May 16, 2022

This is great: SNL parodied the show we've been watching.

We hardly watch anything, so this was a real delight. What good are parodies when you don't know the original thing? They do give you some explanation, in case you don't know "Old Enough," but suffice it to say, they track many elements of that Japanese show about little kids sent out alone to do errands:

Here's the trailer for the original show, which is a wonderful celebration of toddler independence, that is, it shows Japanese parents doing what would get you arrested in the United States: 

31 comments:

Rusty said...

The Japanese show is adorable. SNL? Just more male bashing.

David Begley said...

What’s with the yellow flag?

Mr Wibble said...

Honestly, I'm not sure if this is more misandrist or misogynistic. The joke of grown men helpless to perform basic tasks is overused and certainly insulting, but at the same time the skit portays these women as willing to put up with it for years. Certainly, that implies a serious lack of judgment on the part of the girlfriends.

Mr Wibble said...

Honestly, I'm not sure if this is more misandrist or misogynistic. The joke of grown men helpless to perform basic tasks is overused and certainly insulting, but at the same time the skit portays these women as willing to put up with it for years. Certainly, that implies a serious lack of judgment on the part of the girlfriends.

michaele said...

Oh, my gosh, it's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...an SNL skit I thoroughly enjoyed and laughed aloud at...even snorted coffee through my nose!

Enigma said...

"Old Enough" has been presented for ages and ages in college psychology and social analysis courses. Students routinely gasp about what the Japanese kids are allowed to do, and also gasp at the expectation for women to be stay at home mothers (i.e., gasp at all of human history except for 20th and 21st Century Europe-derived societies).

See below on Erik Erikson's "Autonomy versus shame and doubt" stage of psychosocial development. Many fully grown people today have not experienced what used to be normal maturation. They have small, timid, cautious, and dependent little brains in big bodies that were never fully tested or challenged.

Helicopter parents have likely caused permanent stunting of their children. Remedial "adulting" courses are now required. It's not parody when it's a sad fact of life.

https://www.verywellmind.com/autonomy-versus-shame-and-doubt-2795733

Jake said...

Millennial men are the worst.

Howard said...

There's something about Selena's voice that I find very off-putting. It almost sounds like she's trying to sound like someone else. You got to love The bravery though of the Saturday night live management who have willingly made fun of their own soy boy tribe.

gilbar said...

This ties into how there are like 9 breeding age womb people in NYC for every ONE dick person,
right?

NYC womb people are So Desperate For Dick, that they'll settle for retards?

R C Belaire said...

When my best friend and I were each 6 or 7, we'd walk 1/4 mile to the corner store and buy cigarettes for his mom. No questions asked.

Jokah Macpherson said...

Not wanting to have sex when your girlfriend initiates and she’s Selena Gomez…that is the most over the top part of the bit.

Jim Gust said...

My son said "White men are the only group left that can take a joke" and so they must be the butt of everything. Tiresome an unoriginal.

The Japanese original is delightful, OTOH.

Joe Smith said...

There is a really cute anime show on Netflix called 'Kotaro Lives Alone' about a young boy (5 or 6 years old) who lives alone in an apartment complex in Japan.

It is incredibly Japanese and very funny, FYI.

I witnessed 5 year old and up kids riding the subway and taking busses alone many times in Tokyo. It's odd at first, but they you think, 'Why can't kids to that in the US?'

Because we're a bunch of weirdos.

Anonymous said...

Really funny skit.

Really enjoyed Selena in Only Murders in the Building with Martin Short and Steve Martin, it was one of the few things that streaming networks produced last year that was good at all.

Ice Nine said...

I guess there is something I don't know about "longterm boyfriends"...starting with the term itself. I mean, of course they exist, sort of like longterm girlfriends exist. But is "longterm boyfriends" a particularly salient feature of American society? And most especially, are these "longterm boyfriends" creatures all retarded?

Naa, I don't think so. Basically this was SNL wanting to do a parody of the Japanese kid show but didn't quite know how to apply it to the US, so, WTH, just go with an old reliable - another "aren't men just so dumb" thing.

TestTube said...

Obviously written by a bitter NY woman with relationship difficulties.

How this really happens in NYC: Matt gets at least one number at the makeup store, asks some hottie at the grocery about shallots, hottie ends up cooking him a romantic dinner, while OG (original girlfriend) drinks wine with her cat.

Who sends their boyfriend to the makeup store? What possible good could come of that? You might as well just set up a Tinder profile for him!


Jim said...

Another man-bashing advert. That is expected from our progressive overlords, but a little surprising – and less these days – from Professor Althouse.

Mr Wibble said...

But is "longterm boyfriends" a particularly salient feature of American society? And most especially, are these "longterm boyfriends" creatures all retarded?

I'm 39 and for my generation and younger there are a lot of women in relationships like that. They've been dating their boyfriend for years, even living together, with no engagement in sight. Many of them are miserable.

Rusty said...

david Begley
I think it's to show that he's a big boy now and he's on big boy business. So other grown ups won't worry.

Mark said...

Could have been funny. If they had the guys acting their age rather than like toddlers.

pious agnostic said...

Made me look-up and watch some episodes of "Old Enough."

Adorable and wholesome television.

Lurker21 said...

Now that nobody is watching SNL the show is free to parody other shows that nobody is watching.

We could talk about the fragmentation of the media world, or just say that they've become more selective about their audience.

FleetUSA said...

Reminds me of the very funny Jeanne Robertson clip "don't send a man to the grocery store":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YFRUSTiFUs&t=1s

Kai Akker said...

As they say: Sooo.....

... 17 comments on an SNL thread. C'mon, AA loves that '70s show. Type up.

Or maybe today is a house-hunting day.

Joe Smith said...

'What’s with the yellow flag?'

I believe it means 'stop' as in stop your vehicle...

Brick Rubbledrain said...

The wife was in Tokyo a while back, waiting for a train, and a favorite moment was when it pulled in, the doors opened, and two - very - little girls jumped out, hand in hand, and went skipping off into the vastness of Yokohama Station.

The Godfather said...

I have a script for an episode in which the boy friend sends the girl friend to the hardware store to buy a 3/8" socket wrench and then to the liquor store to buy a fifth of Irish. Hilarious right?

Can you say "stereotype"?

Nooyawka said...

Yamato Tanooka, the inspiration for the Japanese show: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/06/the_forest_boy_his_parents_and_the_state.html

As I wrote in the last line of this article: "the subtle underlying message might be aimed at China, and might say “We're not afraid of you, either.”

Rusty said...

Joe Smith said...
"'What’s with the yellow flag?'

I believe it means 'stop' as in stop your vehicle..."
Yes. He holds it out when crossing the street. I looked it up.

Joe Smith said...

'Yes. He holds it out when crossing the street. I looked it up.'

I could read the characters (they are backwards showing through the flag) but had to look up the meaning...

mikee said...

I the video below, from almost a decade ago, only as an indictment of modern SNL 'humor' which would never produce such a sketch, because sexism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg