SNL Still Bad

Angry Asian Man:

Did you catch the cold open on Saturday Night Live this weekend? I can't believe someone thought this was a good idea. You've got a very Caucasian Will Forte as Chinese President Hu Jintao, doing some seriously godawful ching chong, alongside Nasim Pedrad, rocking an equally ass-awful accent as his "translator."
This alone is pretty painful. Whatever joke they're going for is completely sabotaged by the fact that everyone is thinking, "Hey, those two aren't Asian." (At least they didn't tape their eyes back.) But it goes on, with this tired, drawn-out joke about "do sex to me" and Hu literally bending over in front of "Obama."
I don't understand how this kind of racial mockery flies on national broadcast television. Is this not yellowface? No, they didn't use "Oriental" makeup, but there's no denying that the effect is there -- insulting ching chong and all. At the very least, awkward bare minimum, would it have been that hard to get an actual Asian man to just stand there for six minutes?
And yes, I fully acknowledge that there's also been something rather uncomfortable about watching Fred Armisen play Barack Obama for the last couple of seasons. Hell, the whole thing was uncomfortable.

I caught this opening sketch as well and just couldn't stomach it. I was offended by the premise, the accents and the tone of the entire sketch. It's one thing to be so blatantly racist, the length was horrific and even the politics were wrong. I am not sure what's going on behind the scenes at SNL, they need a shake up bad. It has been consistently worse year after year. I really don't see the purpose of watching anymore until there is another major election.


I am Frank Chow and I approved this message