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SNL, Helen Mirren's Boobs and Older Women's Sexuality

by Melissa Silverstein | April 11, 2011 3:14 AM
10 Comments


Something bizarre happened on TV this weekend. While Helen Mirren was supposed to host SNL, it turned out the show was hosted not by Mirren, but by her boobs. This week's episode of SNL highlighted the uncomfortable nature of how we as a culture deal with and talk about sexuality and the older woman.

The funny thing is that the whole show was premised on the fact that they were celebrating the fact that Mirren was 65 and hot. The first image that was shown in the monologue was Mirren looking gorgeous in a bikini on vacation that made its way around the world. But what could have turned into a groundbreaking episode (like the one with Betty White last year) turned into boobfest and managed to turn a woman who has always embraced her sexuality into a joke. It's like no one can really believe that a 65 year old woman could be hot and look great, so they needed to make it seem like she is a visitor from another planet.

It's strange because you would think the straight guy mentality that rules SNL would have come out last week when Elton John hosted. But while some of those sketches were funny, it felt that John was part of the joke and in on it. This week it felt that Mirren was not in on the jokes (even though she was trying so hard), and that the only sketches that the writers could come up with were to highlight her boobs and her looks precisely because no one (even the smart writers on SNL) can embrace the sexuality of older women in popular culture. It's like they were all sitting in the writers room trying to come up with skits about Mirren and they kept getting pictures of their moms in their heads and got grossed out and gave up and went to the lowest common denominator.

The sketches were all tired. Aside from the boob grabbing incidents, Mirren played Julie Andrews with a temper; Eleanor Roosevelt making out with Marilyn Monroe; and Mary Shelly revealing that she based Frankenstein on Frank Stein. Boring.

But SNL is not the cause of this problem, just our most recent example of it.

Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City has been in the press over the last couple of week's talking about her new film that just opened Meet Monica Velour and how she has worked mostly onstage in Britain over the last couple of years because of how the US and US films deal with older women and sexuality. She talks about older women and sexuality better than most people probably because she has been so visible on the topic due to the fact that she actually played a woman over 50 who has had sex on screen. Here's a great quote she had in the LA Times about getting older and the movie business:

I just did "Private Lives" last spring, and my leading man was 35, Matthew MacFayden. And everyone was saying, "This is not going to work because she could have had him," just like the line from "Monica Velour." And there is no age difference on that stage. He looked older, I looked younger. We just played the scene. I don't care what people think. There were people at the screenings who are like, "Oh, gosh, whoa, the way you looked." And they're in the beauty business and the fashion business and I completely understand it, but in my life and career I want to embrace aging because I think that's what's interesting. I think a forehead without any lines doesn't tell me they've lived a life. They're trying to hang on, and I want to let go.

This is an issue that won't go away even though people (ie young people) don't want to believe that people over 50 are sexual beings and actually have sex. As baby boomers continue to age, and yes, have sex this conversation will keep shifting. This week's episode of SNL just clarified that need to keep having the conversation.

Saturday Night Live' recap: Helen Mirren transcended a laugh-lite 'SNL' (EW)

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10 Comments

  • Olga | April 15, 2011 7:22 AMReply

    I don't agree with this article! I love Helen Mirren! She was FANTASTIC in SNL! She is ALWAYS gorgeous and fantastic. Whole entire show was great and very funny! The episode about her breast - was not only a great joke, but pure truth. That's how MANY women (mostly lesbian, of course))) feel about her! You didn't know? Well, if you can't accept it as a fact - it's just your problem, I'm sorry. I had huge fun from SNL, but I had NO ANY fun of reading this pretentious article. Guess, who did own job better?

  • Akiva Penaloza | April 13, 2011 11:31 AMReply

    Head writer Seth is no good. I say toss him overboard and bring back Tina. The weekend update sucks. They should be featuring more of Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader anyway. Everything else sucks.

  • Dana | April 13, 2011 5:57 AMReply

    SNL has plummeted downhill. The only think refreshing about Helen Mirren's boobs was the fact that it didn't focus on sex, masturbation and penises. I am not a prude by any means, but the last few of episodes of SNL have been so crude and offensive that I have simply turned it off and the part that I did see have not been humorous. Will Ferrell donning a speedo for a company meeting....hilarious!

  • Juniper | April 13, 2011 5:11 AMReply

    The worst thing about this is Mirren's passivity. I agree with Annecy in that there's satire to be had, but to be effective Mirren should have had the last laugh. This a joke in-progress.

  • Annecy | April 12, 2011 5:29 AMReply

    Most of the sketches were pretty unfunny, I'll grant you that. But I read the digital short (magical bosom) a little differently. I thought it was funny because it satirizes, rather than reinforces, the hullabaloo surrounding Mirren's sexuality. The ridiculousness of the premise - magical, hallucination-inducing breasts - I think is meant to mirror the ridiculousness of the media's reaction to Mirren's openness and comfort with her body (and at her age! oh my god! FREAK OUT!!!!). But yeah, the rest was kinda bullshit. I liked the James Carville part?

  • David | April 12, 2011 4:35 AMReply

    "Why cannot we have an SNL with an all women cast, all women writers, except four guys, 2 gay and 2 straight guys in the mix." Because nobody would watch.

  • Steve Collins | April 12, 2011 3:24 AMReply

    I agree it was a weak episode of SNL that didn't live up to the poterntial of a talented creative woman. Humor was lacking and Ms. Mirren cheapened herself.

  • zbudapest | April 11, 2011 8:35 AMReply

    Helen Mirren is a Goddess in my book! My loyalty to SNL is waning due to the far to many male genitalia jokes, which are just masturbatory situations for the male comics to celebrate their maleness together. In the brain its called mutual masturbation. Its repressed homosexuality. Why cannot we have an SNL with an all women cast, all women writers, except four guys, 2 gay and 2 straight guys in the mix. What would that look like? If you think you can make this happen please call me!

  • Karen Davis | April 11, 2011 7:37 AMReply

    Wholeheartedly agree! Male writers on SNL feel comfortable acknowledging the talents of great male actors but not actresses. Their jokes about penises, etc are becoming more puerile and am surprised Helen Mirren consented to be part of it all!

  • Amber | April 11, 2011 5:34 AMReply

    Great post, Melissa. Though I missed a few of the sketches, I was very disappointed with the ones I did see. Helen Mirren is a talented, funny, and, yes, beautiful actor. Rather than allow her to own her sexuality, the show constantly objectified her. I'm not sure what SNL's target demographic is these days, but more and more I feel that adult women are not part of it. Particularly bizarre was the sketch pictured,with Nasim Pedrad groping Mirren. Who exactly is supposed to find this funny?

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