The day after the election, the depression was palpable on Western’s campus. Stillness was in the air as a collective group of students tried to digest the previous night’s events. Some protested, and many students, myself included, wept.
This didn’t feel like a tragedy we’re used to, there were no lives lost too soon, but an uncertain future in a country where your own rights or the rights of someone you love may be stripped away. The bad news kept pouring in. People went to sleep on election night anticipating the first female president and woke up to a President-Elect who denies climate change, is endorsed by the KKK and faces multiple sexual assault accusations. Dizzying.
This historic election also had some students thinking, “What is the art going to look like in the next four years?” Movies, music, television, literature. How will pop culture respond?
It kind of already has, and it is varied. The comedy came quick, and in many different forms. Most notably, because none seem prepared for a Trump win.
Saturday Night Live
SNL has a long history of portraying Hillary Clinton. Since 1994, she’s been played as a know-it-all, stiff and power hungry, overshadowed both by her husband and Sarah Palin.
McKinnon had the privilege of portraying Clinton as unhinged and emotional. Snapping back at Trump in the fake debates. She could say all the things the real Hillary Clinton couldn’t, lest she be scrutinized. The real Hillary had to hold it together and stay calm, while her opponent could pretty much say anything and not only keep his followers, but also win the presidency.
It was poignant then, after over a year of over-the-top performances, SNL’s post-election cold open featured McKinnon playing it straight and somber. McKinnon, as Hillary, simultaneously paid tribute to the late Leonard Cohen and lamented her loss.
(Graphs from Last Week Tonight study examining the racial makeup of John Oliver’s guests, compiled by me)
Elsewhere
Samantha Bee, another alumni from the John Stewart School of Journalism, admitted she got the election wrong. She responded to the notion that comedians benefit from a Trump presidency.
“Jokes don’t write themselves, Jews write jokes, and they are scared shitless,” Bee said. She’s right, it should not rest solely on those with a platform to make a point and alleviate the pain of bad news with humor.
She also responded to allegations millennials are overreacting to this election. “Today’s college kids are multiracial and international and actually know people who will be hurt by a Trump presidency, especially the history majors.” Bee placed Speaker Paul Ryan’s office address onscreen and urged anyone who has been harassed in the wake of the election results to send mail.
South Park, forced to rewrite its post-election episode in the wake of a Trump win, meandered around a mostly lackluster half-hour. It’s hard to fault Trey Parker and Matt Stone for this, since they only had less than 24 hours rather than their usual 144 to put together an episode. I’m excited to see what they can do with more time, more thought, less shock.
There is real racism and misogyny in America that has been normalized and tolerated. Comedy needs to face that fact. It stinks, and someday we might get used to the stench. We cannot. We must fight back, we must stand with our most vulnerable.
But, this does not mean we cannot laugh, at Trump, and ourselves. So this is my call to action, a call to comedy. Create laughter, because we could all really use some right now.
