One of the pitfalls of writing about Donald Trump is that, in the quest to quench his black hole of ignorance, the opposite is achieved: the more attention we give him, the more his media profile grows and with it, his influence. It’s gotten to the point that even ignoring him is futile. He’s the gift that keeps on giving--an STD of insanity. He’s a hydra of absurdities.
Initially, I dismissed his xenophobic comments as ravings from a lunatic, privileged white man. There’s never a scarcity of those. I mean, have you seen Fox News? We’ve become desensitized to them at this point. But then the media started giving him more attention and activists yelled foul. We fed the troll and made it worse because it happened after midnight. Some Latino celebrities took advantage of the moment and rode the fauxrage wave for their own gain: attention and relevance. It’s all a joke. The horror. The media circus sickened me--it still does. Especially because my Hispanic and Latino Google Alerts have now been contaminated with the STD that is Donald. I can’t even log on to social media without reading his name. Where’s that app to block all Trump content? Take my money and make it stop, already. Please.
Despite my protestations, I know that being indifferent to him won’t make him disappear, and his comments do have real-life consequences. I begrudgingly admit it. People are getting assaulted; yet, more crazies are flocking to him. It’s like our own personal hell has been realized and Donald Trump was the membrane that connected our world to theirs.
According to ABC News, Univision, Televisa, Farouk Systems, NBCUniversal, Macuy’s, Nascar, Serta, ESPN, PGA, PVH, Jose Andres and Geoffrey Zakarian Perfumania, and The Federal Aviation Administration all dropped him. Every respectable media institution under the sun, it seems, has eventually woken up to the Donald’s toxicity. Every respectable media institution, that is, except for Lorne Michaels. He’s a rebel. He’s an untouchable. The rules do not apply to him. He does whatever he likes and what he likes, it appears, is for Donald Trump to host his show, Saturday Night Live. They’re not above racism and xenophobia. When it comes to comedy, it seems, anyone and anything goes. Comedy has been the shield to all sorts of ignorance, but there is one rule of comedy they forgot to abide by: Never punch down.
But the new movement against “political correctness” has derailed all of that, and punching down is exactly what SNL is doing by inviting Donald Trump to host the mediocre show. I’m sure the ratings will be through the roof. Especially since watching it has become the forbidden fruit after Latino activists threatened to boycott the show and Dump Trump protests are in order. I’m sure the Donald and Lorne Michaels are drunk with giddiness.
Even Eva Longoria was sucked into the madness, saying that Lorne Michaels has the right to book whomever he pleases and Latinos have the right to boycott the show. She’s forever the politician when it comes to Hollywood executives. (Thanks anyway, Eva. You are right).
Eventually, though, all things must come to an end. Even the Donald media reign. Please, God... -César Vargas
César Vargas is a producer, writer, director and social media strategist. He founded UPLIFTT (United People for Latinos in Film TV and Theater) and is president of Burning Ones Productions. You can reach him on Twitter at @CesarVargas365
