Editorial : SNL parody rings a little too true

‘Saturday Night Live’ performed a skit last weekend in which the hosts parodied the child molestation scandals at Pennsylvania State University and Syracuse University.

In the parody, Jason Sudeikis plays a fictional coach at a college where he proactively investigated another member of the coaching staff named ‘coach Bert.’ The investigation, no doubt a reference to SU’s 2005 investigation, included a search of his computer, 24-hour surveillance for a week and planting a student decoy.

‘We were on him for a week and he never molested anyone — and he never washed his hands!’ shouted a fictional detective in disgust.

An article published in The Post-Standard on Monday asks are comedians ‘going too far?’

As part of the SU community, feeling the very real and very unfunny effects of a child molestation scandal, it’s easy for us to say, ‘Yes, it’s too far.’ Had the skit at all included parodied victims of sexual assault, the answer would likewise be yes.

But given the purpose of satire, that is to use humor to point to real deficiencies or at least quirks in our system and our leaders, SNL wrote a completely appropriate skit. The bickering among city officials, a seemingly deficient investigation by the school and a nonexistent investigation by Syracuse police are all blundering and, in a twisted way, laughable. We didn’t need Seth Meyers or Kenan Thompson to write that.

Rather than asking if it’s too soon, we ought to ask, ‘Is this too real?’ And how can we keep our school and our leaders from being the butt of national comedy ever again.