SNL Takes Challengers' Horny Love Triangle Drama To A Very Weird Place
As soon as "Challengers" hit theaters last week, we had a feeling "Saturday Night Live" would be planning some sort of parody around it. Although not a major box office hit, the movie is huge on social media thanks to how absurdly horny and chaotic its love triangle is. It's a conversation-starter for sure, not to mention it's filled with some memorable churro-based phallic imagery.
Although "SNL" sadly couldn't get the movie's lead stars Zendaya, Mike Faist, or Josh O'Connor to host an episode, they have given us the next best thing with a "Challengers"-themed sketch. Only this time, the love triangle's based around Sonny Angel dolls instead of tennis, and Bowen Yang is one of the dolls. Using some charmingly clumsy practical effects and the movie's "stressful but horny" soundtrack, the live sketch lets us watch as Yang's tiny character flirts and argues with Hernández's boyfriend character, while Dua Lipa's character basks in the homoerotic energy. Hernández, meanwhile, just seems bewildered the whole time. The poor guy hasn't seen "Challengers," and thus can't understand how steamy this all is.
It's already been speculated among the "Saturday Night Live" fandom that this sketch was written at least partially by Bowen Yang. As the weirdest guy in the sketch and the one who explains the "Challengers" references the most, it's hard not to wonder if this was all his idea. "Churros: the most penised dessert," Dua Lipa's character announces when she brings out the infamous snack for her two male suitors to share, and it's very easy to imagine Yang coming up with that line. He and Hernández both take a bite, reenacting the movie's sexually charged bit of food-flirting between the two male leads.
Challengers and Sonny Angels: two vibrant subcultures collide
Dua Lipa walks back into the room with the sunglasses that are featured so prominently on the "Challengers" poster, and pushes the two guys to act on their attraction to each other, not to her. This is all complicated by the fact that Hernández's character isn't actually interested in the tiny talking doll. This is a tragic case of trying to force a "Challengers" situation on a guy who's just not that into it.
The big question for some viewers is ... why Sonny Angel dolls? Why not base the sketch around another sport instead, perhaps a sillier one where a love triangle forming around it feels especially ridiculous? The answer is that, like "Challengers," Sonny Angel dolls are really popular among a certain demographic. As the New York Times outlines, "Sonny Angel is the name of a fictitious 2-year-old cherub designed to be a tiny companion for working women in their mid-20s dealing with the stresses of adulthood... [They've] been on the market since 2005 but have become more popular recently."
What's the appeal of the doll? As some fans explained, it's "one part collecting fad, one part dopamine hit, and one part subcultural signifier." Although a lot of viewers might not have known these dolls ever existed before watching last night's episode of "Saturday Night Live," there was a small but notable percentage of the audience that was thrilled to know exactly what Dua Lipa was talking about from the moment we saw her shelf. Not everyone's seen "Challengers" and not everyone cares about Sonny Angel dolls, but if you exist at the intersection of those two specific groups of people, this sketch is right up your alley.