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[nadinbrzezinski]

This message was self-deleted by its author (nadinbrzezinski) on Sun Dec 9, 2012, 06:41 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[hlthe2b]

1. Can you describe the skit in detail? I doubt i'm alone in not seeing it... n/t

What was the "bullying" point--who doing it to whom? I'm not defending it--just trying to understand what I missed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Here

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/on-snl-obama-agrees-not-to-raise-taxes-as-he-consoles-a-poor-bullied-john-boehner/

[hlthe2b]

7. Well, I don't find the skit at all funny, but I do see REPUBS as largely bullies...

and frequently adopting bullying tactics.... Nonetheless, the skit seemed pretty pointless and tacky.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Pointless is also a good point.

But we have talks here regularly about it...skits like this enable it and make it acceptable.

[HERVEPA]

15. I don't believe that to be the case. (And I was bullied).

[gtar100]

32. The odd thing about the humor / comedy from conservatives

is that the "funny" part tends to always be about violence and pain. Like Roadrunner humor where we're encouraged to laugh at another person's pain and suffering.

[Bicoastal]

41. I also hate it when conservatives portray liberals as overly-sensitive wimps...oh WAIT.

Ugh, discussions of comedy on this site always turn my stomach.

[Mel Content]

3. growing up, i was taunted by bullies...

that kind of thing tends to happen to those of us with visible birth defects.

BUT- i found the skit funny.

go figure.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. I found it in extremely bad taste

And I was bullied to..

[Mel Content]

19. some people can get past it, others refuse to let go...

And you're entitled to your opinion.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. I guess you will also tell a victim of domestic violence

To get over it, or worst.

Yup, I am entitled to my opinion and in my opinion this encourages a culture of acceptance where bullying is ok, and the victim encouraged it.

[Bicoastal]

42. I think it's wrong to tell all your fellow victims...

...that if they're not as offended as you are, you're right and they're mistaken.

"In my opinion this encourages a culture of acceptance where bullying is ok." In my opinion, it's perfectly harmless, because it's satire--aka, not to be taken literally. Also, NO ONE in the sketch was actually condoning what the "GOP" did to "John Boehner"--not "Obama" or anyone else.

You might have interpreted the laughter from the audience as the tacit support. Well, then I guess you should call me a bully too--I laughed, and I have no apology or regrets about same.

[bluestate10]

29. Growing up, I beat bullies up. Lost only two fights through 9th grade.

I didn't start fights, but I was a country boy that could finish them. One thing I learned about bullies is that they don't like to get hit by someone that is willing to fight back.

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. I ended up at the principal's when I hit back

Only reason I was not expelled were the many adult witnesses who saw the other kid kick first.

Message from the school was clear. Bullying was acceptable and you dare not defend yourself.

[Mel Content]

44. I knocked a bully out in gym class in 8th grade...

I almost got suspended as well, but people spoke up that i was only defending myself.

the kid had never expected me to hit back, but fury is a helluva drug.

my fist hit his face hard on the cheek, and he dropped like a bag of rocks. it felt GREAT.

unfortunately, my already deformed hand swelled up like a grapefruit due to a broken blood vessel.

my swelled hand lasted longer than his black eye.

[countingbluecars]

5. I saw it as funny

political satire.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. I saw it as enabling

[grantcart]

45. so are you going to accept the opinions of the people that saw it in another context and thought it

was funny as hell or

are you going to bully them?

[nadinbrzezinski]

46. I guess I should delete the post

To please those who think it was rip roaring funny, because we know I have no right to an opinion, less so when it comes to bullying. Don't worry, will do so, after a little copy and paste and inal note.

[bigtree]

6. context is everything

Nothing in that skit condoned bullying or anything else that the President was portrayed as saying to John Boehner. The 'bullying' was actually presented with the President portrayed as sympathizing with the apparent 'victim,' in that case.

If we're going to take comedy seriously and criticize it, we should at least get the context right.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. It was not funny to 100% of viewers in this household

We both agreed this condones the culture of bullying.

[bigtree]

11. he was sympathizing with the victim

how is that 'condoning' the violence?

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. The source of the jokes

I will be writing a looonnnnggg stat filled letter to NBC universal. As a victim of bullying this was not funny in any respect at all...it shows how sick we are.

It was not sympathy, it was demeaning to make the victim speak and then repeat the treatment.

Jaysus, no wonder we have an issue with bullying.

[pintobean]

14. Those bullies at NBC forced you to watch.

Your TV has on/off and channel changing features. They work much like DU's ignore and trash can features.

[bigtree]

17. it was a satire on the attitude of his republican membership

. . . and accurately reflected their petty objections. They are at exactly that level.

As far as making Boehner repeat the abuses, again, it was clearly satire meant to reflect the pettiness of his republican counterparts in Congress. Not only did you read too much into it, you completely missed the point.

Context.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Your context is enabling of a very sick culture.

Period.

[bigtree]

35. that's ridiculous

You've reinterpreted the skit to fit your objections.

You know, there's a reason it's on late at night. Adults should have been able to process that as satire, not as a condoning or enabling of bullying. At the very least, they should be well able to explain the context of the satire/SNL humor. I can think of dozens of skits which might relate to a coarse and sometimes abusive culture - many instances, I'm sure, which could trigger some social anathema - but it is assumed that adults watching are able to process and reason well enough to recognize the classic and often blunt history of satire behind most of the program's comedy. It's not intended at all for impressionable minds.

Besides, you've stretched and distorted the sketch, all the while ignoring the context; even misrepresenting the context as 'bullying,' when it is clearly political. To place this much import on a comedy sketch . . . what about the entire realm of the history of performances? I can't imagine viewing everything through this subjective lens of yours.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

38. Sorry to tell you this.

But art doesn't and cannot cater towards everyone. If you didn't like it you had the option of turning the channel. Instead you chose to keep watching for whatever reason (maybe you couldn't find the remote?) In the future its as simple as flipping over to Charlie Rose or picking up a book. If you choose to stare at the idiot box while something you find offensive plays that's all on YOU!

[Enrique]

13. i had to think about it but I think you're right

when I saw it I mostly thought it was just not funny (and I think the audience pretty much agreed).

But you make a good point, the joke is "this is what kids do, it's funny to imagine adults doing it." But it's wrong to accept that kids do that.

[zappaman]

16. Hilarious!

They did a real funny job with that!
Sorry you didn't get the point or the humor, but I can assure you that many did.
You should write a complaint letter though. When they see it comes from an actual journalist "with a press pass and everything" they will take it more seriously...

[boomer55]

18. I found it to be an accurate portrayal of Obama's bargining style for his first term....

hopefully thats behind us.

[leftstreet]

20. You've had people put snakes on your desk?

yuck

[coalition_unwilling]

21. I thought it was funny as hell, and I'm a former victim of bullying (in elementary

and junior high).

I suppose it depends on whether one believes Boehner should be bullied. In my opinion, Boehner sowed the Tea Party wind and now is reaping the Tea Party whirlwind. Caveat emptor, as was once said in Rome. Try as I might, I simply cannot find one ounce of sympathy for Boehner in reality and that may have explained my laugher at the skit.

The skit did not imply that actual bullying was either funny or acceptable, but it did suggest that the metaphoric bullying that Boehner has been on the receiving end of has a literal counterpart. In the skit, it is that morphing from metaphoric to literal and the ensuing 'sympathy' engendered in the Obama character that is the source of the comedy.

All comedy depends on cruelty, I suppose one could say following in the tradition of Beckett, Ionesco and Artaud, and in this case it's merely a question of whether the Bone-man deserves the cruelty. I think he does and I suspect most on DU (even victims of actual bullying) would agree.

[madmom]

22. Sorry but no..to me it shows what people think

to be the extent at which the republicans will go to get their own way. It doesn't show us condoning bullies, just the opposite IMO.

[renate]

24. I didn't watch it till after I'd read your post

And while I might have thought it was funny if I'd seen it last night, today I watched it in the context of your experience and feelings about it, and I couldn't help thinking about all the kids who have lived through that kind of hurt and shame, and I just felt sad. I might have laughed last night but this morning, after your post, I couldn't help picturing a teenaged kid in Boehner's place and it wasn't funny any more.

I don't think the sketch writers' intentions were bad; anybody smart and funny enough to be on SNL might well have been bullied themselves. And the idea of GOP representatives actually behaving like the bullies they are has some comedy potential, although making their victim reveal it all at a press conference is depressing. But since a lot of kids have to live through that kind of thing every day, it was a little too mean-spirited to be funny. It must have been triggering for a lot of people.

I'm not saying I don't see the humor at all, and I don't think that people who laughed are mean. But I definitely see your point.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. What is funny is I did not watch it last night...well after bed time

But went to a link this morning. Hubby and I had the same non funny reaction separated by 12 hours.

Yes, some in the GOP are serial bullies, (and some dems as well). But they could have made the point without a series of non funny bully jokes.

[zappaman]

28. Did you have a snake thrown on your desk?

I have never heard of that happening.
How old were you and what kind of snake was it?

[MineralMan]

25. Sorry, but I don't see that as condoning bullies.

Perhaps SNL isn't the TV show for you. They do stuff like that all the time. It's called satire. SNL is almost all satire. But, I encourage you to write that long letter full of stats. If it's important to you, I'm sure they'll read it and think about it.

[question everything]

31. As I am getting older I find SNL less and less funny

which makes sense, I suppose. I would try to watch the opening skit and the Weekend Update, but yesterday the opening skit that you described and the ones followings were so juvenile that I turned it off.

[DiehardLiberal]

34. I turned it off, too...

it just wasn't funny and it was mostly mean-spirited. I thought Will Smith was just awful. SNL is going through another dry phase - hope they can revive it again...

[ForgoTheConsequence]

37. Will Smith wasn't on SNL.

Jamie Foxx was.... so either you didn't actually watch it or you have a hard time telling black actors apart.

[chelsea0011]

33. Wow, you must have really hated the "bitch" sketch later in the show

[ForgoTheConsequence]

36. Wasn't funny.

But I wasn't offended by it either. Thank God I wasn't born with thin skin, I would hate to be as sensitive as some of you. Not everything needs to be handled with kid gloves.

[Johonny]

39. not sure it is offensive, but it isn't really funny

I get that they were joking about Boehner's complete lack of control over his house. I get they used common child bully situation to represent the house Republicans as a bunch of mean children. But that doesn't mean it was really funny.

For starters John Boehner wasn't orange enough for me. Obama seems needlessly in the sketch and adding him sort of implies acting like a bunch of mean children will work for Republicans... which also doesn't seem to be the case at this point.

Since Boehner is the victim of his own party that he is also head bully for... it probably isn't offensive. I can't argue Republicans A) don't act like children, B) don't try to bully America, C) don't eat their own.

There probably is a funny way to represent these ideas, but this wasn't it. At least for me.

[Bicoastal]

40. As someone who is against violence towards children...

...I'm OFFENDED by Jonathan Swift's proposal that the Irish literally feed their babies to the rich. Mr. Swift should be reprimanded and taken off the air immediately!



I didn't find the sketch that funny--but I will defend to the death the SNL writers' right to stage it.

[Z_I_Peevey]

43. Saw it, didn't find it funny, fast-forwarded through it,

as I did most of the sketches and performances last night. One of the worst SNLs in recent memory.

I didn't find the opening sketch particularly objectionable, just unfunny. If anything, it was acknowledging that Republican bullying tactics work...on both Boner and the President.

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. At the request of those who think bully jokes are hysterical

And me having an opinion...this is the post

SNL bully sketch...this is what that was last night

Last edited Sun Dec 9, 2012, 08:15 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

I just watched it, I talked to my husband as well.

We did not like it. This was a series of bully jokes. None of it was funny, or necessary. Being thrown into the woman's bathroom, that happens for real, the snake on the desk, happens for real...pelted with rotten eggs...and some kids find only one way out, a rope or a gun. At times the gun is used on others and we have people asking...HOW COULD IT HAPPEN? That sketch is all but funny and it tells me, all protestations aside, we don't mind.

Oh and before you say it was funny, I guess it is hysterical if you have never been on the receiving end of bullies. Otherwise it is in extremely bad taste.

Here is a link to the bully sketch

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/on-snl-obama-agrees-not-to-raise-taxes-as-he-consoles-a-poor-bullied-john-boehner/

I guess a paper letter is in order to NBC Universal as well.

Which now is to be locked. I am not suppose to have any views, especially on something that we as a society enable.

Don't bother sending a PM either. This is what DU has fallen into, or at least SOME individuals for whom strong views by moi on a subject I do have strong views on...is akin to bullying..who knew?

No wonder we ave a bully problem here.