Satirizing Political Policy — Ben Knapp

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbIXmB2ZLmA

This clip was made by the comedy variety show Saturday Night Live. It heavily satirizes the immigration policies of President Donald Trump, depicting a version of the welcome video shown to immigrants that has been poorly edited to include Trump’s policies. Although the main purpose of this clip is probably humor, it does provide an extremely exaggerated portrayal of what immigrating to the United States might be like. It may not be an accurate source of facts, but this clip does raise some interesting points.

At one point, people in a line who will not be getting an easy immigration process are crossed out, excluding a Caucasian man, even though he appears to be sporting an assault rifle. At another point, a questionnaire is shown with just one question on it, “Are you Muslim?’ Although these may not be correct descriptions of what immigration to the United States is like, they do serve to make light of a serious issue.

This clip illustrates   a core concept of American political culture because it demonstrates how controversial the use of free speech can be. Some people, particularly those who are in favor of the policies being mocked, may find skits such as this offensive. Others may say that important issues like these shouldn’t be treated so lightheartedly. Free speech is a double edged sword and jokes such as this one usually have someone on the other end.  Although this may be seen as less offensive because it makes fun of a point of view, rather than a race or creed, it’s still going to make some people angry. Despite how controversial it may be, political satire such as this has been a powerful force of change in political culture throughout the years.

Five discussion question for my students:

Do you think that the use of satire for serious debates is acceptable?

Would something like this be possible in a society with less free speech than our own?

Does the skit ever go too far?

Do you think that exercising one’s free speech like this has downsides?

The Obama administration made some controversial immigration decisions. How would this video have been different if it were made during the Obama administration?

I enjoyed completing this assignment. It was fun to put myself in the teacher’s shoes and imagine what I would do if were to teach a class. I would definitely like to see a similar assignment in the future.