‘Saturday Night Live’: Taran Killam defends ISIS sketch from Dakota Johnson show
Did “Saturday Night Live” go too far in mocking ISIS of all things? Ultimately, that depends on who you ask. Reaction was very mixed following a sketch that aired this past episode, which featured Dakota Johnson’s character going off to what seemed to be college. However, the big twist was actually that she was going off to join the military group instead. You can see the video clip below.
When we watched the sketch, we did not necessarily find it to be horrendous or offensive. We also, however, didn’t find it that funny, since the satire was not biting enough to really illicit that shock value. Then again, we are living in a culture now where many are offended very quickly.
In response to much of the criticism, we do have some of our first commentary from Taran Killam! In a post on Twitter, he mentioned that he was “proud” to be a part of this sketch alongside Johnson. (As you can see. he was sporting a rather hefty beard in the sketch.) We assume that the reason the writers are not credited here is so that they don’t risk any sort of counterattack or persecution as a result of writing this. As we unfortunately saw in France recently, the comedy field is not particularly free of violence these days.
Opinions aside of the quality of humor in the sketch, we admire the position behind it. We always feel like “SNL” is so much better when they are not afraid to broach difficult subjects.
If you missed it, head over here to read our recent review of this weekend’s episode (which was weak overall). Also, you can sign up in the event you want some other TV scoop on everything we cover right away, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)
https://twitter.com/TaranKillam/status/572082258821169152