Tina Fey, Queen Latifah Open a Window of Clarity on Sarah Palin on SNL

It is one thing to sit and watch a 90-minute debate between the vice presidential contenders, Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin, and another to sit and watch it shown through the window of political satire. But political satire, if used correctly, makes the audience think about its target or subject matter. And good satire is entertaining as well.

SNL did not fail on Saturday night's opening satirical performance, either. Tina Fey reproduced an excellently rendered perkily vapid Sarah Palin. Jason Sudeikis was spot on as the overly smiling Senator Joe Biden. And Queen Latifah made a superb guest appearance as moderator Gwen Ifill.

Such is the case of Tina Fey and the recent run of satirical and mocking Sarah Palin sketches done on "Saturday Night Live." Regardless of one's political affiliation, Fey's performances are rather funny and tend to point out - exaggerated at times - several of Governor Sarah Palin's shortcomings.

Such as the Governor's inability to answer the simplest questions without dipping into her deep stock of jingoisms and platitudes and catch phrases. Not many of Sarah Palin's answers or rebuttals made it through the "maverick" filter. In Tina Fey's rendition of the debate, Palin even used the descriptive "mavericky" to explain just how she and Senator John McCain would combat the financial crisis facing the nation.

Then there was Tina Fey's interpretation of Governor Palin's positions on deregulation and gay marriage, where she told moderator Gwen Ifill, played to perfection by Queen Latifah, that she didn't want to talk about the former and the latter, well, it was a sacred bond between "two unwilling teenagers," a scathing reference to the rumors surrounding the relationship between Palin's pregnant teenage daughter and her boyfriend.

And global warming. Fey/Palin said that it just wasn't clear whether global warming was man made or a sign of the "end times." This was a direct reference to Palin's seemingly fringe and extreme Pentecostal beliefs.

And the rambling. Always the rambling incoherencies that seem to make up a good portion of any of the real Palin's utterings, whether she be in a debate with Senator Joe Biden or in an inteview with Katie Couric. Fey reproduced the ramblings to perfection. That mannerism was in no need of exaggeration.

And Queen Latifah/Gwen Ifill was priceless with her expressions, which were indeed exaggerated (because in reality, Ifill was stone-faced throughout the debate) but probably indicative of the audience watching the real debate. Double takes and hesitations, unsure of Fey/Palin's sincerity or even whether she had finished rambling, Latifah/Ifill would stare in wide-eyed wonder or grudgingly turn to Jason Sudeikis-as-Biden, where the always tooth-revealing, smiling Biden would cheerily answer a question and talk about the mental instability of Senator John McCain. Then he'd finish: "But I love him."

Sudeikis/Biden, when asked his stance on gay marriage, went on and on about equal opportunities for gays, from health care rights to legal rights, but when Latifah/Ifill asked him to clarify if he supported gay marriage, Sudeikis/Biden said, "Absolutely not." Then smiled disarmingly.

The SNL sketch did not miss a punch. From Sudeikis/Biden's closing speech about his restraint during the debate to Fey/Palin's thinking that she could play her flute for a closing statement, the highlights (lowlights?) of the debate became glaringly apparent. Followed with laughter, of course.

Even the controversy of Gwen Ifill's moderation was addressed. Queen Latifah simply held up a facsimile of Ifill's upcoming book and made a sales pitch.

Perhaps the most incisive remark of the sketch came when Latifah-as-Ifill, in her prefacing remarks, told the audience that the lowering of expectations had been promoted so heavily that the audience was to consider the debate a tie, no matter what Fey/Palin said as long as she did not produce any glaring gaffes, fell down, or vomited.

SNL's recent series of sketches concerning the presidential campaign are examples of well-written satire. Although they have accentuated the failings of the Republican side of the ticket more than the Democratic, this does not make the satire any less effective or true.

Political satire is a tool. Just like a filter, a lens, a pane of glass. Satire is used to illuminate, sometimes unfairly. It can be heavy or subtle. But if used effectively, it produces a clear picture of what has been observed. Satire's effect - what it accomplishes - is the bold black outline of the images in a mental coloring book.

Palin has made herself into a caricature, an exaggerated two-dimensional image without substance, with her own words. Her interviews and debate performances have shown her to be a person without political or practical knowledge, a person whose readiness to assume the mantle of responsibility that comes with the job of vice president is not only suspect but nonexistent. "Saturday Night Live," through Tina Fey and other cast members, has simply shown us the bold lines of her image, albeit in a seriously amusing fashion.

Because sometimes satire is a just a clear pane of glass, a window on what is actually there...

Sources:

"Saturday Night Live," NBC Television
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