‘Stranger Things’ Fans Clearly Are Not Getting the Humor of ‘Saturday Night Live’
Look, we get it. You spent an entire decade investing in the Stranger Things universe and its characters. Some of you, like me, even grew up with it.
And so, Finn Wolfhard’s Saturday Night Live hosting debut with some of its sketches poking fun at the show may ruffle some feathers, but to people who found some of the jokes offensive: respectfully, have you ever watched Saturday Night Live before?
We are, after all, talking about a show that has spent the past 50 years making fun of everything America holds sacred and dear, from the father of this country George Washington to the guy who thinks he’s the father of this country right now (looking at you, Donald) and every major pop culture phenomenon in between.
This latest Stranger Things-centered episode was no exception, with sketches poking fun at everything from the “Conformity Gate” conspiracy theory to Netflix’s inevitable spinoff machine, and of course, Will Byers’ infamously lengthy coming out scene.
One joke in particular, featuring Wolfhard with his co-stars Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo talking about their characters’ love lives à la Sex and the City (complete with martinis and relationship woes), is currently being treated like a war crime, because it also technically involves Sadie Sink’s Max Mayfield catching a stray.
This is the line McLaughlin casually dropped: “Well, Max & I started off hot and heavy right? But then a couple years in, she just lies there like she’s back in that coma.”
You can see why that would make some fans choke on their Eggos, but to be completely fair, considering SNL‘s history of jokes that have sparked boycotts, all sorts of online outrage, and even congressional hearings (thinking about writing them here is making me nervous for what my editor will say) a sex joke is practically Disney Channel material.
Some users had to intervene and point out that Stranger Things is fiction, and SNL is in the business of making comedic sketches.
Besides, what does it even mean that Netflix allowed this to happen? The last time I checked, SNL runs on NBC, and the writers don’t really run their sketch ideas past Netflix execs for approval.
Someone even brought up the matter of the First Amendment, so let’s just move on before we get sidetracked into the hellscape of the ever-raging culture war. Suffice it to say, some parts of the fandom are not taking these jokes well, and the Max coma bit was just the appetizer.
SNL also extensively made fun of Will’s coming out scene, featuring a stand-in for Noah Schnapp who delivered an exaggerated version of his inspired performance, complete with gags about how this scene is going on to this day.
At the end of the day, no matter how profound our feelings are towards certain television shows and characters, it’s important to remember to take a breather every now and again, log off for a bit even, and remember that comedy has been making fun of the things we love since forever.
In fact, that’s kind of the whole point.
(featured image: NBC)
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