VIDEO: SNL’s “Estro-maxx Commercial”
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Some people are offended by Saturday Night Live’s spoof commercial for Estro-maxx, a once-a-day pill for transitioning. It’s hard to expalin humor but is this funny or a fail to you?
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Comments
All the while I thought it was a real ad. But honestly apart from that, it is not that funny to me
I don’t know anyone who is transgender who thinks the ‘Estro-Maxx’ skit is even remotely funny – including me. There’s no joke and no punchline unless you think transition is a joke and transgender people are human punchlines.
I started a discussion about this on Hulu. Got some responses. Most felt that it is offensive, but some were on the side of, “SNL makes fun of everyone, so trans-gendered should feel equal.”
IDK–I am a gay man–not transgendered–but I couldn’t help but feel hurt on behalf of all of our trans ladies out there in our community.
I want to hear your thoughts–Was it too much? Funny? Not?
Please post any of your thoughts…
GLAAD is upset because we just don’t have enough images of positive trans people on TV to balance out jokes like this. If this were about puberty or losing your hair then it could be funny because we have lots of positive images of teens or bald men. It’s about balance.
Tracy pointed out to me that at least they didn’t portray the trans people in video as sex obsessed perverts which is how they are often depicted.
It’s not that different from all those birth control anti-menstrual cycle commercials you see on TV as far as the style of it, and how they made the actors act all happy and peppy about a pill…except they tried to add more humor in it which wasn’t that funny to begin with…and of course the subject is different…
I can see why trans people would be offended by it, but come on, it’s just SNL, that show stopped being entertaining or funny years ago, so really, who cares, just move on with your lives, its silly to be offended by something like this, when there is much worse transphobic stuff out there that you should be concerned about. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but really ppl :[
Some folks find this offensive. The funny thing is what is being said is mostly true. As ridiculous as these characters look and act it IS how I have been seen by others. It might be a hard pill to swallow but that which seems offencive is just representation on life as a trans person who does not “pass”. The reasons the characters give for transition are ones some people believe are true. I think the skit mocks pop stereotypes rather than trans people. It uses what they seem to see and takes it so far that you have to ask where the line is.
a positive for balance:
not funny at all and that skit just makes trans women the butt of a joke for no other reason except for a cheap laugh at our expense. It’s high tech bullying. not everything is funny. there is such a thing as good taste. a joke about 9/11 on 9/12 would not be funny because it would be seen as insensitive. and needlessly cruel. this is not really that different. every aspect of transitioning was distorted just to make a cruel joke. No trans female shows up at work or in public with a beard and mustache. or acts that stupidly. (except on tv or movies) and we don’t take pills 5 times a day. and no trans woman has ever complained about taking her meds. the premise was made up just to make a cheap joke at our expense. i found that skit hurtful and degrading and those who think its funny are imho insensitive. family guy, letterman, now this. maybe if comedy writers were being discriminated against and murdered in the streets like animals, i could make a joke about them at their expense. would you laugh at that too ??
and what is the harm in apologizing? if the people at snl were to say they were sorry, that they went a little too far this time and hurt a segment of society that is already treated like crap in the real world. that maybe we did not need to be kicked in the teeth one more time just to fill up 6 min of air time. I get enough rude comments, stares, and harassment in real life. and it’s NOT because someone thinks they are making a clever funny joke. It’s because some people believe I don’t have a right to be treated like a human being,with dignity or respect.they are not writing a clever comedy sketch, they are taking away my humanity. and the fact that some genius can do it on a network tv show does not change that. the jokes are the same, the intent is the same. and the insult is the same.
it’s just done with better lighting.
I rather be laughed with or at than be feared (as in the Crying Game.)
If it’s on SNL, it’s low-tech bullying! (TV is low tech)
I guess the one thing I would point out, is that before there was Ellen, Queer as Folk, Will & Grace, The L-Word, and Darren Criss singing Teenage Dream to Kurt, there was SNL skits like The Ambiguously Gay Duo, The Gay Communist Gun Club, Gay Gay Hitler, Dieter & and German American Dance show Sprockets, and I’m sure many I can’t remember. For some of us, at the time, we thought that SNL was making fun of a segment of society that only got bad press, and were also getting killed in the streets. Of all the previous SNL skits, and all the TV shows that later followed, I ask Did the really reflect us? Nope… No more than the Young & The Restless REALLY represents my mom and her friends.
Sometimes I feel like SNL is the entrance to what might be called “main-stream” society. It’s like people have to feel comfortable enough to be able to laugh about things before they can take them seriously.
As for the state of SNL, well, None of their jokes are funny anymore, so I guess I would say welcome to that club also…. I’m not a trans person so I don’t understand the nuances of the issues, but I think I do understand that some times being made fun of equally is a certain kind of badge that you can count as a small step towards greater acceptance.
Or I’m a complete idiot…. also a possibility!