Hillary Makes a Funny

You go girl.



Hillary's cameo on SNL is the most recent of current campaigners making their mark on the infamous Saturday night comedy sketch show. To see the appearances made by other presidential candidates in the past few months, in addition to the recent mock debates, visit the Saturday Night Live homepage.　Watch Gov. Huckabee on the Weekend Update and Sen. Obama at a Halloween Party.

The videos are all pretty good, in my opinion. It's interesting to see how each candidate presents him/herself on the show, which of their imperfections they make fun of themselves for, etc. Huckabee makes fun of himself as a guy who doesn't know when to quit; Hillary pinpoints her laugh, her lagging campaign, and her inability to avoid politics; Obama seems to make fun of himself for being so perfect (granted it's a joke, it comes across to me as a bit smug and arrogant); McCain, well he hasn't made an appearance yet...the Straight Talk Express must not stop at 30 Rock. All in all, the candidates shrewdly point out imperfections that are really traits to in many ways be proud of. They are having fun and exposing themselves.

Comedy (or attempts at comedy) seems to be a reoccurring theme of present campaigns, perhaps due to all the talk of this being the year of the youth vote. Comedy and entertainment, especially when consumed online, is indisputably a part of youth culture, but it's important to give youth credit where it is due; some of us are concerned with issues as well. And in the same respect, our parents like to laugh too; SNL sketches especially, because they are initially aired on television, are geared in some ways to an older audience more accustomed to "older" forms of media.

As an additional aside, NBC shows like SNL now have wikis...is this necessary?