In approximately 600-800 words, analyze how the episode you’ve selected draws upon universalizing and minoritizing discourses of race, sexuality, and/or gender.
On September 25, 2010, Saturday Night Live broadcasted, Wedding Venue, a short commercial skit satirically pointing out the controversial idea of an Islamic center being built at ground zero. This skit focuses on the discourses of sexuality and race from both a minoritizing and universalizing lens. The skit begins with a woman walking down the isle on her wedding day. Instead of being met at the alter by a man, the bride is face to face with another woman. As the narrator states, “you’ve dreamed about this day forever, the day of your gay wedding” the audience is full of laughter. This particular example minoritizes discourses on sexuality. Using Lull’s idea of hegemony, the power or dominance that one social group hold over the other, we initially assume that the bride walking down the isle is part of a heterosexual marriage, “we situate heterosexuality as norm, homosexual/bisexuality as exceptions to the norm” (Refiguring Gender on the Small Screen 3). The audience laughing symbolizes how the media interprets and shapes our ideas of marriage. This gives the audience an initiative that we are supposed to laugh at the idea of a homosexual marriage and reaffirms negative stereotypes. Today’s society is more liberal than it has ever been before, but individuals nowadays still tend to see through a minoritizing lens, “we see categories in terms of black and white, or either/or” (4). We continue rely on fixed and predictable meanings—ideas don’t change.
Not only does this skit minoritize discourses on sexuality, but we are also confronted with the issue of race other than the white male. The parody jokes that an Islamic center built in the vicinity of ground zero would be the premiere place for gay weddings, pregnancy terminations, as well as the naturalization of illegal Mexican immigrants. Americans views on Muslims and Arabs after the September 11th attacks are very biased; therefore, building an Islamic center is a very controversial issue. This view is strengthened by mass media, “owners and managers of media industries can produce and reproduce the content, inflections, and tones of ideas favorable to them far more easily than other social groups…guaranteeing that their points of view are constantly and attractively cast into the public arena” (Lull 62). Because these ethnicities and races are portrayed as “deviant” or “freakish” the skit portrays the idea that everything associated with the ‘abnormalities’ in society are also associated with the future Mosque. Gay weddings, pregnancy terminations, and the naturalization of illegal Mexican immigrants are all issues that shatter the primacy of a norm. These marginalized ideas can be more discussed through a universalizing discourse lens, “we don’t read categories as fixed or set in stone, but as fluid and open to interpretation” (Refiguring Gender on the Small Screen 4). This idea focuses on non-normative identities and bodies. By looking through this lens, putting an Islamic center by ground zero would include everyone and race in society, reaffirming the idea that meanings are always changing and contingent.
Giving a satirical message lets the writers portray controversial political issues. Individuals nowadays see through both minoritizing or universalizing lens. Although this particular skit emphasizes a minoritizing discourse, the ‘fluid like’ ideas, which are now becoming more present in society, represent the universalizing discourses. The skit’s satirical view might also be read as offering a universalizing lens by implicitly critiquing the minoritizing discourses that it depicts. Writers critique the minoritizing discourse by using modern ideas of religionized racism, gay marriage, abortions, and immigration issues—which animate much debate in America. The issues that Bill Hader presents are either unchanging or open to interpretation. It is important to represent marginalized groups in the media in order to be able to understand and gain knowledge. Hopefully in the near future individuals begin to universalize categories of sexual identity and race in order to think about the ways in which identity is fluid, changing, and more complex than how we typically view it.
Works Cited
Brown, Adriane. "Refiguring Gender on the Small Screen.” Women’s Studies 230 Gender, Race, and Sexuality in Popular Culture. 09 May 2011.
Lull, James. "Hegemony." Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach. New York and Chichester, UK: Columbia University Press, 1995. Print.
I really enjoyed reading your blog entry. I have found that this is a very common trait of SNL's. The more and more I realize this, the more disturbed I become by it. By showing audiences laughing in the background, it is making the scene a complete joke. While our cultural is still struggling with legalizing gay marriages, I do not understand why shows like SNL believe that it is acceptable to preform a skit making fun of two women being married. Our culture is certainly not ready for such representations, especially of women in culture and their sexuality.
ReplyDeleteI also felt like the beginning of the skit mocked gay weddings and stereotyped lesbians. The camera angles built up suspense, which ended in laughter. When there is a close up of their hands the audience begins to think that it is not a heterosexual marriage, but then when it shows a close up of who is thought to be the groom, it is an Ellen look-alike. I thought this was especially interesting because it was not the Ellen look-alike that was walking down the aisle; she was waiting at the altar, like the groom traditionally does. This is seems to enforce that there are feminine lesbians and butch lesbians and they couple in the traditional way that heterosexuals do. I would have liked to see less suspense built before revealing it was two women at the altar, and to have less comedy made out of existing lesbian stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteAlthough SNL has built is fame around making spoofs on current issues which are usually quite entertaining, I believe they went beyond the acceptable limits in this skit. The fact that they believe it was acceptable to make a mockery of gay marriage is something I didn’t think I would see nowadays with the idea of gay marriage gaining more and more acceptance. The producers connected many controversial and not the norm elements, such as gay marriage, abortion, and the naturalization of illegal immigrants, to the idea of a mosque on ground zero, an idea that many individuals view as absurd. Basically, they are asserting that all the abnormal aspects of society would be associated with the mosque and the Islamic religion which is often viewed as deviant in our culture. Although SNL did a make these much debated topics into something humorous, I felt they did so in an inappropriate manner by playing upon stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteSNL has been a comedy series for years that has constantly challenged the ideas of universalizing discourses. Although I believe it has the intention of "stand[ing] out as an original, critical voice prompting its audience to question and rethink how our society constructs the social identities," as Reid discusses of South Park, I believe that the portrayals SNL has on their show makes it hard for us to take those who fit universalizing disources, such as gays, lesbians, transgendered, and even those of other races, seriously.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the fact that you chose to write on such a controversial topic in society right now, a lot of people would not have chose to do such a thing. Saturday Night Live is not thinking about the feelings of others they just want to make money by making people laugh. As the woman is met by another woman at the alter and the narrator says “you’ve dreamed about this day forever, the day of your gay wedding” and the audience laughing is just another example of minoritizing on sexuality. The comment about we automatically assume that a woman is walking down the alter to meet a man is a problem in society that is discussed throughout the blog. I totally agree with all the statements throughout this blog on such a controversial topic.
ReplyDeleteYour blog was written very well! Thinking about the episode it makes me question rather we as a society actually find it funny to sarcastically joke about things as gay marriage, or if the sarcasim of the situation make us "comfortable" with the idea? i know that some people do truly believe that it is perfectly fine to pick fun at other's sexual orientation that is not the norm (i.e. heterosexual) , so I'm wondering if the background laughter is for the audience to react in a prejudice way, or do they use this to present the idea of gay marriage into homes and everyday society . As screwed up as it sounds it may make some people more comfortable with the idea of gay marriage!
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