Ryan Gosling & Emily Blunt Turn A Taylor Swift Song Into A Barbenheimer Ballad On SNL
It's been nine months since both "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" released in theaters, but poor Ryan Gosling still struggles to let the event go. So he decided to bring out the ol' piano for his "Saturday Night Live" monologue and sing an ode to Ken, paying tribute to that neon rollerblading outfit and ridiculous fur coat. The song was sung to the tune of Taylor Swift's "All Too Well," which Swift famously sung in its 10-minute entirety on "SNL" back in 2021. The relevance of "All Too Well" to the bit doesn't stop there: it's also the song Gosling's character cries to in the trailer for his new movie, "The Fall Guy," a movie that's basically Gosling's entire reason for hosting this time around.
Showing up mid-musical number was "The Fall Guy" co-star Emily Blunt, urging Gosling to let "Barbie" go and focus on their new project together. But much like Gosling can't let Ken go, it turns out that there is a little part of Blunt who longs for the days where she was playing the cool, stubborn alcoholic Kitty Oppenheimer. Gosling points out that they were both key players in the biggest cinematic event of summer 2023, and soon the both of them are singing in the Barbenheimer's honor. "You were loyal to the end," Gosling sings to Blunt, referring to Kitty's badass testimony in her husband's defense. Blunt sings to Gosling, "And your guy had no penis," referring to Ken's unfortunate downstairs smoothness.
The monologue ends with Gosling blowing out a Ken candle, only for the light to flicker alive once again. "Because Ken will never die!" Gosling cheers. There may not ever be a "Barbie 2" that follows up on Ken's emotional journey, but Ken and his Mojo Dojo Casa House will always have a place in our hearts.
A goofy start to a goofy episode
It's a silly monologue where Gosling breaks a couple times over. He never laughs as heavily as he does in some of his other sketches of the night, but it certainly set the tone for the constant breaking to come. What it didn't set the tone for, however, was the lack of celebrity cameos going forward. Blunt didn't star in any subsequent sketch, just as Kate McKinnon (reprising her role in the new "Close Encounter") didn't show up again either. For McKinnon it was particularly surprising, given that she too starred in "Barbie" last year.
The energetic, off-kilter monologue also set the tone for a bizarre (yet delightful) "Weekend Update" segment where college basketball star Caitlin Clark showed up to finally put Michael Che to task for all those terrible women's basketball jokes he's been telling. It's the rare case of Che being the one squirming with discomfort as Colin Jost calmly watches from the sideline, only chiming in to help the guest dig the knife into Che even further. It's a refreshing change of pace after years of Che always ending up on top between the two.
Most importantly, the segment with Clark is the sort of feminist comedy that "Barbie" fans could probably enjoy. Clark doesn't just get to torture Che for a few minutes; she gets to talk earnestly about women's basketball at the end, in a way that isn't a joke or dismissive of female athletes at all. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is a rarity on "SNL," which has so often treated women's basketball as an easy punchline. The spirit of "Barbie" didn't just live on with Gosling and Ken — it's lived on to haunt Michael Che as well.