In the spoof, Bee stars as Betty Cooper, basically, and she's not so sure she needs to get vaccinated: "I don’t do that stuff, my parents don’t approve"

Samantha Bee Spoofs the Teen Rebels of Riverdale to Make a Point About Anti-Vaxxers

The recent high-profile story of one teen who rebelled against his parents in order to be vaccinated inspired Samantha Bee‘s Full Frontal to parody another high-profile story of teens who rebel against their parents:

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On Wednesday’s episode, Bee’s TBS series unveiled Full Fronterdale to make a point about vaccinating children: that it’s a good thing.

Bee was interviewing Ethan Lindenberger, an Ohio teenager who got vaccinated against his parents’ wishes.

Lindenberger wasn’t vaccinated when he was younger because his parents “think vaccines are some kind of government scheme,” according to a November post he wrote on Reddit. “It’s stupid and I’ve had countless arguments over the topic,” he wrote. (There is no scientific link between vaccines and autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

Last month he testified before Congress on he topic and this week he sat down on Bee’s Full Frontal, triggering the Riverdale parody.

In the spoof, Bee is Betty Cooper, basically, and she’s not so sure she needs to get vaccinated (“I don’t do that stuff, my parents don’t approve”) … even if it means she’s coughing blood. Then Fronterdale‘s Archie persuades her otherwise, telling her vaccines prevent death from centuries-old diseases.

“I would rather die in a more normal way — by a cult,” he says, a playful wink at the CW drama’s famously wild plotting.

Even a confrontation with Bee-as-Betty’s conspicuously young mom isn’t even to keep her on the anti-vax track. As she and her friends celebrate her new vaccination, Fronterdale‘s Josie says, “Rebelling against your parents to make sure you don’t get tetanus is hot.”

And luckily it seems no one else in the cast noticed her real age. Off they go to win the school’s “football singing competition”!