Sunday, November 13, 2016

SNL: Kate McKinnon 'Hallelujah' Cold Open

I called it.

I thought Saturday Night Live would open on a serious note.

Kate McKinnon, dressed as Hillary Clinton, sat at the piano and sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

Cohen passed away on November 7, but this wasn't a tribute to him. It was a tribute to Hillary Clinton and all the collective grief at her loss of the 2016 presidential election.




Saturday Night Live rarely begins with an intentionally unfunny opening.

It happened when the show returned for its first live broadcast after 9/11.

It happened after Sandy Hook.

It happened most recently after the terror attacks in France.

I know they're freaked out because their candidate lost, but good grief! No one died, but they are distraught. We had an election. They don't like the results, but this reaction is more than a bit overwrought.

Repeatedly, throughout the show, the message was delivered again and again: Racist white voters elected Trump. Half of America is racist.

SNL did not set out to entertain the great unwashed. They set out to condemn.

Funny?

No.

2 comments:

The Writernaut said...

Well, actually Leonard Cohen died; but also, the vision of America as a land that believes in the freedom of religion and welcomes immigrants who dream of a better life.

Mary said...

Yes, Leonard Cohen died, but the opening was not a tribute to him. McKinnon's "I'm not giving up and neither should you" had nothing to do with Cohen's passing.

Funny that you talk about the death of America being a land that believes in the freedom of religion and welcoming immigrants who dream of a better life. Many Trump voters felt they had been marginalized under Obama, incessantly mocked for their faith and believing in the rule of law, including our immigration laws.

Remember, dozens of Catholic institutions sued the Obama administration because of infringement on their religious liberty. Obama's administration engaged in religious persecution at home and stood relatively silent to it abroad.

Also remember, there's a difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration. One is against the law. Some people, including some of those immigrating legally and respecting the law, see the injustice in the illegal activity.

Rather than the death of freedom in America, I suspect some Trump voters feel a sense of hope they had lost under Obama.