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The only white 'Star Wars' characters are stormtroopers, jokes Aziz Ansari

Commentary: In an impassioned "Saturday Night Live" monologue, the comedian muses on the state of the nation and our view of race, politics and entertainment.

Chris Matyszczyk
3 min read

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Aziz Ansari musing on the state of our nation.

SNL/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

Comedian Aziz Ansari is following in the footsteps of Donald Trump.

The latter hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 2015. The former, co-writer and star of the Netflix show "Master of None," took on the role on Saturday and delivered an impassioned monologue.

Oh, of course there was the requisite joke about Trump and the Women's March.

"Crazy couple of days, man," he said. "Yesterday, Trump was inaugurated. Today, an entire gender protested against him."

He explained, though, that it's unwise to think of Trump voters as uniformly deplorable. "We're talking about 63 million people. You know? Don't judge them by their words. I'm sure there's some people that had different political priorities. I'm sure there's some people that voted for him with reservations."

He added: "I'm sure there's a lot of people voted for Trump the same way a lot of people listen to the music of Chris Brown, where it's like, 'Hey, man! I'm just here for the tunes.'"

His real target, though, was extremism. Ansari is of Indian descent. He said he understood that racial extremists -- he referred to them as "lower-case KKK" -- think they now have permission to express their extremism freely.

"Hey. I know it's been a rough couple of years. Obama, 'Empire,' 'Hamilton.' It's just been hit after hit after hit. 'Star Wars' movies where the only white characters are stormtroopers. I get it! It's been rough! But you've got to stop," he said.

Who can forget, indeed, the outcry when black actor John Boyega was cast in a lead role in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"? Posters for the movie in China rather diminished Boyega's presence.

Then Ansari addressed Trump and his Twitter account.

"I think Trump should make a speech," he said. "A real speech denouncing the lower-case KKK. Don't tweet about me being lame or the show. Write a speech. A real speech. Because these people are out there, and it's pissing a lot of people off. And I think it could make a difference. Because other presidents have done things like this, and it has helped. Hate crimes and stuff that went down."

He praised George W. Bush and how he reacted to extremism. Ansari also tried to soothe the feelings of those who might currently feel uneasy.

"If you're excited about Trump, great. He's president. Let's hope he does a great job," he said. "If you're scared about Trump and you're very worried, you're going to be OK, too. Because if you look at our country's history, change doesn't come from presidents. Change comes from large groups of angry people. And if Day 1 is any indication, you are part of the largest group of angry people I have ever seen."

"Saturday Night Live" sank to a sad level of puerility last week. Somehow it managed to allow Ansari to be a stormtrooper of good sense.

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