SNL101

Sydney Sweeney hosted SNL for the first time on March 2, 2024. We talk about the paradox of femininity and the rhetoric of "natural" in Woman Aging Gracefully, the rapid fire "seen here" jokes at Mitch McConnell's expense on Weekend Update, generational differences in media use and the complexity of information online in Detectives, and the mechanization of art in AirBnB Design Commercial. Readings include Murray's takedown of the Dove Real Beauty Campaign, the impact of standup comedy, and a classic article from Walter Benjamin entitled "Art in the age of mechanical reproduction."

In Shane Gillis' first time on the SNL stage after his very public firing before he ever appeared onscreen in 2019, we discuss satirizing fact, fiction, and fraud across Trump Victory Party Cold Open and Trump Sneakers, as well as stereotype threat and racial anxiety in The Floor. Readings include the futuristic Boston Globe Editorial from 2016, Du Bois' The Souls of White Folks (1910), and several psychological studies.

In Ayo Edebiri's hosting premiere fresh from her Emmy win, we discuss the importance of civic engagement and accountability in Why'd You Say It, the ironic inclusion of power in satire in the CNN Town Hall South Carolina Cold Open, and the absurdities of (and opportunities associated with disrupting) white supremacy and normativity in Trivia Quest and People's Court - Bad Hair Day. Readings include topics of civic friendship, satire and power, whiteness, and the racial contract.

In Dakota Johnson's second crack at hosting SNL after nine years, there was an important theme of appropriation – that is sampling minority culture without context and losing the original meaning of the artifact in the interest of the majority's amusement. We talk about socioeconomic- and race-based othering in Home Movies, black friends and black-up bands with Justin Timberlake's musical performance of Sanctified, and the long history of the Dozens in Roast (a film by Please Don't Destroy).

We talked about the attention economy and the Society of the Spectacle with Katt Williams/Club Shay Shay Extended Cut and the historical case studies of crisis communication in the new media environment with the Alaska Airlines Ad, as well as the relevance - and irrelevance - of laughter in satire in Weekend Update. Readings include 60 years of philosophy, 30 years public relations case studies, and an experimental study by psychologists Rhodes and Ellithorpe.

We discuss Kate's unique brand of corporeal comedy in North Pole News, the light and heavy interpretation of distraction of Yankee Swap, the implicit and explicit feminism in Tampon Farm and Rich Auntie with no Kids (as well as Gifts from Mom), and ethics of community expectations in the now-iconic Joke Swap. Readings including selections from the hosts, as well as articles on health communication and distraction.

We talk about the congressional hearings on antisemitism and the Cold Open's magnification of the conflict between academic expectations and popular discourse, how Beep Beep showcases racial and gendered differences in politeness and threat, the dehumanization of the elderly in Elder PSA, and the tendency to embellish and its impact on the concept of the "self-made man" and the American Dream in Actor's Journey. Readings include a piece by Charisse and former Syracuse Provost, Michele Wheatley about the effect of media industry on stereotypes of women in STEM, Appiah's Honor Code, Bandura's Social Learning Theory, and an expose of Hasan Minhaj's "Emotional Truths."

In the sixth episode of the 49th season, Emma Stone hosts SNL for the fifth time. We discuss the role of AI in art in a film by Please Don't Destroy, art vs. craft and the humor of finding joy in shame in What's in the Kiln, and the incredibly effective erasure of cigarettes in the public sphere in Michael Longfellow's appearances as an Old Timey Cigarette on Weekend Update. Readings include work by Mori et al on the uncanny valley, Janaway's "Arts and Crafts in Plato and Collingwood," Bernays' Propaganda, and a content analysis regarding how cigarette ads targeted women's psychological needs by age.

Jason Momoa's second time hosting SNL was a feel good experience as advertised. We discuss the Biden Panda Cold Open and the politics of distraction, Old Timey Movies and the psychology of photography, Remember Lizards and the commodification and production of art, and a few classic Momoa moments like Cast Away and GE Big Boys (2018) that satirize masculinity. Readings include Stanley Milgram's take on photography, "The Politics of Distraction" by Liebovitch, and a new paper from Charisse and Bob Thompson on journalism as entertainment.

Timothée Chalamet second time hosting SNL saw the return of classic segments like Tiny Horse and SmokeCheddaDaAssGetta, as well as some new experimental bits. In this episode, we discuss how audiences respond to impersonations with respect James Austin Johnson's amazing turn as Donald Trump in the Republican Debate Cold Open, flipping the gaze and the pleasure experienced by straight when women when watching gay men in Troye Sivan Sleep Demon, bullshit jobs and identity threat in Co-Worker Who's Extremely Busy Doing Seemingly Nothing, and Museum of Hip Hop Panel. Readings include work from Charisse L'Pree on the potential, promise, and practice of streaming, Laura Marks on straight women and gay porn, and Susan Sontag on the proliferation of interpretations.