At about five minutes into the special, Sandler gets into a bit in which a mom on the street tries to get her baby to say “hi” to him. We’ve all been there for this. The mother insists the baby can say “hi” back, but, because babies are terrible at performing tricks on command, the baby doesn’t say “hi” and only mutters adorable sentences of infant gobbledygook. The joke gets more and more relatable as the baby continues to not say “hi” but instead says a lot of other stuff. And then, the joke takes a brilliant turn when the baby says “help me…she won’t let me get vaccinated.” Sandler faux-responds saying “There’s no proof if that — ” and the baby fires back. “I don’t know…I’ve been getting sick a lot.” It’s a great joke, partially because it takes a surprising twist, but also because Sandler mocks the rhetoric of anti-vaccine advocates so damningly. Parents will often dismiss scientific proof that vaccinations are clearly beneficial and life-saving, seemingly for emotional reasons based on nothing. The joke also works because all parents are guilty of occasionally focusing on the wrong thing about their child when they should be focused on safety. The mom in this joke only cares about the kid saying “hi” on command but doesn’t care about basic health stuff, or getting other kids sick. This isn’t the only joke about kids and parenting in Sandler’s new special, but, in many ways, it’s the one everyone needs to hear. Adam Sandler 100 % Percent Fresh is streaming now on Netflix.
