Lena Dunham's 'Adam and Eve' SNL Sketch Raises Questions About Feminism
Actress Lena Dunham is sparking some criticism for her recent portrayal of the biblical Eve on the March 8 airing of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," with one critic questioning how the actress' feminist character is compatible with the story of Adam and Eve found in Genesis.
The SNL skit, titled "Biblical Movie," serves as a parody of the HBO series "Girls," which follows the lives of twenty-something women living in Brooklyn, N.Y. The brief skit follows Dunham playing the role of Eve and SNL cast member Taran Killam playing her boyfriend, Adam. Both characters possess similar personalities to the characters of Hannah and her boyfriend, also named Adam, on "Girls."
The skit opens with Dunham and Killam nude in a jungle setting, discussing their lives as the first humans on earth. Dunham asks Killam if they are man and wife, to which Killam replies: "You're like a part of me, literally. God made you from my rib, kid."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Dunham responds by telling Killam his comments are "sexist," adding that he should "take a gender and women's studies class.'" When Dunham later eats the apple in the Garden of Eden, thus committing original sin, she asks God to stop shaming her into feeling guilty for her transgression.
"Can you please not apple-shame me right now? Seriously, I know I committed original sin but at least it's original, I think I deserve some credit for that." When Killam asks Dunham if she's going to put on fig leaves to cover herself after committing original sin, Dunham replies, "I don't see why that's necessary at all. I'm not going to conform to society's demands for me."
"Saturday Night Live's" play on the original Genesis story of Adam and Eve inadvertently shows why feminism is incompatible with the teachings of the Bible, said one writer.
The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway wrote that the sketch unintentionally reveals the negative effect feminism can have on the modern-day female, saying the sketch in reality shows the "narcissism of feminist thought" and how such thought "exacerbates young women's existential crises by denying them any kind of trust or reliance on male figures."
"The deep truth in this sketch is that feminism is incompatible with the natural approach of humans being made male and female, given to each other for their mutual benefit and for the procreation and raising of children. God bless Lena Dunham for showing the ends of our new approach to the roles of the sexes - miserably self-absorbed, confusing and lonely existences - however unintentional it may be," Hemingway adds.
The Twitter handle Young Conservatives had a negative review of the sketch, tweeting: "Lena Dunham's Adam & Eve might be the worst SNL skit of all time. #JustSayin."
Last weekend's "Saturday Night Live" also addressed the topic of abortion through its "Jewelry Party" skit, during which Dunham's character finds out her friend's boyfriend is helping to close Planned Parenthoods. Dunham describes the clinics as places "women can go for low cost medical advice and care."
Some criticized the "Jewelry Party" sketch as being "Planned Parenthood propaganda." The largest abortion provider in America tweeted after the sketch thanking Dunham for referencing their organization: "We thought we couldn't love [Lena Dunham] any more. Then she hilariously took down an anti-women activist on [SNL]."
