Did Latest David Paterson Sketch on Saturday Night Live Go Too Far?

Once again, Saturday Night Live last night skewered New York State Governor David Paterson. Saturday Night Live regular Fred Armisen appeared on the Weekend Update portion of the show. Paterson, who is legally blind, was depicted as having a difficult time finding the news desk and was wheeling around somewhat erratically before being helped by Weekend Update host Seth Meyers.

As has been the norm in previous skits involving Paterson, Armisen kept his right eye closed most of the time and made several jokes at Paterson's expense. At one point he joked about his inability to look straight into the camera. He opened by saying, "Hello Yankee Stadium", though quickly said he was just kidding. He also sarcastically said, "classic Paterson" when reminded of a time that he spoke about somebody who he didn't realize was in the room.

The latest skit, while seemingly well received by the live audience, is likely to again raise the ire of Paterson himself and potential of advocates for the disabled. When Saturday Night Live did one of its parodies of Paterson in December of 2008, the Governor denounced it and said that it showed insensitivity to the disabled.

Apparently, the criticism has not deterred Saturday Night Live. The Paterson character spent most of the time poking fun at New Jersey; at one point he said that when he smells cheap cologne and raccoons, he knows he is in New Jersey. Each time he made a joke at the expense of New Jersey, he turned to the camera and opened his right eye, while the rest of the time it remained closed.

Saturday Night Live has made its reputation and built its franchise on taking politically incorrect jabs at public figures. For the most part, disabled people have been off limits, however. While Paterson is not completely blind, he is legally so.

Saturday Night Live is clearly walking a line here. While having fun at a politician is standard fare for late night comedy shows, and even some light hearted racial humor can be tolerated (such as found in several skits involving tonight's host Charles Barkley), generally humor at the expense of the disabled is not acceptable. That said, Paterson's disability has clearly not prevented him from achieving things in life that very few (disabled or not) achieve.

On some level, the fact that humor can be found even in a disability is a sign of complete acceptance of that person and their uniqueness. But then, as a non-disabled person that is easy for me to say...I cannot know what it is like to live with a disability that is being made fun of on national television.

If Paterson reacts to his latest skewering on Saturday Night Live, it is probably unlikely that it will change the show's approach to depicting his character. Indeed, it may backfire (or maybe already did), as additional publicity generated by the governor could actually serve to make it more likely that Saturday Night Live will do it again.

Source: Jeremy Peters, "Paterson's Office Is Not Amused by 'Saturday Night Live' Skit", nytimes.com