I really do. For what, you ask?
Everything.
I admit it’s a little harsh, but allow me to explain. We Americans used to have a lot going for us that we have just let go of, and it saddens Moby a bit.
Whatever happened to our sense of humor? We could laugh at ourselves. We had thicker skin. We could take it. And we needed it.
What I’m trying to talk about is the uncomfortable truths, those little white elephants that we need a nudge or excuse to talk about. SNL used to target the offended even more, to really go after those that took themselves so darn seriously. They knew if they got flak for some skit, that only meant they were on target. And it got us to talking, talking about things we might never mention to one another.
Even ‘back in the day’ you couldn’t go up to someone at the water cooler and broach just any subject. SNL gave us that little excuse we needed to ‘finesse’ our way into a conversation about something that we might be curious about, but could not otherwise bring up.
Things like race, politics, cultural differences, religion. SNL would make fun of them all equally and it allowed us to discuss them too, but not really. “No, we’re not talking about race, that’s absurd! We were just discussing this funny skit last night with Richard Pryor and Gerald Ford…did you see it?”
Even fricken Star Trek brought up issues through allegory, and it was on TV a lot. Seinfeld brought over 20 million people together at water coolers to chat about everything from shrinkage to man hands. And Mulva.
But it was SNL the really used to cut right to the uncomfortable point and by discussing it so could we. We could have conversations about differing points of view and the values that those views added to other peoples lives, even if we disagreed with them. The humor was universal, nobody wanted to be the person who could not take a joke, and that opened the door to conversation on…everything.
I’m not sure when we stopped being able to have an uncomfortable conversation with one another without being accused of spreading smallpox or being hateful, but it’s not good. Sure, SNL has been better lately, hitting on topics that would have been off-limits the last few years, and that’s a good sign. But the ‘offended’ class still have us by the short hairs, and it’s time to point them out…and laugh at them.
Our culture will always be diverse, but it can also be a more coherent culture. What do I mean by coherent? Look at all the flags held aloft by those marching with Dr. King in Selma, AL and the lack of them today.
Isn’t that sad? We deserve better; Americans past, present, and future deserve a more coherent culture.
Am I saying we should weed out those who cannot take a joke? No, I am saying we should make fun of them on live national television.
Who knows, it just might lead to a more honest dialog, one that starts with the end of a punchline delivered by Turd Ferguson.
Yeah, Turd Ferguson, it’s a funny name.
