SNL takes shots at an accused rapist by making jokes about raping him

To quote Seth Meyers… really?

The cold open on Saturday Night Live this weekend was about Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the IMF, who last week was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper. The sketch started with Strauss-Kahn being led into a cell, whereupon his two black cellmates introduced themselves and started talking about European fiscal policy.

Here’s the thing: European fiscal policy isn’t at all funny (correction: it’ can be funny, but only in the hands of Eddie Izzard). The only reason this sketch was funny because in this culture, black men, especially black men in prison, are supposed to be ignorant. So the idea of two black men in prison speaking intelligently and insightfully about austerity measures in Germany is hilarious, because it’s so wildly unusual as to be absurd.

So… that’s kinda racist.

As though this weren’t enough, the sketch ended with a rape joke! The two men, having sat on either side of Strauss-Kahn for several minutes as they debated what should be done about the Greek economy, never letting him get a word in edgewise, stopped talking about European fiscal policy and said, “So… We’re gonna rape you now.”

Hilarious! Biggest laugh of the sketch! My sides, they split!

I can think of only two reasons why you might find that joke funny. The first is that you don’t take rape all that seriously, in which case you probably think the charges against DSK aren’t that big deal, and neither is the idea of him being raped in prison – in fact, both are funny. If this is the case, what the hell is wrong with you? The second is that you think the charges against DSK are a concern, but you aren’t bothered by the idea of him being raped in prison – the former isn’t funny, but the latter is. If this is the case, seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?

Rape is rape, and it’s always serious, whether it happens to an immigrant hotel maid on the job or a white European former head of the International Monetary Fund in prison.

Really, SNL. Really.

New York, NY

Chloe Angyal is a journalist and scholar of popular culture from Sydney, Australia. She joined the Feministing team in 2009. Her writing about politics and popular culture has been published in The Atlantic, The Guardian, New York magazine, Reuters, The LA Times and many other outlets in the US, Australia, UK, and France. She makes regular appearances on radio and television in the US and Australia. She has an AB in Sociology from Princeton University and a PhD in Arts and Media from the University of New South Wales. Her academic work focuses on Hollywood romantic comedies; her doctoral thesis was about how the genre depicts gender, sex, and power, and grew out of a series she wrote for Feministing, the Feministing Rom Com Review. Chloe is a Senior Facilitator at The OpEd Project and a Senior Advisor to The Harry Potter Alliance. You can read more of her writing at chloesangyal.com

Chloe Angyal is a journalist and scholar of popular culture from Sydney, Australia.

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