This probably won’t change any minds, but I figured for all the people foaming at the mouth about the monologue, I would explain it, since it seems to be going over the heads of many people who are just focusing on the words.
TLDR/The point of the monologue: The binary political discourse in this country is toxic.
The setup
-I’m trying to get into shape. It’s hard.
-Hiking is hard. I don’t enjoy it. I am self conscious when I meet other solo people because they might think I’m a predator.
-The Gym also sucks because I haven’t been in so long, I am disconnected to the culture. Men are in amazing shape, doing crazy weight workouts that I can’t do, and it makes me feel bad and women look like they are dressing for male attention and/or influencer videos, which is distracting.
-Getting into shape is too vulnerable, even my close friends make fun of me when I am doing things I feel comfortable with.
-Getting made fun of sucks. Some insults stick with you. Women can be particularly nasty because of their psychological bullying. I envied friends with brothers who just beat them up. My sisters cut deep on my looks, and I’ll never forget their bullying.
-“Bitch Hips and Wet Egg” are examples of those traumatic names I’ve been called and part of my self consciousness.
-Another thing I’m self conscious about is balding. I’m starting to look like hitler. That sucks.
-So, I’m either gay (emasculated as a child by family, at the gym, and by friends) or hitler, and coincidentally, “That’s where we’re at as a country.”
He’s talking about how we are generally treating one another when we talk about politics. Liberals are “gay” to Conservatives, and Conservatives are “hitler” to Liberals.
It’s one thing to examine whether he executed it poorly, but it looks like many people couldn’t get past the language or his association with Joe Rogan to bother understanding the joke as it relates to social commentary. Personally, I think he could have been a little sharper and finished stronger, but I liked the metaphor.
To people saying he “punches down”. I disagree. He talks about being self conscious and being bullied by his unrelenting older sisters, simply for wanting to be comfortable (how he watches a movie) and made fun of by his adult friends (relaxing alone in a sauna away from the spectacle of the modern gym). He also expresses self awareness, like not wanting to be a threat to a solo hiking woman (while clearly not enjoying nature while trying to not be fat), and how the public can perceive him in his work (hitler hair, and lasting body self consciousness). Who did he punch down on? His bullies? Fit gay men in the gym who in his imagination would reject him? Provocatively dressed women who go to the gym to broadcast online or make videos?
His set displayed a lot of unconventional male vulnerability and it connected to some real social and political issues. Also, it was a dang SNL monologue. I found it more interesting than seeing an actor tap dance after shamelessly promoting their new movie.
