(no subject)

[seekingferret]

This Jane Wickline sketch from a few months ago is my favorite SNL sketch since Mirror Workout, I keep coming back to it. The joke is just to the left of where you expect it in a way I find kind of unexpectedly moving? Wickline's Carpenter sings "Help me" with a sincere desperation; this is not about queerbaiting as some sort of calculated move to get more downloads or even more attention, it's about how a pop star's sense of self gets tangled up in the way other people think about them. Compare to how Taylor Swift is seen not merely as a talented musician, but as someone who has taken control of her own narrative. "It's lonely", Wickline's Carpenter sings in between desperate rationalizations about why her performances are not being dissected in the way she wants them to be. Which seems like it should just be a marketing concern, why is our promotional campaign not working as intended? But Carpenter and Carpenter's marketing campaign are one and the same, the marketing campaign is scribed on Carpenter's body and on her self in a way that Wickline surgically hones in on. "Why can't you see me for who I really easily could be in secret" is such a knotty, thorny mess of an identity crisis that it feels sneakily profound. And yet the sketch is also funny, as it needs to be work in its context. "I leave a trail of bread crumbs and then I leave a trail of loaves of bread" is a terrific one liner, one of several inspired pieces of language that anchor the sketch.

Comments

[lokifan]

But Carpenter and Carpenter's marketing campaign are one and the same, the marketing campaign is scribed on Carpenter's body and on her self in a way that Wickline surgically hones in on. "Why can't you see me for who I really easily could be in secret" is such a knotty, thorny mess of an identity crisis that it feels sneakily profound

I love this point! And yeah, very real. It could be seen as subtle contrast with Olivia Rodrigo too, and I don't think either of them can escape being each other's mirror images. I don't think there are queer rumours about Rodrigo but she's definitely the one who's seen as Taylor Swift's heir, taking control of her narrative etc.

"I leave a trail of bread crumbs and then I leave a trail of loaves of bread" is a terrific one liner

My fave :D