boyfriend out?
It’s just like the way they promoted Sarah as a “hockey mom”…as part of her sales tag if you will, but then you can’t question her mothering.
You are blind. Sorry. I usually agree with you.
Comment by Jessica — September 23, 2008 @ 2:32 pm
EDIT: and I mean saying something smeared about their daughter. A link would be great. Thanks.
Comment by Jessica — September 23, 2008 @ 2:34 pm
Here is why the daughter issue comes up at all:
Sarah is AGAINST teaching anything but abstinence. It speaks of Sarah’s intelligence and judgement. Sarah would rather put the youth at risk for STD’s and risks they becoming Pregnant — and all to preserve a moral high ground. Her daughter is proof it doesn’t work but yet she maintains her unrealistic opinion. And interjects it in to our laws. I don’t want that kind of person at the head of a government.
Comment by Jessica — September 23, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
There is nothing funny about that type of skit at all, and accusing a father, satire or not, of molesting his child is disgusting and deplorable. The only caveat to any of this, and this only applies to Gov. Palin not her family, is her adherence to forcing pregnant women who become so as a product of incest and rape, to carry those children to full term.
I think this opens her up to scrutiny, but the SNL skit goes WAY beyond the pale, and k did a fantastic job of criticizing in a neutral and unbiased way. That’s NOT an easy job these day.
Great job k!
Comment by Dawn — September 23, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
I am not an apologist for Palin, McCain, Obama, Biden, or whoever is running for any sort of office this year. This is not about Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, whatever. This is about common decency, and somebody needs to take a stand. I would have said the same thing had Obama and his daughters been the subject.
But SOMEBODY needs to stand up and say this isn’t right. I’ve stood up for plenty of people here who’s politics I don’t agree with. Alec Baldwin, for one…I don’t agree with most of what he says, but I defended him when that voicemail thing came out last year.
And her daughter being pregnant is proof that her DAUGHTER made a bad decision. The “daughter issue” should not come up because children should be off-limits, and incest is NOT funny.
What’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong.
btw, all you gotta do is use Google, and you’ll see plenty of Palin-smearing.
Comment by k — September 23, 2008 @ 2:51 pm
Thank you, Dawn.
I’d like to point out that you were the one who initally defended Alec here, I simply came along and said, “Yeah, what she said!” But I count it.
Comment by k — September 23, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
I can’t believe I’m going to ask this question, but I will anyway:
Let’s take the Palin angle out of it. Let’s say we’re just talking about Joe Schmoe The Ragpicker up the road. Or even about nobody specific. Is a joke about a father having sex with his daughter funny?
Comment by k — September 23, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Well done, K and Dawn. It is unfortunate that cruelty so often seems to accompany humor, but it does. I’m not surprised by this skit. I can barely bring myself to be disappointed. We have defined deviancy downward, and I’m glad to see someone calling it for what it is.
There are so many reasons to like or not like the McCain/Palin ticket or the Obama/Biden ticket without this rubbish. This skit is just one more example of why so many good people choose not to seek high elected office. We get the democracy we deserve some days, don’t we?
Comment by Josh Hathaway — September 23, 2008 @ 4:04 pm
i am so oversensitive
i guess i could have seen this as a bash against overzelous reporters-but it wasn’t how it struck me at first
i mean, it IS saturday nite live
it IS what they do and have done worse
they really have sucked for several years
okay, i’m a moralfag! i confess
Comment by tuffyt — September 23, 2008 @ 4:10 pm
I thought it was pretty obvious that they were making fun of the NY Times not Palin’s family.
Comment by Joe — September 23, 2008 @ 5:37 pm
Has anyone here actually seen the skit, or are you just going based on one comment taken completely out of context by many reporters writing about the skit?
The skit was not aimed at the Palins, it was about how out-of-touch the New York Times is, and how their reporters are willing to make up the nastiest of slanders just to make the Palins look bad. The “incest” joke wasn’t delivered as if SNL was suggesting Todd would engage in such behavior. They were saying you can’t put it past the NYT to suggest such a thing, even without any basis to do so. And given the performance of the NYT in regards to the Palins, there is much truth in that satire.
I highly suggest anyone who is only commenting on the incest line as they read it in someone’s reporting of the story, find the skit online and watch it – then pass judgment on whether it was in bad taste or not.
Comment by Dave — September 24, 2008 @ 12:14 am
aww dave,
you know we aren’t gonna do that, we trust dawn and k
Comment by tuffyt — September 24, 2008 @ 8:43 am
There are other jokes the SNL writers could have made to make their point without bringing up incest. I live in the county in my state where we have the highest rate of it. But I’ve been put off of SNL for years, ever since they did the skit about the pedophile Scoutmaster. Oh boy, isn’t that hilarious subject matter? SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN IS NOT FUNNY. Both my boyfriend and I were abused as young children and it did more damage than we or our families were aware of at the time. And if the NYT has nothing better to do than try to play gray areas as if they’re news, then they’re abusing their Constitutional freedom. At least they’re staying on the safe side of libel.
Comment by MattSong — September 26, 2008 @ 12:15 am
Incest is never funny, no matter who its referring to. The sketch was supposed to be making fun of the NY Times and their outrageous stories, but when I heard that comment I was disgusted. I think SNL gets worse every year, I had watched to see Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (which actually WAS funny).
Comment by Christie — September 29, 2008 @ 11:45 am
I was searching the Web to see if Sen. Obama denounced SNL’s NY Times/Palin skit due to the incest comment and the blatant attack on the Palin family. After all, Sen. Obama declared his wife’s comments off limits and declared children off limits soon after the Republican convention. Remember the uproar over the New Yorker cover of Sen. Obama and his wife clad in firearms and looking like terroists? The same people remaining mum on the SNL skit (or else defending it) decried the New Yorker cover. If you view humor as acceptable or unacceptable based on your politics, then re-examine your values. Politics or common decency? I probably disagree with k’s political views, but the article is what I was searching for. Sure wish Sen. Obama had written it first.
Comment by Mark — October 4, 2008 @ 10:02 am