Today, Explained - The parody-proof president

Episode Date: October 19, 2020

Live from New York, impressions are trite! Vox critic-at-large Emily VanDerWerff explains why late-night TV struggles to satirize President Trump, and argues the internet is doing a much better job. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit Superstore.ca to get started. On Thursday, Vice President Biden held a town hall as scheduled on ABC. At the same time, NBC laid a thirst trap for President Trump. One town hall was a thoughtful, cogent discussion of the issues facing our country. The other featured President Trump. We now present a rebroadcast of those town halls the way most Americans watch them, This is how this weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live kicked off.

Because it's now two weeks away from the election, the show seemed to have no choice but to satirize the biggest televised political events of last week. Biden's town hall with Jim Carrey's already stale Joe Biden impression. And that brings us to 1939, a year when I went to the World's Fair and met the real Mickey Mouse. And Trump's town hall with Alec Baldwin's rancid take on Donald Trump. And that's why, that's why we're going to have a V-shaped recovery, a deep V with rippling pecs and a toned eight pack, a swimmer's body basically, like I have after COVID. And it's going to be beautiful. If the amount of live studio audience laughter is any barometer, the cold open was the latest in a long line of failed attempts to try and make something very

serious and scary funny. For four years now, late night television has been trying to make fun of a presidency that already feels like an Onion headline, a presidency that makes Onion headlines a reality. Back in March of this year, The Onion published a satirical article titled Man Just Buying One of Every Cleaning Product In Case Trump Announces Its Coronavirus Cure. And just one month later... Right, and then I see the disinfectant,

where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? It's really hard to satirize something that already feels like satire, but that hasn't stopped TV from trying and failing. I think that comedy, especially in the United States, has a tendency to treat the world as having a sort of status quo, a sort of stability that can always be returned to. Donald Trump inherently upends that. Emily Vanderwerf is the critic at large for Vox. He is this thing that points out a lot of flaws in our underlying ways we think about comedy.

And in order to make comedy better in the Trump-less future, whenever that arrives, we have to really grapple with the ways that he points out flaws in our system of court jesters, if you will. Our political comedy has a tendency, just like our political journalism, to be like, well, you know, both sides do it. Both sides are equally at fault. But he puts a magnifying glass on the American presidency and the problems of sort of American empire, both domestically and globally, in a way that, like, makes us uncomfortable. Excuse me, Mr. President. I'm heading home for the night. Can I get you anything?

No, thank you, David. But, hey, how do you like working at the White House? Are your parents proud? I tell them I work at Applebee's. That's great. One more thing. You know I love my daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared. They always keep me so calm and make sure I don't do anything too crazy.

That's true, sir. So, quick question, are they gone? Yes, they don't work on Shabbat. Perfect. When the Jews are away, the goys will play. Send in Steve Bannon. In America, political humor is, you know, we do impressions of powerful people. And like, there's no real underlying substance there. But Donald Trump's ridiculousness is so overt and on its face that a lot more people than normally would be are tuned into the ways that his administration is either uniquely

terrible or terrible in a way that continues policies that they might not have agreed with, but were easier to ignore when somebody who was less overtly ridiculous was standing behind the podium. So you create this situation in which the only way to satirize him is sort of to satirize America. And that's a lot harder to do because, you know, why is it that we're only mad about a thing when Donald Trump is doing it? Slash, why is it so hard for us to tell compelling humor about the fact that this man let a pandemic get out of control and then got sick with it himself? Right. And that was the week The Nation's quintessential variety show came back from a summer break and seemed to struggle with how to approach the humor in this sort of insane situation. Okay, serious voice. While in the

hospital, the president isn't allowed to see any guests, but he is expected to be visited by three ghosts, probably one from his past, one from his future. Okay, look, this is weird. I think the biggest risk you make is you don't have a comedic point of view. Like, comedy needs a point of view. One of the things I think SNL really struggles with is Lorne Michaels famously is like, we are making this for Republicans and Democrats. We are making this for et cetera, et cetera. And like, I honestly think that's fine if you are in a world where America is not as polarized as it is right now. But if you're trying to occupy some sort of nebulous middle,

you end up trying to appeal to everyone in a way that just doesn't work for anyone. But you do that for four years every other Saturday night or whatever it is, I think they do 20 episodes a season, it gets wearing. It wears you down. It's just like, there's nothing more there. Does anyone like SNL's Trump work? Does anyone appreciate Alec Baldwin's impression of Donald Trump? And if not, why do they keep doing it? Alec Baldwin won an Emmy for playing Donald Trump. I suppose I should say, at long last, Mr. President, here is your Emmy. So it works, but certainly not for everyone, certainly not for you, I assume, based on an article you wrote earlier this month that argued Saturday Night Live is woefully unequipped for

the Trump era. SNL just, the problem is it has to be made so quickly and on such a tight time scale that makes it almost impossible for it to do anything besides choose the most obvious impersonation of a president. You know, George W. Bush is kind of an idiot. Let me make something very clear. There was utterly no legal or military justification for this strike. Bill Clinton is a horny glutton. Oh, and I actually did all that. I mean, I didn't, but... Obama is kind of a boring technocrat.

Now I know I'm not perfect. I'm distant. I'm aloof. That's what SNL settled on for all of those people, and then just over eight years, it just kept playing that basic note. And I actually think that one thing that has been worse in the Trump era is SNL has now almost exclusively turned over Washington Power player impressions to celebrities. And celebrities are rarely as good at building out these characters as, say, you know, imagine that Daryl Hammond used to do

Trump. He used to be their go-to for Trump. Most of you know who I am already because I'm rich and I'm handsome. If you're a man, you want my life. If you're a woman, well, I've got what you want, okay? They replaced him with Baldwin. But, like, he's a master impressionist. Like, he would have been so much better in that role. Right. And part of the issue with Trump compared to all those other guys is that he's just constantly everywhere. On Twitter, on TV, on the radio, on podcasts.

We don't need to hear or see more Trump. Right. And I think that is a thing that everyone who's trying to make fun of Trump has to bump up against eventually. Where I think SNL has uniquely failed compared to some other programs, say, is it has never come up with anything to say about the circus surrounding Trump. The ridiculousness of Trump makes him hard to make fun of, but that should be send you looking for other targets, not just being like, oh, he shouts a lot and he has a big New York accent and he wears a lot of tanner and he kind of has a pout. So yeah, for quite a while there, Alec Baldwin was being treated as like a hero of the second American revolution or something. And that's just not the case anymore. But like, there is this weird reflex in the American media to be like, well, let's see what

SNL had to say about it. And yet the news cycle moves so quickly now that SNL is almost an afterthought, yet we keep treating it like this thing that is trenchant. Emily, what's like the funniest political television you've seen during the Trump presidency? Do you recall? My long silence should be my answer. I will say this. I don't think this was a great television show, but I think it was a fascinating television show.

And I think it had more to say about our times than just about any other satire. And I think that is the Comedy Central program, The President Show, which starred this guy who does an amazing impression of Trump. Sir, people are saying you are mentally unfit for the office. And we both know that's not true. I'm incredibly mentally fit.

My doctor said I had the most neurons of any person he had ever met. I wish I had as many neurons. And the basic idea of it was he was playing Donald Trump and it was kind of a sketch comedy show. But it was so smart about the ways that Donald Trump is not just sui generis. Like he came from somewhere. There is a reason he exists. And there is this tendency to treat Donald Trump as an aberration, I think, especially by a lot of political satirists. And the President Show never did that. The final moment of its Christmas special,

which I believe was its final episode ever, was everybody in the Trump administration singing Wise Up from the film magnolia but then it expanded to be like oh here, here's the Democrats singing this. Here's other people singing this. And it's just like, it's all part of this broken system that nobody really wants to fix because the power within it is so entrenched. And like, that show was the only show that really tried to make that point. It's not going to stop. Tell you why it's not going to stop till you rise up. No, it's not going to stop till you rise up. No, it's not going to stop till you just give up.

R.I.PIP The President Show. Anything else that works for you? We got a shout out last week tonight with John Oliver and people seem to really love Colbert, right? His jokes are very catered toward, I guess I'd say, your rich aunt who's like really involved in like certain political issues. It's broad humor, but it definitely has a point of view of Donald Trump is ridiculous. And especially in quarantine, Colbert has been really good. Like he's gone back to his offices and he's performing for, in essence, his family and his closest friends. We're facing a global pandemic that has killed 180,000 Americans. Heavily armed Rambo wannabes are murdering people in our streets. The strongest

hurricane in the history of the Gulf Coast is making landfall as I speak. And the RNC's message is, who's up for four more years? I think Seth Meyers on NBC is always good. He's a little bit closer to the old Jon Stewart vein of, you know, we're going to talk about the issues of the day. We're going to make jokes about them. And I think he's also really smart about bringing in voices other than the traditional white guy who makes jokes about the news. Amber, do you think Trump was mad when he saw that written on the street? No, he doesn't know how to read. He thinks it says Blake Lively matters and he loves it.

But I don't think TV is the place to find political humor. What is? I have just been so enamored with this Twitter comedian. Her name is Kylie Brakeman. And she makes these videos that are basically just like taking various types that live in our political landscape. And I think she's so smart about using the tools of Twitter, which is kind of the best place for political humor right now, because it's the only thing that moves as fast as the news cycle.

I think because often good political satire comes from people who are young and have something to prove and have nothing to lose. The Internet's where those people are. After the break, Kylie Brakeman. It's Today Explained. Support for Today Explained comes from Aura. Aura believes that sharing pictures is a great way to keep up with family, and Aura says it's never been easier thanks to their digital picture frames. They were named the number one digital photo frame by Wirecutter.

Aura frames make it easy to share unlimited photos and videos directly from your phone to the frame. When you give an Aura frame as a gift, you can personalize it, you can preload it with a thoughtful message, maybe your favorite photos. Our colleague Andrew tried an AuraFrame for himself. So setup was super simple. In my case, we were celebrating my grandmother's birthday. And she's very fortunate. She's got 10 grandkids.

And so we wanted to surprise her with the AuraFrame. And because she's a little bit older, it was just easier for us to source all the images together and have them uploaded to the frame itself. And because we're all connected over text message, it was just so easy to send a link to everybody. You can save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com

to get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carvermat frames with promo code EXPLAINED at checkout. That's A-U-R-A frames dot com promo code EXPLAINED. This deal is exclusive to listeners and available just in time for the holidays. Terms and conditions do apply. BetMGM, authorized gaming partner of the NBA, has your back all season long. From tip-off to the final buzzer, you're always taken care of with a sportsbook born in Vegas. That's a feeling you can only get with BetMGM.

And no matter your team, your favorite player, or your style, there's something every NBA fan will love about BetMGM. Download the app today and discover why BetMGM is your basketball home for the season. Raise your game to the next level this year with BetMGM, a sportsbook worth a slam dunk, and authorized gaming partner of the NBA. BetMGM.com for terms and conditions.

Must be 19 years of age or older to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have any questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. I'm Kylie Brakeman. I am a comedian and writer and actor.

Kylie, as you'll remember from before the break, was Emily's example of someone who's doing a better political comedy right now, all by herself for the Internet. I guess I went viral. I guess I'm a viral sensation. I don't know. I just started making front-facing videos in my room and I never expected them to super take off. I was just sort of trying to prove that I was doing something creative during this time. Hello, my name is Suburban Housewife. My bio is seven random nouns and I, for one, will be voting for Trump. It's your phone on reverse mode. It's your phone on selfie mode. The people who are saying that we can't reopen schools are ignoring a very real problem.

And that problem is that my children, Axel and McKenna Brintlin, are bored. And it is a low production value character video that you shoot yourself. And for some reason, that's all people click on now. My name's COVID and I'm a little stinker. Me being in the president, it's just another one of my classic little pranks. I'm like the jokester of my friend group. I'm like always doing like

hilarious gags. People kind of want something that's like immediate right now. They want something that's like, oh, it's your friend on FaceTime. Like they like, and I get it. I don't even want to watch a show. It's too much work. But watching like a one minute bit from someone is just so much more digestible when everyone's like emotionally traumatized. So once you hack this and figure out that this is exactly the kind of stuff people want, what it's the thing I jumped to first in improv scenes, which is just like very clueless, liberal, self-important white woman. Wakey, wakey, eggs and drinky. Everything happens for a race slang and that's why you're slumped over a patio chair.

Treat yourself to a glass of mom back. I first went viral with this video, why I won't wear a mask. I can't breathe in this thing because every time I put it on, I hold my breath on purpose. So difficult to put on, like I can't put it on because I'm using one hand to hold the camera. And it was just kind of this like waspy Orange County lady talking about all the different reasons for why she can't wear her mask. And they were just absurd heightened versions. Like, how do I know that this isn't full of spiders? There is no way for me to check. I was diagnosed with a fake disease called spider blindness, where I can only see spiders if it benefits me politically. I was just inspired by the absurdity of why someone would even think to not wear one or to think that it was bad to wear one.

It's such a small inconvenience that I could not conceive of a logical reason for why. And I think that's why it maybe did so well. Where did you post it? I posted on Twitter and Instagram and TikTok, but Twitter is where most of my jam is. What kind of responses did you get on Twitter? I got a lot. I mean, a lot of it was supportive. And then a lot of it was like people who were pro-mask,

but didn't realize I was joking, which is scary in itself. Either people cannot digest media anymore or people have gotten so crazy that like an obvious parody looks like truth. But I got some like death threats from those people. My first death threat ever. It was very fun. Just to be clear here, the mask wearing presumably liberals out there were sending you death threats. Yes, because they couldn't tell. I got a few anti-mask conspiracy people who were like, the oxygen molecules are too big to fit

through the mask, like in the comments. But most of it was like liberals who were like, how dare you not wear your mask in the CBS? And I get it. But also, come on, guys, let's just let's evaluate media a little bit. How refreshing to be hated by both sides. I didn't set out to be like, I'm going to trash liberals today. I'm a both sides comedian. And I think it resonated with people who are also online for 10 hours a day. Where do you go after that? Well, then I had to go after the Trump bots.

Hello, my name is Proud American. My job is America and my husband is a gun. Good afternoon. I am a stock photo of a person of color and I for one do not think Trump is racist. Who were, you know, it's just the classic person who's like, hello, my name is former Democrat Maga Mom. My hobbies are being real and my interests are breathing.

I for one will not be supporting the NBA. I've tweeted this 126 times. I am an eagle wearing a hat. Just like these completely fake sounding people who tweet the same thing 1,200 times a day. And there's so many fake accounts out there. So I was just kind of making fun of that in a very heightened version. And that took off pretty well as well. It's really interesting.

So pre-pandemic, you're like this UCB improv theater comedian. Pandemic happens, you start cranking out these more political videos on social media. And now you've got what, like over 100,000 people telling you to keep going to make more of it. Do you consider yourself like a political comedian now, three months after posting your first big video well i would say i like i enjoy doing it i think that i do have a voice for it and so it is fun to like occupy a role that i i don't know if i see always but i it is it's crazy to be recognized as like a legitimate form of anything because i am truly just on selfie mode. I mean, I'm in, I'm shooting in 4k, but it is still selfie mode. That being said, I'm curious, like,

because you have found the success on your own, do those sort of more traditional or perhaps outdated forms of success still appeal? Like, do you still want a big job on a late night comedy show? Does that kind of visibility still mean something when you have your own online? I mean, of course, I think I always want to be, you know, validated in the industry I want to go into. And just by doing this alone, I've gotten some pretty big interviews, which was like really surprising and cool. And I think it is just about maybe if I were to be in that position, like shifting the narrative a little bit, not playing it so safe. I think it is a thing of, oh, I can't blame it on my team of writers or my producers. Every dumb thing I say is from my own dumb brain and I have to take responsibility for that. But I think it is important to just own up

if you make a mistake. And if you say something slightly off or something you never even intended or something that could possibly be construed some way, it doesn't matter how you intended it. It matters how it was received. And I think I'm just going to try and remember that if it ever happens. You can just get canceled now and then move on.

You know, we should just cancel you right now on the show. I should get canceled really early so that I can go on an apology tour. That'll get me attention. You're canceled. Thank you. Truly, thank you so much. You're so welcome. Kylie, I really appreciate your time. Thanks.

Of course. Thank you for having me. Kylie Brakeman is on the internet. Her handle is Deadeye Brakeman. All one word dead eye brakeman brakeman is kind of like pump the brakes man it looks like that if that makes sense i'm sean ramos from this is today explained and i just want to make sure your takeaway from today's episode isn't that you know impressions are bad i love impressions it's just that alec baldwin's impression isn't very good just today my brother sent me a Trump impression from a comedian named James Austin Johnson that had me near tears for some hilarious reason I haven't figured out yet. It's an impression of Donald Trump talking about weird Al Yankovic.

Enjoy. know. Maybe he's got more money than me. I don't know if he's got more money than me, but he's got a lot of it. He's got a lot of spunk and he's got a lot of talent. I've never seen anybody who gets famous playing accordion. I just don't see it. I just don't see it. Who's doing accordion? And we don't even know how it works. Science doesn't even know how it works. He gets the piano and he just, he squeezes it and it sounds really crazy and weird al figured it out god bless him we think it's great that we'd all figured out that accordion i don't even know how they do we don't even know how we do it does it need batteries we'll never know we'll never know and science doesn't know but weird al was very mean to coolio not very nice coolio was very upset with Mr. Weird Al.

He didn't do, he didn't ask for the rights. He just went and did Amish Paradise, and he just didn't even ask for the rights. He didn't even ask for it. When he did Gangster's Paradise, he had such a big hit with Gangster's Paradise. And, you know, with Amish Paradise the what they do is they take the music and they steal the whole thing they just steal the music and they write a new words and it's a new song and everyone goes oh it's so great are they he writes new words to it and suddenly it's funny best comedy album it'll never get best music never. Breakout Star. He'll never do it.

They'll never get it to him. No CMAs. Nothing. But people buy it. They like it because it's a good product. And we love what Weird Al does. You know, Weird Al has originals. Night Santa went crazy.

Albuquerque. But they'll never like it as much as White and Nerdy. He was very mean to Mr chameleon air and will never like the originals quite as much as the parodies we like the parodies so much he does such a good job with really really good job ebay backstreet boys you know he did ebay years after we totally forgot they come out with ebay and i had totally forgotten who are the backstreet boys i don't even know but we had an incredible conversation with lou perlman