If anyone was wondering whether selecting “Scandal” star Kerry Washington to host “Saturday Night Live” just weeks after everyone got all upset about the show’s six new cast members—all of them white and most of them male—was a ploy to placate general cries for more color on the show, it was and it wasn’t. “SNL” addressed the criticism in the cold open with Jay Pharoah as President Barack Obama and Washington as First Lady Michelle Obama preparing for a state dinner that would feature at least two other important black women. “This is such a treat, I feel like it’s been years since I’ve seen you,” Pharaoh’s Obama said. “It may feel that way,” Washington responded, cagey, playing into the commentary of just about everyone that the show is missing out on parodies of really important people like the First Lady. Maya Rudolph, who left the show in 2007, was the last cast member to play Michelle Obama. Washington then has to run and get changed to play Oprah Winfrey, a guest at the dinner, before leaving, again, to get ready to play Beyoncé. She’s tired and irritated and is the only person around to play these two newsmakers because that’s the funny part, right? A voiceover reads this message to viewers: The producers at “Saturday Night Live” would like to apologize to Kerry Washington for the number of black women she will be asked to play. We make these requests because Ms. Washington is an actress of considerable range and talent — and also because SNL does not currently have a black woman on the cast. Mostly the latter. We agree this is not an ideal situation and look forward to rectifying it in the near future, unless, of course, we fall in love with another white guy first. clutchmagonline/2013/11/kerry-washington-hosts-snl-totally-fine-token-black-woman/
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 04:41:03 +0000
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