Trump, SNL....and The Three Stooges
Recent SNL skits have addressed the actions of Trump and his administration. Due to bombings, killings, and now all out war in Iran, many are finding these skits to be less than funny, and missing their mark.
I understand the concern many of you have about SNL perhaps not understanding the vile and horrific actions of Trump and his "yes men."
You fear normalizing him and this administration's actions. I get it.
But part of uncovering and exposing Trump and his cabal is to make them look incompetent.... which they truly are......make them look stupid....which they truly are..... and yes IMO, they are also evil.
Hitler and his gang were evil and horrific too. The Three Stooges made two short comedy/satire films, "You Nazty Spy" (Jan. 19,1940), and "I'll Never Heil Again" (July 11, 1941).
You Nazty Spy! was first dreamt up by frequent Stooges director and head of Columbia Pictures’ Shorts Department Jules White. In the fall of 1939, he walked into his brother Sam’s office at Columbia and proclaimed that he was going to make a Stooges movie about Hitler, who had just invaded Poland. Sam expressed concern about how to make such a dire situation funny, to which Jules promised, “I’ll make it funny.”
Despite the skepticism of his brother — Jules White proceeded with You Nazty Spy!, bringing it to the Stooges, who he believed would be game. For one thing, the Stooges had just completed a European tour, and they saw some of the horrors that had their fellow Jews running scared overseas. Plus, Moe was an outspoken critic of Hitler and was known to do an impression of the German dictator.
You Nazty Spy! satirized the Nazis and the Third Reich and helped publicize the Nazi threat in a period when the United States was still neutral about World War II, and the isolationist sentiment was prevalent among the public. During this period, isolationist senators such as Burton Wheeler and Gerald Nye objected to Hollywood films on grounds that they were anti-Nazi propaganda vehicles designed to mobilize the American public for war. You Nazty Spy! was the first Hollywood film to spoof Hitler. It was released nine months before the Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator, which began filming in September 1939. You Nazty Spy! was filmed on December 5-9, 1939.
I'll Never Heil Again was a direct sequel, with the same approach of showing the incompetence of Hitler and his henchmen.
Moe Howard took great personal pride in his parody of Hitler. Playing Hitler allowed Moe to indulge in a more dramatic acting style that he rarely got to use in their slapstick routines.
As Jewish men, Moe and his co-stars used their roles to mock the Nazis, with the films serving as a form of cultural resistance and defiance.
The Hays code discouraged or prohibited many types of political and satirical messages in films, requiring that the history and prominent people of other countries must be portrayed “fairly.” Short films such as those released by The Three Stooges were subject to less attention than feature films.
The difference here of course is SNL is a nationally televised weekly program. It reaches millions of viewers, not a low budget short film(s) that could only be seen in the movie theater.
I do not in any manner want to lessen the horrible actions of the Trump administration. Their actions speak for themselves, as they continue to reek havoc and chaos.
I firmly believe this:
Trump watches TV. He does not like to be jeered or made fun of. It drives him nuts. Even worse than being booed, he can't stand being laughed at.....and for that, I say keep it coming, be it SNL, Colbert, Kimmel, and others.
It's all part of the resistance.
I understand the concern many of you have about SNL perhaps not understanding the vile and horrific actions of Trump and his "yes men."
You fear normalizing him and this administration's actions. I get it.
But part of uncovering and exposing Trump and his cabal is to make them look incompetent.... which they truly are......make them look stupid....which they truly are..... and yes IMO, they are also evil.
Hitler and his gang were evil and horrific too. The Three Stooges made two short comedy/satire films, "You Nazty Spy" (Jan. 19,1940), and "I'll Never Heil Again" (July 11, 1941).
You Nazty Spy! was first dreamt up by frequent Stooges director and head of Columbia Pictures’ Shorts Department Jules White. In the fall of 1939, he walked into his brother Sam’s office at Columbia and proclaimed that he was going to make a Stooges movie about Hitler, who had just invaded Poland. Sam expressed concern about how to make such a dire situation funny, to which Jules promised, “I’ll make it funny.”
Despite the skepticism of his brother — Jules White proceeded with You Nazty Spy!, bringing it to the Stooges, who he believed would be game. For one thing, the Stooges had just completed a European tour, and they saw some of the horrors that had their fellow Jews running scared overseas. Plus, Moe was an outspoken critic of Hitler and was known to do an impression of the German dictator.
You Nazty Spy! satirized the Nazis and the Third Reich and helped publicize the Nazi threat in a period when the United States was still neutral about World War II, and the isolationist sentiment was prevalent among the public. During this period, isolationist senators such as Burton Wheeler and Gerald Nye objected to Hollywood films on grounds that they were anti-Nazi propaganda vehicles designed to mobilize the American public for war. You Nazty Spy! was the first Hollywood film to spoof Hitler. It was released nine months before the Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator, which began filming in September 1939. You Nazty Spy! was filmed on December 5-9, 1939.
I'll Never Heil Again was a direct sequel, with the same approach of showing the incompetence of Hitler and his henchmen.
Moe Howard took great personal pride in his parody of Hitler. Playing Hitler allowed Moe to indulge in a more dramatic acting style that he rarely got to use in their slapstick routines.
As Jewish men, Moe and his co-stars used their roles to mock the Nazis, with the films serving as a form of cultural resistance and defiance.
The Hays code discouraged or prohibited many types of political and satirical messages in films, requiring that the history and prominent people of other countries must be portrayed “fairly.” Short films such as those released by The Three Stooges were subject to less attention than feature films.
The difference here of course is SNL is a nationally televised weekly program. It reaches millions of viewers, not a low budget short film(s) that could only be seen in the movie theater.
I do not in any manner want to lessen the horrible actions of the Trump administration. Their actions speak for themselves, as they continue to reek havoc and chaos.
I firmly believe this:
Trump watches TV. He does not like to be jeered or made fun of. It drives him nuts. Even worse than being booed, he can't stand being laughed at.....and for that, I say keep it coming, be it SNL, Colbert, Kimmel, and others.
It's all part of the resistance.
