Humor Used in Networked Media

Provide an example where humor was used in digital/networked media to make a serious political or cultural argument. Was it effective?

Political satire is commonly used for entertainment or humor. Meaning, that it establishes the error rather then provide a solution for the problem. When Saturday Night Live premiered in 1975, they forever changed the way comedians would depict the President on a networked media.

The example I found was the political satire used in Saturday Night Lives sketch Weekend Update. Weekend Update is a fake news segment on the show that uses humor to describe politics and current events. One of the more popular skits involve President Barack Obama giving a speech before the elections:

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Saturday Night Lives use of political satire gained major popularity with Tina Fey and her impressions of the vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Despite the fact that they already shared a striking resemblance, the impression of the vice presidential candidate was even more humorous because Tina Fey would sometimes use exactly the same words Sarah Palin said in campaign speeches or interviews.

Aside from the noteworthy impression done by Tina Fey, many other fellow cast member’s depicted politicians in humorous ways. Chevy Chase opened an episode of the show with his impersonation of Gerald Ford. Chase did not change his appearance to look like President Ford, and he impersonated the president by falling down on stage repeatedly. Some of the other famous presidential impersonations on Saturday Night Live include Dan Aykoyd’s Richard Nioxon and Jimmy Carter, Dana Carvey as George W. Bush Sr., Darrel Hammond as Bill Clinton, and Will Ferrell as George W. Bush. Fred Armisen was the first cast member to impersonate President Barrack Obama, but the show’s current Barak Obama impersonation is done by Jay Pharaoh.