Elon Musk SNL-hosting backlash is "histrionic moral grandstanding"

The Atlantic

"I suppose late-night comedy shows could reserve hosting duties as an honor for the morally irreproachable, and Americans could exile from TV comedy anyone who has spoken less than responsibly about COVID-19," says Conor Friedersdorf. "But the society that results is going to be rather humorless, and I see no reason to think it would be more moral. King Solomon couldn’t reliably sit in moral judgment of every prospective SNL host. Neither can Lorne Michaels. Yet many commentators are encouraging the SNL producer to put a thumb on their side of the culture war as if justice demands it––as if any other choice will traumatize families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19." Friedersdorf adds: "Network TV should of course deny high-profile gigs to genocidal dictators, child molesters, and KKK members. Every society has near-consensus moral standards that shouldn’t be abandoned. But too many Americans are angrily demanding not only the maintenance of standards that most all of us agree on, such as white supremacists who give Nazi salutes are not welcome in polite society, but also the ostracism of mainstream figures, some beloved by tens of millions of Americans. These judgments are based on an ever-changing list of offenses, which are invoked unevenly depending on the politics of the target. Pressuring SNL to enforce contested social norms invites arbitrary moral judgments that turn on mob passions. And even if SNL went along with the claim that Musk is unfit to host, it would not get its entire audience to endorse such a polarizing judgment. The show would alienate some viewers and erode its own position as a shared cultural institution in a country whose citizens can at least occasionally laugh together." ALSO: If SNL thinks it can brighten or dim the star power of its host, Musk poses a particularly risky challenge because he’s a black hole.