There was something triumphant about Betty White’s performance this past weekend on Saturday Night Live. And not just for Betty White. It’s strange, but watching ol’ Betty get out there and (literally) slay on SNL seemed to me the ultimate sign that my generation is now firmly in control.
It’s like when we got to vote in Blue M&M after Diarrhea M&M was discontinued. Or selecting a Bone Thugz ‘N’ Harmony song over a Snoop Dogg one on The Box (for those like me who did not grow up in a Cable household). The bold voice of my peer group rang strong and true, and it was good.
Cute little Betty White kicked off the show by making fun of the Facebook campaign that got her there, and pretty much the rest of the show played with the tension between who she is and who we are. The humor sprung from seeing a classic try to do modern. Betty humped hardcore rockers and said the word “lez” in her reedy G-ma voice, and whenever old people do bad things it’s always funny.
Some people thought it was predictable for White to be cast as the Old Fart Misbehaving, and some people thought her appearance made SNL relevant again, but I think both of those opinions miss the mark. Seeing Betty White demonstrate an eagerness to engage US as the audience in OUR brand of humor on topics that WE find hilarious felt strangely empowering.
No one can say that old dogs can’t learn new tricks. Betty White’s always had a nimble, filthy mind (remember “The Match Game”? Or all those Friar’s Club roasts?). It was just fun to see that mind turned loose on taboo topics like prison rape and CSI.
I’m not trying to flex populist muscle because I’m one of the multitudes who clicked “join” on Betty’s Facebook campaign. I guess I’m just saying that it felt cool to have Betty White stare right at me through the camera and wink, knowing that she and I were both in on the joke.
- Topher Burns
