Saturday Night Live recently announced
their three newest cast members for their 38th season, which premieres
this Saturday night. When I read the news, I had two reactions.
1. All three of them are from Chicago’s Second City? Cool!
2. No Latinos? Not Cool.
I
can only assume being selected to be a Saturday Night Live cast member
is no easy feat. The process of auditioning and whatnot has to be a
tough journey. I don’t discredit the comedic talents of Aidy Bryant, Tim
Robinson and Cecily Strong. It’s just frustrating to see this happen
year after year. Wher e’s the Latino/a love, SNL?
I agree with the sentiment here:
"The
show's primary problem lays in the lack of diversity amongst its cast.
Expanding the cast to reflect the current cultural makeup of the country
isn't affirmative action. It's smart comedic sense. By diversifying the
cast, the "SNL" writers can diversify the types of sketches it writes,
the types of characters it creates, and the types of audiences that can
identify with the show."
Source
Saturday
Night Live is a juggernaut of a TV brand and I think it is definitely
time for Latinos to shine on that stage. The only SNL Latino cast member
that I know of has been Fred Armisen, who is half Venezuelan.
In
talking about this with some friends we all wondered the same things:
Does SNL make an actual effort to seek out minority comedians? Should
they? (I think yes.) Would adding more minorities to the cast gain a
larger, more diverse audience? Is that something they even want? Do
Latinos need to be louder and angrier about all this? These questions
all merit some discussion. What do you think?
geek on,
michelle
P.S.
If you agree with what I’m saying and actually want to check out an
awesome Latina comedy duo, check out Wendy Mateo and Lorena Diaz —
otherwise known as Dominizuelan. They were recently featured in the Chicago Sun-Times and they are an incredible example of the kind of Latina talent that is out there!
UPDATE: It has come to my attention that I forgot about Horatio Sanz! My bad. He's a very funny guy, Chilean, and from Chicago!
I think my point still stands — shouldn't SNL's cast better reflect the diversity of the country?
Also, lots of people online seem to think that Cecily Strong is Latina. I could see why people would think this. However, this Chicago Tribune article confirms she is not. (Fun fact, I grew up walking distance from North Riverside Park Mall.)
In her “SNL” debut in September, she played a Latina “Get Out the Vote” volunteer who repeatedly tells her boyfriend to stop tickling her, which might explain why much of the Internet incorrectly believes she is Latina. (She said she got the idea, in part, from watching girls who weren’t Latina get tickled at North Riverside Park Mall in North Riverside).
ANOTHER UPDATE: Click here to read Latino Orgs’ Letter to SNL’s Lorne Michaels: Time to Feature Latino Talent on Your Show