{"id":226,"date":"2018-02-05T11:18:50","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T10:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/?p=226"},"modified":"2018-02-05T11:20:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T10:20:09","slug":"saturday-night-live-natalie-portman-amidala-rap-is-a-memo-rable-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/?p=226","title":{"rendered":"Saturday Night Live: Natalie Portman Amidala rap is a memo-rable high"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"content__head content__head--article tonal__head tonal__head--tone-review \">\n<div class=\"content__headline-standfirst-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"content__header tonal__header\">\n<div class=\"u-cf\"><span class=\"drop-cap\"><span class=\"drop-cap__inner\">\u201cB<\/span><\/span>etter than Martin Luther King\u2019s I Dream of Jeannie speech\u201d: the president (Alec Baldwin) is reflecting on the greatness of his first State of the Union from the comfort of his White House bedroom. \u201cWho\u2019s the most innocent guy in the whole wide world?\u201d he says.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-2 | 1\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-review--item rich-link--pillar-arts\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__container\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__header\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline1\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline1 ad-slot--rendered\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline1\" data-name=\"inline1\" data-mobile=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|fluid\" data-desktop=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|620,1|620,350|fluid\" data-google-query-id=\"CKz6sdHFjtkCFQnIUQodlRUCbQ\">\n<div class=\"ad-slot__label\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/59666047\/theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/article\/ng_6__container__\" class=\"ad-slot__content\">\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m down here at the monologue stage,\u201d says Jones, doing a piece-to-camera. \u201cI don\u2019t know why they make these tiny white actresses do stand-up comedy \u2026 she is not killing it.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>She hands Portman a bouquet of ugly flowers. \u201cI believe you are Tonya Harding, baby!\u201d Jones screams.<\/p>\n<p>First sketch: the constitutional convention in 1776, where the Boston patriots, lead by Portman (and Rachel Dratch, who\u2019s popping by), are celebrating their Bunker Hill victory in obnoxious style.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrankly, I\u2019m willing to lose this whole war if it means not seeing them win again,\u201d says a man in a tri-cornered hat played by Kyle Mooney. Then there\u2019s a cameo from Tina Fey as the leader of a Philadelphia contingent, who plan to \u201cpunch a police horse\u201d. This all seems kind of mean to football fans. Maybe football fans deserve it? Maybe I need to learn more about football fans than what I\u2019ve seen in Friday Night Lights.<\/p>\n<p>Portman and cast members march out one at a time in a mediocre Stranger Things sketch (Portman plays Eleven, of course) but this is far surpassed by what\u2019s next. Portman has made a sequel to her\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IWW8onRK_GA\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">iconic 2006 rap<\/a>\u00a0and it\u2019s hilarious, especially when she appears as an aggro Queen Amidala.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSay something about the motherfucking prequels, bitch,\u201d she says through bleeps, brandishing a gun, before Andy Samberg sings a quick bridge and Portman sticks a Times Up pin in the middle of Beck Bennett\u2019s forehead. It\u2019s an instant classic.<\/p>\n<p>Musical guest! Dua Lipa sings New Rules. Her backup singers are wearing dresses that look like the silk bathrobes you get when you\u2019re a bridesmaid for one of your sorority sisters.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"element element-video fig--has-shares fig--narrow-caption\" data-canonical-url=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K45mFsyZxtU\" data-component=\"video-inbody-embed\">\n<div class=\"u-responsive-aligner\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Weekend Update opens with the memo. You know, the memo.<\/p>\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline2\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot--inline2 ad-slot--rendered\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline2\" data-name=\"inline2\" data-mobile=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|fluid\" data-desktop=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|620,1|620,350|fluid|300,600\" data-google-query-id=\"CLGj1tLFjtkCFYSGUQodm3sN6A\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/59666047\/theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/article\/ng_7__container__\" class=\"ad-slot__content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cFirst of all,\u201d says Michael Che, \u201cyou know damn well Donald Trump didn\u2019t read this memo. It\u2019s four pages long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cecily Strong and McKinnon are here as Catherine Deneuve and Brigitte Bardot, to explain why French actresses have pushed back against the #MeToo movement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want romance to die,\u201d says Strong, while McKinnon stares into space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFree Harvey Weinstein,\u201d McKinnon says, at last. \u201cWhy does a woman have a breast? It\u2019s for a man to grab and pull.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next guest is Pete Davison, who joins to talk about his experience making a TV commercial, which is quite sad. \u201cWhat happened to your hand?\u201d says Jost, looking at a bandage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI punched a door,\u201d says Davison, \u201cbecause I\u2019ve got mental problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The final guest: Che\u2019s \u201cneighbor Willie\u201d, played by Thompson, who\u2019s here to cheer us up about the season. For Valentine\u2019s Day he bought \u201cone of those super-realistic dolls off the internet\u201d. She came in a black bag with a zipper and has a toe tag. Is this the first necrophilia joke in my career as an SNL correspondent? Wow.<\/p>\n<p>Next! \u201cMy butt is my face and my face is my butt,\u201d says Beck Bennett. He\u2019s an alien to Portman\u2019s glamorous spaceship captain, and they\u2019re about to make love in a space bedroom. \u201cYou\u2019re talking out of your butt?\u201d she says. \u201cYes,\u201d he says, \u201clike every other man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHas your butt always been your face?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes you just have to put on a brave ass and accept that life can be a real facehole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an inspired performance from them both.<\/p>\n<p>The next sketch, in which Portman plays a Nickelodeon host with a sore throat, falls a bit flat in comparison.<\/p>\n<p>Moving on: apparently Melania Trump likes Strong\u2019s portrayal of her, so she\u2019ll love this skit in which Strong meets the ghosts of various First Ladies. Portman plays Jackie Kennedy, of course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll First Ladies have a platform,\u201d she says, \u201cyours is bullying, and mine is little hats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo First Lady has been more humiliated than me!\u201d Melania says, but then Hillary Clinton (McKinnon) appears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel your pain,\u201d she says, \u201cbut you married him, and like America you had a choice, so don\u2019t choose to eat 7-11 sushi and then come to me and say, \u2018Something\u2019s wrong!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-2 | 2\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-news--item rich-link--pillar-arts\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__container\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__image-container u-responsive-ratio\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__header\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__arrow\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cMartha,\u201d says Melania, \u201cmaybe I don\u2019t go to speech.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cMaybe being first lady just means being with someone you don\u2019t really like who doesn\u2019t treat you very well,\u201d Martha says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpeak for yourself,\u201d says Michelle Obama (Jones). \u201cMy arms rule \u2026 and I can be president whenever I want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Portman wears a Ms magazine t-shirt to introduce Dua Lipa\u2019s second song \u2013 a righteous fashion choice. Lipa sings Homesick while sitting on a piano.<\/p>\n<p>And finally: Portman, Strong and Gardner are analysing their love lives over martinis in a bar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAm I being too picky?\u201d says Portman. \u201cYes,\u201d says Bryant \u2013 she\u2019s sitting next to them in a mousy blonde wig and a Carhartt jacket. \u201cI\u2019m here to meet a guy I\u2019ve been catfishing, but he didn\u2019t show,\u201d she says. This sketch feels a little under-realized, which is perhaps why it\u2019s the last one.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s going to be the last one for some time: SNL is going on hiatus during the Olympics. But don\u2019t worry:\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2018\/02\/01\/leslie-jones-nbc-winter-olympics\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">NBC really is sending Leslie Jones to cover it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Source\u00a0https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/2018\/feb\/04\/saturday-night-live-natalie-portman-queen-amidala-rap<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cBetter than Martin Luther King\u2019s I Dream of Jeannie speech\u201d: the president (Alec Baldwin) is reflecting on the greatness of his first State of the Union from the comfort of his White House bedroom. \u201cWho\u2019s the most innocent guy in the whole wide world?\u201d he says. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m down here at the monologue stage,\u201d says Jones, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=226"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions\/230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}