On Armisen's Obama Impression
I can't believe no one has written about how terrible Fred Armisen's impression is of Barack Obama on SNL. It makes me cringe in horror. If comedy were my life the worst thing about it is it's almost never funny; it hasn't been funny since it began, before he was elected, and not being funny is the original sin. But this impression, the worst in a pantheon of great presidential impressions on SNL -- suffers from issues even greater than its clunky, flat, uninspired writing, and general dreariness.
The ugliness of this impression is that looming over the whole thing is that it is done in blackface. Do people not know the humiliating racist history of blackface in vaudeville? And in his blackface, Armisen looks nothing, sounds nothing and acts nothing like Obama. He has no smile, no charisma; he embodies none of the characteristics that dazzled the country and the world. But I quibble. It is way deeper than that. It is not that embodies no positives, it that it embodies so many mysterious negatives.
Every caricature is cartoon. W. was full of malapropisms, and with Will Ferrell's now in the culture "strategery", he showed that W. wasn't comfortable with big words. Gerald Ford, in Chevy Chase's unforgettable impression, was a klutz and couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time. Amy Poehler's Hillary was a shrill, trying to be liked Alpha-dog, Tina's Sarah Palin was a winking pageant walker who couldn't answer the big q's'.
But Armisen's Barack from the beginning was slow and dumb. He was calling Hillary at 3am not knowing what to do; he's over his head, stumbling and bumbling. He gets a bad report card, for doing nothing. You can say a lot about Barack-- he did a good job himself at the Correspondent's dinner. But he seems to have stumped the writers at SNL who can only think of him as either dumb, or bursting out of his pent up en in a rage like an animal as Super Obama, (once played by the Rock.) He is either docile -- aw shucks, or a wild animal, neither of which are accurate, funny or mimic anything other than unconscious racial stereotypes.
We can make fun of Barack, we can make fun of Stalin's mustache -- as my mother used to say -- we can and should make fun of everything. Just three rules.
1) make it funny 2) have it bare some relation to reality, 3) not in black face.
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I dont know---i always laugh and so does the studio audience. You cant expect a homerun dead-on impersonation every time but you can generally expect some good laughs. I never miss SNL (tivo) and Kristen Whig(sp?) just keeps getting better and better.
I havent seen anyone out there doing a better Obama---he's kinda tough---but maybe YOU can, Lynda??
He was better earlier on. His more recent impersonation seems more lackadaisical.
But before you get all up in arms, consider this: Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford. Doesn't look like him. Doesn't talk like him. Doesn't act like him. But you're still expected to buy it. And it's gone down in history as the quintessential classic SNL Presidential impersonation anyways. So deal with it.
i think they finally just said heck with trying to actually impersonate him --- let's just make some Obama jokes and move on.
I don't find his makeup offensive as a black person. I think he is doing an impersonation which is different from black face where white men paint themselves black and perform as an exaggeration of black stereotypes. I just think he is an awful Obama. There are plenty of black actors out there who have shown that they can do Obama 1000 times better. Like Keagan Michael Thomas from MadTV or the scores of black comedians who do Obama on youtube.
SNL just has horrible writers and a sadly non-diverse cast of players. Most of the comedians on the show just are not funny. I don't even bother turning into SNL on Saturday nights unless U2 or some other band I like is performing. Although, I did watch the one with Gerald Butler, but I was sadly disappointed. It was not funny (as I expected) but he sadly remained fully clothed the entire time.
Thanks, Yalegirl. I don't think Armisen's Obama is cruel or vile, so much as *lame* (that may actually be worse) . He started off making an attempt at mimicking the cadence Obamas's speech, but has dialed it back. Performance wise it's more like Chevy Chase's not even trying version of President Ford. And I have to disagree with Lynda Obst, most of the presidential impressions on SNL have been awful with a few exceptions. Ackroyd's Carter, Dana Carvey's Bush 1, and Will Ferrel's Bush 2.
And thanks, Yalegirl for the distinction on Blackface, though I've never known quite what to make of Billy Crystal's Sammy Davis, or Darryl Hamond's Jesse Jackson. The Sammy Davis, in particular made me a bit uncomfortable.
I'll be honest. The blackface isn't the problem. It's the person under it that's the problem.
I haven't watched SNL for many years. Exception? Tina Fey's impression of Palin. I'll say it- it just hasn't been all that funny since the beginning of the 80's. They try too hard to be funny. It's forced and generally
leaves me wondering what the heck they think makes people laugh.
Look, maybe most of the cast in the first few years did a lot of substances, but their hearts were into it. And a majority of the first couple of seasons still make me laugh.
Other nationalities have always been underserved on SNL. It's one of the reasons I stopped watching it years ago.
So, Lynda, what do you think of Darrell Hammond's impression of Jesse Jackson, which is also done with skin-darkening makeup (is that equivalent to "blackface," which is a very loaded word with a very loaded history), but (unlike Armisen's Obama) captures Jackson's voice and mannerisms pretty well and is generally funny? Just as offensive because of the makeup, or not so because it's well-done and funny?
The horror.
I know. After watching, I toss and turn all night long.
And my eyes burn.
If Armisen promised to deliver a great Obama impersonation and then failed to live up to that promise, would that be enough like Obama to satisfy all the complainers?
4th.
Nicely said.
Heck, the Daily Show features a more diverse cast of correspondents than SNL even though SNL has waaay more players!
Think of it, you have Wyatt Cenac - who, coincidentally, auditioned for the Obama job but for some inexplicable reason lost out to Armisen? - Aasif Mandvi, and Sam Bee.
SNL is just a bunch of white guys and Kristen Wiig. And I think they have a huge problem with their writing staff too. Most of their skits are just really awful lately.
The daily show delivers so much more than SNL... and four nights a week instead of one! it's like comparing a Porsche to a Daewoo.
I only occasionally watch the cold opening on SNL anymore. Weekend update is simly unbearable after having seen The Daily Show.
Iman Crosson is the guy who should be doing the Obama impression.
Yes he should. He's done some great ones that you can see on YouTube. He's a thousand times better than Armisen.
you forgot the other white guy doing jesse jackson in actual blackface, i dont think by the looks of it that fred applies any "blackface" makeup
We've written about it for a long time, even before he became president. The thing as - as this rash of blackface incidents clearly proves - far too many (mostly white) people just don't find it offensive. What can you do? Protest a show I haven't watched in years?
The sad fact is that Armisen is simply not a talented impressionist (he's not even a talented comedian but I suppose that is subjective...) In some of his early sketches where he depicts Obama I thought I detected a little bit of potential. Sadly, nothing has been developed out of it and Armisen is not up to the challenge...Shoot, The Rock does a better Obama impression than Armisen does....
That is precisely what I was thinking. The Rock's Obama has a better delivery and timing than Armisen's.
I am so glad that someone finally put this out there. I've been posting comments about this forever. Fred Armisen as Obama is not funny at all.
I also don't think that blackface is the issue. I am well aware of history of blackface and vaudeville, but I don't think this is really applicable. There's comedy and then there is degrading buffonery.
I am a black person and I don't have a problem with Fred browning up to do the impression. I am more insulted that it's not indicative of Obama at all and just not funny!
That being said:
SNL should hire Keegan Michael Key (from MadTV) to do his Obama impression, which is the best I have seen so far. He has Obama's mannerisms, voice, and speaking cadence down pat!
But then again, SNL has ALWAYS had a problem when it comes to black folks, black sketches, utilizing their black players (one exception, Eddie Murphy)......they have the worst track record when it comes to this.
(Some might say Tracy Morgan, but he didn't blow up until he LEFT SNL and was put on 30 ROCK._
The single denominator seems to be Lorne Michaels since the players change and SNL seems to be chronically plagued with this problem.
Um, Lorne Michaels hired Eddie Murphy, and also wasted in charge of the show for several years, but don't let facts get in the way of your diatribe.
I agree 100%. And I think it is a problem that isn't limited to black players either - SNL lacks diversity in general. There are no Asians or Hispanics even though both of these groups are in addition to African Americans highly represented in the American population. This is a chronic problem with SNL, which is why I think it has ceased to be funny for a very loooooonnnng time.
The lack of diverse players also hinders the sketches they can do. They can't do a Kanye spoof because they don't have a skinny black guy. They can't do a Gosselin spoof because they don't have an Asian guy. And although Maya Rudolph filled in for every kind of minority woman in sketches she's gone so where does that leave them?
I have thought that it goes unsaid, that Fred is not particularly imitating Obama, because he is imitating what is not seen but is nevertheless there in Barack Obama: He's white! Errr, half-white.
The Black Face I saw from time to time growing up was a caricature of white perceptions of blacks in or from the south mainly, with an effected black southern drawl, literally a black face and wig. Armisen is not attempting to ridicule Pres. Obama's appearance at all. He just hasn't captured what might be funny about him personally. I would say that while he hasn't given us a funny character trait, most of the skits ARE chuckle worthy rather than laugh-out-loud funny.
On the other hand, it gives SNL a sound defense on the change of picking on Sarah Palin.
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