Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin: Space Race or Ego Quest?

The space race between Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson is definitely one of the central topics today. IIt is no wonder that prominent comedians can’t pass by such a fruitful topic. This time, NBC’s Saturday Night Live has mocked over the recent flight to space that the leader of Blue Origin took earlier this year. But, in fact, it touched upon all three billionaires who put much effort into becoming the first one in space. The sketch entitled “Star Trek: Ego Quest” has hit 1,500,000 views on YouTube and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

The sketch introduces the main characters, the New Shepard’s crew: Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, ‘some rich guy’ Oliver Daemen, 82-year-old meant-to-be astronaut Wally Funk who didn’t go to space 60 years ago because her program was cancelled.

The Crew of Blue Origin Shepard is Made Fun Of

Apparently, Bezos’ attempts to become #1 in the space race and his views on how it must be achieved haven’t been supported much. This provokes much irony and straightforward sarcasm. Owen Wilson, an SNL’s host who portrayed Jeff Bezos in NBC’s sketch, masterfully summarizes the attitude of Blue Origin’s founder to the space industry: “Dude, space is freaking awesome!” This might look good among actual Jeff Bezos quotes.

The superficial approach is highlighted during the whole sketch. This is very vivid, given that many people, including some Blue Origin employees, shared their concerns about the flight’s safety issues, out-of-proportion price, and impact on the environment. All employees working for Jeff Bezos are embodied in the character of Kenan Thompson, a delivery man, who’ll bring an Amazon package and be ruthlessly sent back at the end of the video.

Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson: Fancy a Race?

The peak of absurdity is reached when Bezos meets Branson, portrayed by Alex Moffat, and says they are ‘just flying around.’ ‘You fancy a race?’ asked Branson. And, yes, they do fancy it! Elon Musk, portrayed by Mikey Day, ‘joins’ attacking exaggeratedly phallus-like Blue Origin ship. Musk underlines that there’s room in space for only ‘one weird white billionaire.’ The character mocks Amazon Prime service, saying that beating Jeff Bezos in his ‘Prime objective.’