Post #5: SNL, Bubba, and the role of character in political satire

In the modern US arena of politics, one of our key outlets for political theatre is the television program "Saturday Night Live".  Because it's a weekly show broadcast live, it's by nature incredibly up-to-date and timely with issues.  Its live nature means it has a lot in common with theatrical presentation - edits are not possible except for cutting between different camera views, sets are simple and partial, and audience response is a crucial element.  Finally, because it is an institution in American comedy, it is allowed to engage in satirical material far more subversive and edgy than what is seen in other national mainstream contexts.

A particularly apt political performance was the role of Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton during his first national campaign in 1992.  Clinton was a relative newcomer to the field, and the combination of stumbles in his primary opponents' campaigns with the vote splitting towards third party candidate Ross Perot enabled him to carry the electoral college without a majority of the popular vote.  As his campaign initially gained momentum, unfamiliar voters were influenced by the well-received Hartman skits, which simultaneously mocked and underscored Clinton's folksy appeal.  Although he was a Rhodes scholar, a former governor, and a Yale Law school graduate, he was able to capitalize on the widespread impression that he was a man of the people with noticeable, but likeable, flaws - noticeably, his appetite for fast food and women.

The Hartman performances helped Clinton thread this needle, which he perpetuated by playing the saxophone on the then-hip Arsenio Hall show.

I'm fascinated at the way characterization defined these skits, and how a satiric presentation of a political persona can actually cement that persona in the public mind.