Splitsider: SNL Recap: Sofia Vergara Is More Than A Loud, Pretty Face

SNL returned after a month break with host Sofia Vergara. For my Splitsider recap, I discuss how Vergara was less of a sex object than some critics would have you believe.

Excerpt:

“For many TV critics, the headlines of their SNL recaps are written days before the episode airs. Of course Daniel Radcliffe would host a “magical” night, and Zooey Deschanel’s episode would have a “quirky” theme. And surely SNL would follow Modern Family’slead and exploit Sofia Vergara’s sexuality and ethnicity for cheap laughs. The moment Vergara walked out on stage for her monologue in a low-cut dress, many a Puritanical suspicion was confirmed.

I am frustrated by the obsession with Sofia Vergara’s looks and accent — traits given far too much emphasis in storylines of Modern Family — but I don’t think last weekend’s SNL episode was necessarily a textbook example of that obsession. (The various online recaps, maybe.) Sofia Vergara is a beautiful woman who occasionally struggles with the English language, and while those were recurring elements throughout the night, only rarely were they the punchline. Compare the sexual exploitation in this episode to, say, what we witnessed with Channing Tatum, who stripped off clothes, danced erotically, and delivered lines through catcalls all night. No contest, thank god.”

Read the full post on Splitsider.com.