Chris Rock appeared with special guest Prince on Saturday Night Live. Here are a few moments in the episode that made us uncomfortable.
The real reasons why Michael Che’s feminism joke pissed people off
The Boston Marathon bombing
Rock pretty much opens his monologue by talking about this event. Because that’s exactly the type of subject that will bring on the laughs, right? This was the first of many moments in the monologue that had us cringing, and it really only got worse from there.
www.youtube.com/embed/gYZLKqGhSZs
“The most frightening, sadistic terrorist act ever.”
You could hear a pin drop after Rock made that statement. What did he follow it up with? Details on how awful it is running 26 miles. Yep, because comparing running a marathon to the worst terrorist event is hilarious. There were a few nervous giggles afterward, but the audience didn’t seem to appreciate the terrorist connection to running a few miles.
9/11 and the Freedom Tower
Rock wasn’t done talking about terrorist attacks, either. Of course he had to bring up the 9/11 tragedy itself, and then he began poking fun at the Freedom Tower. He said it should be renamed the “Never Going In There” Tower because he was never going in there, and he asked, “Does this building duck?” and “Who’s the corporate sponsor, Target?” The whole bit had us cringing so hard, we were nearly doubled over in pain.
Leslie Jones is getting the ultimate Saturday Night Live promotion
9/11 sales?
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, Rock started talking about how people will turn anything into a marketing opportunity, saying, “We’re only five years away from 9/11 sales.” He joked that you might hear an ad on the radio like, “Come on down to Red Lobster, these shrimp are $9.11.” Ouch.
“No bling on Jesus.”
This one wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the other bits. At least Rock didn’t make fun of Jesus — he just made fun of people who have commercialized the holidays. We can’t exactly disagree with the sentiment, but really, who hasn’t made fun of this in the past 50 years or so? This moment was cringeworthy mostly because it’s just been done to death.
“I need a gun!”
Again, we can’t fault Rock’s sentiment during the last bit of his monologue. He talked about going to an anti-gun event, as he believes that guns should have some regulation. But upon returning from the event, he found his email inbox so full of death threats that he thought, “I need a gun!” Funny, perhaps, but still a bit cringe-worthy.
So many clouds
We know that Prince’s melody of songs included one called “Clouds,” but did there have to be so many on screen? When the music started, we were excited to see the legend himself, but all we got was a blue screen and white clouds. We could even hear him asking the audience, “Are you ready?” But we had to wait an uncomfortably long time for the man to appear. Not cool, and definitely worth a cringe.
Jimmy Fallon shares the secrets to his success
Cyclops sunglasses and mega shoulder pads
This is Prince we’re talking about, and we’re fully aware that he has, shall we say, unique taste when it comes to costumes. Knowing that didn’t prevent the shock and awe of seeing Prince appear with three-lens sunglasses and his band in jackets with massive shoulder pads. All we can really say after the performance is wow.
What did you think of Chris Rock and Prince on Saturday Night Live? Were there any moments that made you uncomfortable?
Leave a Comment