The Saturday Night Live episode “The White Potus,” which aired on April 12th, started controversy on social media when skit actor Sarah Sherman targeted Aimee Lou Wood for her teeth.
SNL is known for its comedic parodies; however, do the jokes get too far once they target someone’s appearance?
The majority of the episode had its actors mocking politicians until a comment about fluoride being taken out of drinking water was made by appearance.
“Fluoride? What’s that?” Sherman says, suddenly appearing with a gap tooth, imitating Lou Wood.
Student Nyala Levvi shares her opinion on the controversy.
“Making fun of someone’s appearance is wrong no matter what, but when it comes to SNL, everything is on the table. Whatever you do is gonna be made fun of.” Levvi says.
People on social media have mixed feelings about the situation. Others think Lou Wood is being dramatic, while others think her reactions are completely valid.
“I don’t think she’s being dramatic and her feelings are valid, but the way she’s going about it made her seem dramatic to social media,” Levvi adds.
Lou Wood responded to SNL on her Instagram story, calling it “mean and unfunny” and suggesting that they could have devised a “cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap” joke. She then shared DMs from fans agreeing with her. Many fans have targeted Sherman for “going too far.”
“I don’t think she took it too far because it’s her job to do that, and she did what she had to do for that paycheck,” Levvi states.
The Social, a talk show that offers viewpoints on news, pop culture, and lifestyle, gave its opinion on the controversy by stating it’s similar to doing caricature. The artist will point out the most obvious feature, exaggerating it for humor.
“That show is notorious for making fun of everybody. Men, women, young, old, and they’re talking about you because something’s happening, you’re in pop culture, and this is the reason why your sketch is on the show. So if I were her, I would just laugh all the way to the bank.” Talk show host Andrea Bain says.
The following Sunday, SNL made a private apology to Lou Wood. Lou Wood then took action and said she didn’t want anyone sending hate to Sherman. Sherman also sent her flowers to make amends for the hurtful joke towards Lou Wood.
If you were in Lou Wood’s position, would you react the same way, or would you be honored that people are making a comedy from you?
