Arthurian Medievalism in SNL Skit "Medieval Times"
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Arthurian Medievalism in the SNL Skit:
"Medieval Times"
Skit Overview:
Saturday Night Live is known for its outlandish and hilarious skits that poke fun at all aspects of the human experience, past and present. This specific SNL skit titled “Medieval Times” parodies the company Medieval Times (an experience people can attend that reenacts medieval jousts and tournaments) as well as the medieval time period. SNL has previously aired skits that take place in the Arthurian world, including “The Royal Taster” and “Medieval Barber Theodoric of York”. While this specific skit exaggerates aspects of the Arthurian world, it also represents the world in an accurate way. In the skit, the special guest star for the episode, Adam Driver, plays an actor at Medieval Times who is taking his role as the Red and Yellow Knight very seriously.
Driver's Character:
Driver’s character is arguably representing the Arthurian World the best due to his performance as the Red and Yellow Knight. While the other characters in the skit are representing the Arthurian World in a way a modern audience would typically expect, Driver’s character takes it steps and steps further. Since the actors in Medieval Times are meant to play their roles as accurately as possible, SNL’s creative choice to have Driver’s character play the role too well gives the audience an even better idea of what a knight may have actually acted like during the time period. In the Arthurian world, a knight who is competing in a tournament would take it very seriously and would have a deeper reason for competing. Typically, tournaments are a test of a knight’s strength and valor and what they are fighting for holds a personal meaning to them. The rest of the knights in the skit give very vague reasonings for competing in the tournament, the Blue Knight states “I fight for King and country” while the Green Knight states “My King, I pledge you loyalty”. However, Driver’s character, the Red and Yellow Knight states “My land were taken, my village burned on the orders of this false king, all because we would not pay his unjust tax”. Driver’s character taking his role as the Red and Yellow Knight too seriously is why his reasoning for competing in the tournament is detailed and rooted in what would be a likely truth during the medieval time period. The Red and Yellow Knight becomes angry after the audience cheers at his statement because, to him, he is fighting for something bigger than just winning.
Roles & Props in the Skit:
Driver’s character is not the only way the Arthurian World is represented in this SNL skit. The props and character roles also represent the Arthurian world in an accurate way. The characters in the skit are meant to represent important roles from the medieval time period. The skit includes a King and a Queen, various knights (including the Red and Yellow knight, the Blue Knight, and the Green Knight), as well as a royal falconer. While the inclusion of the king, queen, and knights are expected, having a falconer present in the skit shows that SNL was truly trying to bring the Arthurian world to life. In the Arthurian world, a falconer was a highly regarded role as they were the primary caretaker of the falcons which would hunt for wild game. In the skit, the character playing the royal falconer releases the falcon as the Red and Yellow knight attempts to kill it. While the incorporation of the falconer is limited, it gives the audience an additional insight into the Arthurian world. SNL also paid a lot of attention to the props used in this skit. The shields displayed in the skit are fairly accurate to the shields used in the medieval time period. All shields during this time were different and specific to each knight as it was used to set the knights apart and were tied to their identity. SNL did a good job of showing different shields and flags on the set. The weapons the characters have also are representative of the time period, the Green Knight’s weapon of choice for the tournament is a mace which was common during the medieval time period. Driver’s character brings a homemade weapon that looks like a combination of various other medieval weapons, while his is not 100% accurate, it still gives the feel of a medieval weapon. There are also other weapons in the background that resemble those of the time period. Overall, SNL represented the Arthurian World in an accurate way while still creating a funny skit.
This was a really funny skit! Thanks for sharing it! You make really good connections between specific medieval details like the role of falconers and the importance of individual shield patterns to the zany presentation of the skit as a whole. I really enjoyed your article!
I love that you did your post on a Saturday Night Live skit, as I am a huge fan of that show. I love seeing skits that are relevant to what I am learning or my interests at the time. I have been waiting to become more familiar with Arthurian literature so that the Medievalism references would make more sense and I am finding that with this round of blog posts. I loved the costuming in the skit and you made a good observation that, similar to in the Middle Ages, all of the knights had differing shields and armor. You had a good use of hyperlinks that were relevant and also extended the knowledge of this post. I think it is super cool that you included a GIF as an image here; I didn't even know that was possible on Blogger! Good job connecting this skit to the aspects of the Middle Ages and the characters and plots we have encountered in our readings.
This was hilarious and I am thankful you included the whole video. It made it easier to visibly see what you were explaining in the last section of your blog with the props used throughout this skit. My favorite part is when you talk about shields and the importance of them. Overall this was an informational blog post and I like how you included your opinions in it. Well done!
I really enjoyed this blog! I love how you took something like an SNL skit and you were able to find all the Arthurian parts of it! The small things like shields, weapons really make you look deeper into the skit and it makes you think what else could be hiding in plain sight. Great job!
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This was a really funny skit! Thanks for sharing it! You make really good connections between specific medieval details like the role of falconers and the importance of individual shield patterns to the zany presentation of the skit as a whole. I really enjoyed your article!
ReplyDeleteI love that you did your post on a Saturday Night Live skit, as I am a huge fan of that show. I love seeing skits that are relevant to what I am learning or my interests at the time. I have been waiting to become more familiar with Arthurian literature so that the Medievalism references would make more sense and I am finding that with this round of blog posts. I loved the costuming in the skit and you made a good observation that, similar to in the Middle Ages, all of the knights had differing shields and armor. You had a good use of hyperlinks that were relevant and also extended the knowledge of this post. I think it is super cool that you included a GIF as an image here; I didn't even know that was possible on Blogger! Good job connecting this skit to the aspects of the Middle Ages and the characters and plots we have encountered in our readings.
ReplyDeleteThis was hilarious and I am thankful you included the whole video. It made it easier to visibly see what you were explaining in the last section of your blog with the props used throughout this skit. My favorite part is when you talk about shields and the importance of them. Overall this was an informational blog post and I like how you included your opinions in it. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this blog! I love how you took something like an SNL skit and you were able to find all the Arthurian parts of it! The small things like shields, weapons really make you look deeper into the skit and it makes you think what else could be hiding in plain sight. Great job!
ReplyDelete