Eddie Murphy's "White Like Me" SNL Sketch Parodies a Real Book
The 1984 sketch was written by Andy Breckman, the creator of Monk.
In the weeks leading up to February 16's three-hour 50th anniversary celebration on NBC, the team behind Saturday Night Live has selected one sketch from every single season — 50 seasons in 50 days — to reflect the show's rich legacy across five decades. Presenting the sketch chosen to represent Season 10: "White Like Me" starring Eddie Murphy.
Eddie Murphy made an enormous impact during his four years as an SNL cast member. Before going on to star in hit feature films like Coming to America and the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, he created memorable characters like Mr. Robinson and Velvet Jones, and was always game to bring a concept to vibrant life (even when he wasn't quite sure why it was funny, as with "James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub Party").
In 1984, when he returned to host in Season 10 after departing in Season 9, Murphy starred in "White Like Me," a mock-documentary short that was a parody of a 1961 nonfiction book.
"You know, a lot of people talk about racial prejudice, and some people say there are actually two Americas: One Black and one white," Murphy says at the top of the pretaped sketch, standing in the hallway of the SNL offices.
"But talk is cheap. So I decided to look at the problem myself firsthand. To go underground, and actually experience America...as a white man," he explains.
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After working with an ace hair and makeup staff and "watching lots of Dynasty" for research, Murphy is transformed, and hit the streets in a suit and tie. And as "Mr. White," he indeed finds an over-the-top difference in how he's treated (and that there's a secret cocktail hour on the city bus).
Once he's back to being Eddie Murphy, he tells the camera, "I'll tell you something: I've got a lot of friends, and we've got a lot of makeup," as other actors — including his brother, Charlie Murphy — get theirs applied.
"White Like Me" was written by the creator of Monk
"White Like Me" was written and directed by Andy Breckman, who wrote on SNL and Late Night with David Letterman before going on to create the Emmy-winning USA series Monk.
In an episode of the Late Night With Mark Malkoff podcast, Breckman confirmed that Murphy was far from incognito while filming the sketch on the streets of New York City. Per Malkoff on the podcast, "I remember meeting a paparazzi person who told me that Eddie was so big at the time that paparazzi were actually following him around. They realized that this was Eddie Murphy in in disguise."
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"He was the biggest movie star in the country at the time," Breckman agreed. It had only been 10 days after the first Beverly Hills Cop had hit theaters.
"White Like Me" parodied the 1961 book "Black Like Me"
As Breckman also confirmed on the Inside Late Night podcast, "it was, of course, a parody of Black Like Me." Written by journalist John Howard Griffin, Black Like Me chronicles what happened when Griffin, who was white, intentionally took the drug Methoxsalen, to change the color of his skin.
The journal Griffin kept about the sharp contrast of his experience when people assumed he was a different race became the book, which was turned into a movie in 1964.
