Review: Elon Musk Hosts SNL
And Miley Cyrus reminds us why we should never listen to Miley Cyrus again.
This past Saturday one of the richest men in the world, Elon Musk—the boss of Tesla and SpaceX—hosted Saturday Night Live. This led to a bunch of headlines prior to the episode that SNL actors wouldn’t be “forced” to share the stage with Musk, apparently because he’s tweeted some controversial things in the past. Everyone knows that if you make even one questionable tweet you create unsafe spaces that could very well make people uncomfortable.
This, in turn, could lead to literal harm. Literally people could be harmed by the tweets of Elon Musk, including comedians whose job it is to make fun of famous people and politicians each week. As we all know, comedy needs to be a safe space where everyone always feels comfortable.
Anyways.
Wario Musk
Elon Musk—like most billionaires, I imagine, and most humans for that matter—is a mixed bag. His COVID-19 denialism wasn’t great, to say the least, and I’m glad that he poked fun at himself over the mask issue during one of his SNL sketches. Masks are a simple way to help slow the spread of the disease and save lives, much like seatbelts are a simple way to save lives on the road. Neither is some bizarro plot by the government to control you—they can do that perfectly fine via your “smart” phone already.
Musk has said disagreeable things in the past and has made a couple of real dick moves like the farting unicorn mug fiasco—though that was resolved in the end, with all parties happy.
Still, I found the man to be, if not charming than at least endearing. Maybe that was the plan, though I get the sense that Musk—who admitted to having Asperger’s in his opening monologue—is mostly an open book. What you see is what you get, which is why he has a lousy social filter on Twitter. He also seems quite nerdy and focused on science and technology, which perhaps explains some of his impatience with the ever-expanding lexicon of pronouns in today’s usage—something that has earned him the all-too-easily achieved descriptor of “transphobe.” (Careful what you wish for TRA movement: If you start calling everyone transphobic it will become increasingly difficult to spot the truly hateful bigots out there).
Elon Musk is not a comedian. He is not an actor. But he did a pretty good job joking around with actual comedians and actors. As always, Kate McKinnon and Bowen Yang stole the show whenever they were on camera, but Musk held his own throughout. For obvious reasons, I especially enjoyed the Wario sketch.
The entire thing was humanizing in many ways, and quite frankly I can’t imagine many other business-people of Musk’s stature and wealth actually goofing around like this on-stage and—for the most part—coming across as genuinely good-natured. Can you really picture the cast of SNL in that Gen Z sketch with Jeff Bezos as the doctor? Or Goldman-Sachs CEO David M. Solomon dressing up in a Wario outfit? Maybe Trump. As much as I loathe the man, he’s a natural performer. He’s not even a fraction as rich as Musk, of course, but he’s always been more of a celebrity than a businessman.
(Trump, by the way, seemed a lot happier when he hosted SNL before becoming president. I think the presidency really brought out all his worst characteristics. I’m still convinced he never wanted it, and only clings to the fantasy of election fraud because he’s a sore loser—not because he really cares about being president or governing this nation).
Houston We AAVE A Problem
Speaking of the Gen Z sketch, while it had its moments it missed more jokes than it landed. Still, I find it hilarious that it’s come under fire for “appropriating” AAVE—African American Vernacular English. For one thing, the skit was written by Michael Che, an African American. On Instagram, Che responded to the Twitter backlash writing:
“I’ve been reading about how my “gen z” sketch was misappropriating AAVE and I was stunned cause what the f**k is ‘AAVE’? I had to look it up. Turns out it’s an acronym for ‘African American vernacular english.’ You know, AAVE! That ol’ saying that actual black people use in conversation all the time…, Look, the sketch bombed. I’m used to that. I meant no offense to the ‘aave’ community. I love aave. Aave to the moon!”
I’m taking this on faith, however. It’s being reported by Deadline and The Hill, but when I went to Che’s Instagram I found a grand total of zero posts. Did he delete them all? I’m not sure. Either way, the fuss being made over the sketch seems typically ludicrous, especially when the skit’s language is described as “assorted BLACK LGBTQ+ phrases” as though slang doesn’t spread and evolve and break the artificial barriers of whatever subculture it sprang forth out of.
Nobody is safe from this nonsense, of course. You can have Public Enemy #1, Mr. Elon Musk, on your show and still catch flack for appropriating AAVE even when you’re a black comedian and writer. These people are so much fun! I just love cancel culture, don’t you?
Miley Cyrus
The musical guest this Saturday was Miley Cyrus and I just have to ask: What the hell is wrong with Miley Cyrus? What’s up with her new voice? Has it always been this grating? I don’t think so.
And her hair! Her hair is terrible. It’s like she was run over by two motorcycles, one driving up either side of her head before peeling off in opposite directions to come back for another round. Maybe the roar of the motors will drown out the music—if we’re lucky.
SNL’s cold open featured various bits with cast members and their moms (it was Mother’s Day) interspersed with Miley covering Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” which is basically an act of sacrilege.
Next she played “Without You” alongside Australian “teen sensation” the Kid LAROI, a loathsomely predictable pop track weighed down by your typical over-mixed, auto-tuned corporate music biz mediocrity and made all the worse by Cyrus’s weird rasping—stylistically a bad fit for a melodramatic boy band pop song. The song is neither pleasant melodically nor catchy nor something you’d really want to dance or sing along with.
Her second trip onto the stage—for “Plastic Hearts” the title track of her new album—was the stuff of ear bleeds mainly because of Miley’s singing. This one actually has a bit of a catchy chorus and her band is undoubtedly talented. The better of the two performances but still nothing to keep Cyrus in the halls of fame and adoration.
At least in her “Wrecking Ball” days, Cyrus had genuinely catchy tunes and her voice wasn’t constantly crashing into a raspy, guttural pretense at country rock. Don’t get me wrong, “Wrecking Ball” is a deeply silly song made about a thousand times sillier by the music video of her literally on a wrecking ball but at least she could sing back then and whoever was writing her songs could thread a hook or two.
SNL, like Musk, is a mixed bag. There are some very funny moments and hosts and many duds. Give me a Bill Burr any day of the week—his Boston Lager pumpkin beer sketch was brilliant and hilarious—but far too much of the time the sketches are not nearly funny enough and the cast has only a couple truly brilliant stars (Kate, Bowen I’m looking at you).
One final observation: May SNL’s opening credits die in a fiery hell from whence they shall never return. Thank baby Jesus for the ability to fast-forward on Hulu (I never watch live). Seriously you could take a nap during the credits and wake up refreshed.
Thanks for reading! I appreciate you sharing this post and subscribing to diabolical!