In today's Washington Post, Saturday Night Live kingpin Lorne Michaels defended his choice of Fred Armisen to play Barack Obama, starting with last week's episode. After the much-publicized search for an Obama impersonator (or Fauxbama, as some are calling it), Michaels decided on Armisen, who is of white and Asian origin. Armisen, who's talented enough to do excellent imitations of people ranging from Prince to Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, did a credible job playing Obama, a man who is somewhat hard to pin down, imitation-wise.
But some critics, including the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan, have very bluntly wondered why an African-American didn't play Obama. "They couldn't find an African-American performer who was funny enough to play the junior senator from Illinois? They couldn't find one in New York? Not anywhere in the country? Really?" wrote Ryan on her Tribune blog.
In the WaPo article, Michaels states that he chose Armisen purely for comedic reasons, citing how the cast member caught "the essence" of the Democratic front-runner. "It's not about race. It's about getting a take on Obama, where it serves the comedy and the writing," he said.
I don't get it. Darrell Hammond has been playing Jesse Jackson for years and no one's batted an eye. Maybe because Obama has a real shot at being President, people want to see a black man play him for the next four or eight years. But I'm with Michaels; whoever the best person is to play the role should play it. And that goes in reverse to me: if the recently-departed Maya Rudolph had done a better Hillary Clinton than Amy Poehler, I would have been happy with her in the role (though Poehler does her usual fantastic job wither her Hillary impression).
What this whole story does point out is that the cast is very under-staffed as far as African-Americans are concerned. Keenan Thompson, currently SNL's only black cast member, auditioned for the role, but he'd probably have to do more than just capture Obama's voice to even get close (Keenan's a bit, uh, heftier than the senator). I hear Tim Meadows is still looking for work; why not bring him back?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
2-29-2008 @ 11:15AM
YouFaceTheTick said...
People making a stink over nothing. FWIW, Armisen's Obama was massive suck. He had the arrogance and the gestures down but his cadence and tone were so off he could have been impersonating anyone.
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2-29-2008 @ 2:19PM
MacGuffin said...
I agree with YouFaceTheTick.
Armisen's Obama is flat.
Who can ever forget the SNL parodies of the 1992 election with Dana Carvey as Bush 41 (and Ross Perot) and Phil Hartman as Clinton 42???
These skitches aren't funny.
3-01-2008 @ 10:49AM
Seth said...
MacGuffin....
You said it - actually SNL has used boring, long, and unoriginal political impersonation as timefiller for waaayyy too long now.
What happened is that one day they had some really great impersonators and they worked it, but they kept working the same schtick even after the ones who were good at it were long gone.
2-29-2008 @ 11:21AM
eugene said...
blah blah blah, where are these people when eddie murphy dons the face paint and prosthetics to do some stereotypical ripping on asians or whites or the obese? It's comedy people, and this was hardly black face.
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3-05-2008 @ 10:38PM
Mike said...
Don't be thick Eugene, you are making a very common mistake by thinking that BF is limited to 'jet black skin paint' and red lips etc, it's all STILL BF and racist.
2-29-2008 @ 11:27AM
Oreo said...
I like what Jon Stewart said last night to Brian Williams.
"Are you a Clinton supporter because you are a racists towards blacks, or are you an Obama supporter because you are sexists?"
It seems to fit perfect.
He did a fine job with the skit and everyone else needs to shut the hell up.
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2-29-2008 @ 11:31AM
Frank said...
I thought Armisen was latino...
Wasn't there a NYT article about his latino heritage a while back when he started on the show?
(I thought it was pretty solid impersonation.)
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2-29-2008 @ 11:36AM
Chris Nixon said...
"A white person can't do an impression of a black person." Why do these people always have to bring race into it? It's such an old fashioned racist attitude.
The suggestion of bringing in a specialist "African American" actor to play the part is just stupid.
It's a comedy show. The only thing that should matter is whether it's funny or not.
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3-05-2008 @ 10:37PM
Mike said...
But the only other way is to use a white person to play him and THAT has a racist history, so hire a Black actor to play him.
2-29-2008 @ 11:59AM
sitruc said...
Some of the first posts are a bit defensive and unnecessarily negative. I think many realize it would have been nice to have a Black play Obama because that would mean there is another black on the cast. The show is stale and silly right now. Even the political skits are silly and not as relevant as in the past. FWIW, people have long complained about blacks playing whites, whites playing blacks and both playing every other color. People are taking more notice now because it is a high profile presidential candidate. If an impersonation is well done, you don't notice the actor. I've noticed the actors in most of the SNL skits.
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2-29-2008 @ 12:00PM
Christopher said...
Much Ado About Nothing.
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2-29-2008 @ 12:00PM
kevjohn said...
I think Lorne Michaels should be focusing more on getting funny sketches on the air, because that is what he's failing miserably at.
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2-29-2008 @ 12:18PM
Hank said...
YES! Sanity prevails! That Milkshake skit last week was the dumbest thing I have seen from them in a while. I really miss Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood and Sit On It!
2-29-2008 @ 1:10PM
Oreo said...
People still watch the show? The only reason why I saw it was because I didn't change the channel after the news. As soon as "This is SNL!" I changed the channel.
The only reason why this is news is because Mrs. Clinton made the skit famous for complaining about it because she's desperate.
2-29-2008 @ 3:04PM
Jimmy said...
To each his own. I thought the milkshake skit was one of the best I've seen in a couple years. And I thought Fred's Obama was weak -- he reminded of Steve Jobs in last year's iPhone parody.
2-29-2008 @ 12:29PM
KayDee said...
And Maureen Ryan couldn't think of ANYTHING else to write about? This is entertainment! If causing a snit about something so small is all she can write about, maybe someone should reconsider whether she is fit for her job.
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2-29-2008 @ 12:45PM
LC said...
I guess it slipped Maureen Ryan's mind to write an article about all the times men played women on the show and vice versa.
It's called acting ie people pretending to be someone else. She should lighten up and pull the stick out.
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2-29-2008 @ 1:17PM
jOHN! said...
"...the cast is very under-staffed as far as African-Americans are concerned."
Hmm... you know who else is under-staffed in race on SNL, Hispanics and Asians. Armisen is part Asian. Not even a full Asian on that show, ever. Horatio Sanz was the only full Latino on SNL, at least.
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2-29-2008 @ 2:23PM
John Hewitt said...
The important thing to remember is that Fred was NOT good as Obama. He wasn't funny. Absolutely no laughs came from his lines or reactions. Watch the clip for yourself.
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2-29-2008 @ 2:25PM
rex said...
Personally I have always been offended that Phil Hartman played the Caveman Lawyer. I mean come on! Hartman wasn't even a caveman!
Besides if they wanted to get it right wouldn't they have to find somebody with the same racial mix as Obama?
I could see if they revised Eddie Murphy's portrayal of Buckwheat as their Obama character that that would be pretty bad, but this seems like a non-issue.
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