SNL, Disabilities Are Not a Punchline

How low can you go before humor isn’t funny anymore?

This is the question that hundreds of thousands of people in America are asking right now about one of Saturday Night Lives episodes: Winter Formal.

In this episode, a family-owned company rents formal dresses, photographers, limos, and (brace yourself) their disabled son Donavan. Why would they rent our their son, you wonder? It’s to guarantee that your precious little daughter has no chance of having sex (or being penetrated, as they said) because Donavan wouldn’t even know where to start.

They go on to humiliate their son for having no friends, being socially awkward, having lousy hygiene, cracked lips, and swamp ass. The Mother then says, how do we know he’s messed up? “I drank when I was pregnant.”

That was it—the punchline to end all punchlines.

That meant that Donavan and his issues were most likely caused by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. FASD is a disability that affects both the body and the brain of a developing fetus. It is a lifelong, permanent disability affecting up to 16 million Americans. When you consider that this number does not include the millions of caregivers and family members who work tirelessly to help these children and individuals succeed to the best of their abilities. That punchline was a direct punch in the face for all the individuals on the spectrum and their caregivers.

My daughter is Donavan. She, too, is on the spectrum. And while she is incredibly talented in so many ways, she struggles with some of those basic things most of us take for granted. Like other young adults, she saw that SNL skit, and despite being prewarned, it was devastating for her. Because once you know that the person they are making fun of has the disability you do, you believe that people see you that way.

As a parent, I am angry that they just ridiculed and humiliated so many people with a disability on a national level. As a human, I’m embarrassed for all the people who think this means that “I can’t take a joke.”; it only shows their lack of education and how little people know about this disability.

Humor at the expense of a disability… who would have thought that SNL would ever go so low?

We know that the SNL franchise has made millions making fun of politicians and entertainers. But, sadly, when you choose those types of professions, you open yourself up to that kind of scrutiny and ridicule. Stooping to the level of humiliating individuals who have a disability, something no person gets to choose to have. How can that ever be considered funny??

FASD is 2.5 times more prevalent than autism. So, SNL, will you make fun of an autistic child next? How about Downs Syndrome or Spina Bifida? Maybe add in some Cerebral Palsy to the mix?

FASD facts:

• The CDC’s latest data shows that 1 in 7 pregnancies in the US is alcohol exposed.
• Over 60% of pregnancies are unplanned.
• 1 in 20 are affected.
• 94% of individuals with an FASD also have a mental illness.
• There are over 400 comorbidities that can accompany FASD.
• FASD is the number one cause of intellectual disability in the US.

If those facts don’t shock you, I suggest re-reading them.

So SNL has managed to belittle and humiliate a young adult that appears to have, and mom confirms drinking, possible comorbidities, executive functioning weaknesses, and FASD. When you can afford to hire the best writers in comedy, they should be held to high standards. They need education about FASD and other disabilities so that this doesn’t happen again.

No, it’s not humor. No, it’s not ok.

SNL, you owe all of these individuals a public apology. So lets use your giant platform to help educate your fanbase while you apologize. There is a vast difference between knowing better and choosing not to do better. Or doing better because you now know. So please do better and rise to the opportunity to help others understand FASD and why Donavan should never have been used as a punchline.

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This Post is republished on Medium.

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Photo credit: Shutterstock