For years, Latinos including National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) have demanded that the show to cast a Hispanic comedian. For years, SNL has ignored the complaints
Now, the sketch comedy show is taking it one step further in the wrong direction, grossly making fun of Latinas in a new skit called “Jewelry Party” featuring Lena Dunham from Girls.
In the skit, Cecily Strong, who is NOT Latina, plays into the worst kind of stereotypes as a ditzy, ignorant, sexpot, Venezuelan woman named Marisol with an over-the-top, loud accented Latina with an enormous red flower in her hair. Her boyfriend is a ‘mens rights activist’, and she seems blissfully unaware of his completely misogynistic attitude, because of course, she is just a ‘dumb Latina’ whom her American boyfriend, of course found her online and brought her to America. Then, she dumps him not because he’s a terrible person, but because she hates his body, she is use to muscular men who can pick her up! I mean really!?
Back in January of this year several English-language Latino-themed news sites published stories and op-eds about how NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has a diversity problem with casting Latino comedy talent. This all began in November when several organizations, headed up by the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) and the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), published an open letter to SNL creator Lorne Michaels.
We can only speculate that letter asking that SNL actually start authentically paying attention to U.S. Latinos have been read and with this latest tasteless skit to the American Latino’s SNL’s answer is clear: we don’t care.
