Well…it happened. Donald Trump won the electoral vote for the presidency, and among the many depressing chapters in 2016, the discouraging Facebook statuses, aggressions from newly emboldened, straight white people, and discontinued friendships due to the election may have some feeling like this week has been one of the most negative of this year yet. However, even in the most trying times, there’s always a silver lining. Some pretty amazing things happened this week, too.
1. Shia LaBeouf Apparently Has Bars
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Did anybody see Shia LaBeouf on Sway in the Morning? Oh my God, please go to that if not, and I guarantee it’ll brighten your mood. This whole time, we thought Shia was losing his mind, and as it turns out, he was just trying to channel his inner Marshall. This man messed around and dropped some quotable bars off of the dome during Sway’s infamous “5 Fingers of Death” challenge, putting a lot of these new “like” guys to shame, and even subliminally coming for Drake, or so it seemed. I’m not even just guessing because he’s Shia Labeouf either. A lot of the time, if an already talented celebrity even exhibits mediocre bars and a decent rhythm, everybody seems to hype that person up (see: Lin Manuel-Miranda). Not Shia. He earned all his props. We’ve been sleeping, clearly.
2. Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live earned so many W’s, it’s not even funny. First of all, can we talk about Dave Chappelle? As somebody who grew up during the era of Chappelle’s Show, last night’s sketches had everything a Chappelle fan could’ve asked for and more, showing that the comedian hasn’t fallen off a step in the last decade. First and foremost, from the standpoint of the token black guy that sticks out in an institution full of white people, Chappelle captured my sentiments about the election perfectly, especially in juxtaposition to my white liberal friends.
White friend: “Guys, I think America is racist…”
Oh, word?
White friend: “This is the most shameful thing America’s ever done!”
OH, WORD??
From the non-novelty of feeling like the system’s failed, to the irony of clueless, white liberalism, Chappelle did what he’s always done best by putting serious issues into a humorous, palatable medium. And then he brought some of the most recognizable characters back in an obvious nod to his fans. Last night, we saw Clayton Bigsby, Tyrone Biggums, Silky Johnson, Chuck Taylor, and Dave Chappelle as Lil' John altogether in the same place. SNL history was truly made. And then, to top it all off, Chappelle wasn’t the only comeback on SNL, which brings me to my next point…
3. A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest also invaded SNL to perform tracks off of their first (and probably last) album in eighteen years, and they showed people that they haven’t lost a step. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but if the dynamics of this election have provoked your Post-Traumatic Minority Syndrome, rebellious tendencies, or need to protest in any way, this album is the perfect soundtrack.
4. Young Justice Renewed for Season 3
In juxtaposition to the other things on this list, this might not be as relevant, but my nerdy side really did take a victory lap over this. I’m not even a DC fan like that, but Young Justice was the pinnacle of cartoons during my high school career (aside from Adventure Time, of course), and it does the soul good to relapse on nostalgia every once in a while. Shoutout to Netflix for continually putting the team on their backs, and shout out to Wally West, who, given the circumstances, we probably haven’t seen the last of.
