Hawaii Officials To Protest 'Saturday Night Live' Skit (VIDEO)

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HONOLULU - Hawaii's lieutenant governor and some in the state's tourism industry aren't laughing over a "Saturday Night Live" skit they fear could deter people from visiting the islands.

The four-minute skit, an exaggerated portrayal of how annoying and frustrating it can be to deal with tourists, depicts a pair of disgruntled locals who sing and dance for mainland visitors.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona said he's worried the skit might hurt the state's biggest industry and plans to send a letter in protest to Lorne Michaels, the NBC program's executive producer.

The skit "went too far in its negative depiction of Hawaii's native people and tourism industry," Aiona said. He added he wouldn't let "such distortions go unchecked" when the economy is doing so poorly.

The sketch features Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who lived in Hawaii for a year in high school, and SNL comedian Fred Armisen as poorly paid entertainers serenading U.S. mainlanders at a restaurant. Wearing grass skirts, the two make the rounds of dinner tables while performing sloppy imitations of Hawaiian music and the hula.

When a woman gushes about being in Hawaii for her honeymoon, telling the entertainers "it must be fun working here," they respond sarcastically.

"Yeah, it's great. They make us wear grass skirts," Armisen says. "We make $7 an hour. It's a dream job."

Johnson tells one visitor: "It's a fun fact about Hawaii. Our biggest export is coffee. And our biggest import is fat white tourists!"

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He later deliberately knocks over the drinks of a customer who points to the flower lei around his neck and makes a lame joke about getting "lei-ed."

Broadcast last weekend, the clip has since become one of the most popular clips on Hulu.com, a video site started by NBC Universal and News Corp.

The state's tourism liaison echoed Aiona's protest, telling The Honolulu Advertiser "it's offensive."

"Anything that pokes fun, or puts us in a bad light, our culture, the (Native) Hawaiian culture, that affects all of us," Marsha Wienert said. "It's distasteful, in my opinion. I find it very offensive."

The state is being battered by economic decline in the U.S. and in Asia. Tourism took a big hit in 2008, with a double-digit decline in the number of visitors coming to the islands.

But many others in the islands are laughing, or at least nodding knowingly.

"I thought it was extremely funny," said Augie Tulba, a popular local standup comedian who performs under the name Augie T.

"We think that way but we won't come out and say it," he said.

Jonathan Osorio, a professor at the University of Hawaii's Center for Hawaiian Studies, said the skit accurately addressed how many in the islands work for low wages and how Hawaiian culture is sometimes packaged for tourist consumption without concern for its authenticity. It also accurately showed how many tourists who visit are ignorant of these realities, he said.

"I thought the skit was not uproariously funny but was very much true to life in expressing how many people in Hawaii actually live with tourism," Osorio said.

"Saturday Night Live" has also drawn protest this season from advocates for the disabled for its parodies of New York Gov. David Paterson, who is legally blind.

WATCH:

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On the Net:

SNL's "Hawaiian Hotel": http://sn.im/dn8zl

Comments

[Dennis NJ]

What's so great about Hawaii except the weather? It's run down and falling apart and the homeless are in every park and on every beach. Honolulu is like Detroit. Forget Free Tibet, how about Free Hawaii!!

[ndnndpendent]

Great satire by SNL and Duane "The Rock" Johnson as commentary on the plight of Native Hawaiians!

I SUPPORT NATIVE HAWAIIAN INDEPENDENCE!

[rekk]

Just wanted to say that I don't find Americans are as horrible as people are writing they are. They may be ignorant, but how are they supposed to get over that if they get attacked for visiting places they've never been to before.

[rekk]

You know, I live in Paris now and lived in Prague before AND I'm American, so I can say a thing or two about American tourists. That being said, Americans on vacation are TOO polite and perhaps are taken advantage because of that. They are not the fat idiots everybody is saying they are. If Parisians are rude it has to do with cultural misunderstanding. It is considered more polite rather than less to leave people alone. It is rude to come up to a table while someone is eating, so European waiters don't. And Europeans are far more formal when they address one another, so what is friendly and informal in America looks weird here. I love Americans traveling abroad and besides, how else are we supposed to learn about life elsewhere! Stop feeling bad about what you don't know and visit!

[SamBrown]

Having met numerous Hawaiins over the years while in the service, I never had the slightest interest in spending my vacation time or money in Hawaii. I got the "You white people" vibe from every person from Hawaii I ever met. As far as I could tell, they don't have the slightest interest in being Americans, and consider themselves superior simply because they were born in a beautiful place that people want to visit.

[overcat]

It's always important for some to feel offended whenever the opportunity arises. There seems to be a lot of that in the US in general, why should Hawaii not have its share? The skit was funny, people who can't appreciate satire shouldn't watch it. It made fun of both tourists and locals, and canned tourist spots in general. Obnoxious tourists are a reality in all too many places, and plenty of people have visited places where they've been treated abruptly by some locals with no apparent provocation.

It's satire, and everyone got a pie in the face in the skit. Great of the Lt. guv to bring attention to it though.

[Don Stevens]

Lighten up--anyone who lives in a tourist town makes fun of tourists. We have stickers that say, "if it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them" in Rhode Island. And frankly, a lot of Americans need to act less like Americans when they travel; ever see fat white Americans in Europe? They stick out like a sore thumb!

[mandoboy]

From the few native Hawaiians I've met, I'd say Hawaii is like a larger version of Paris, in terms of the sheer provincial contempt they have for non-Islanders. The officials should think about the fact that satire usually has a large kernel of truth at it's core.

Of course they have a lot of fat white tourists- that's where the fat green dollars come from. They have plenty of fat Japanese tourists to complain about as well!

[retroredux]

Yeah, right....if I could ever DREAM of being able to go to Hawaii, THAT skit's gonna keep me away? LOL

[iblinders]

I was married to a Hawaiian and learned "Piggin". If the tourists really knew what the dancer's, etc were saying they'd be very upset.

[johnie2xs]

Sometimes, the truth hurts.

To The Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii; Lighten up, and raise the minimum wage.

[dajuice7]

I have no problem with the skit and thought it was funny while also forcing you to think about the actual lives of Hawaiian residents. We think Hawaii is this tropical paradise where everyone surfs and is buff, and that there is no crime or poverty. But Hawaiians deal with the same issues we do on the mainland. It must really be annoying for so many there to rely so heavily on an industry that requires them to suffer the ignorance of so many American and International tourists. I bet many Hawaiians laughed their butts off about this skit.

[dantcomedy]

We live in a time when too many people feel justified in complaining about all forms of media (read: calling for censorship). We need to squash this at every opportunity by pointing and laughing and, of course, posting their nonsense on HuffPo.

[avocats]

OK, the tourism industry in Hawaii is going down, not because of SNL but because their elected officials apparently have no sense of humor. Or of proportion.
P.S. The Rock continues to surprise with his talent.

[johnie2xs]

He was hysterical as the gay body guard in "Be Cool", a Travolta picture.

[poomplet]

"Aloha.....Aloha HARD!!!"