posted
Whether you agree or disagree with Colbert's ultralampooning tactics, you've got to admit that he's got balls to give the speech he did at the White House Correspondants' Dinner.
Edited to appease the gods of Spanish spelling, who insist every last one of you punks spell Spanish words correctly at all times, but do not advocate the use of suicide bombers to enforce said policy.
posted
I was about to post this myself. I don't like his show as much as I like Jon Stewart's -- too much nonsense and not enough substance -- but until the video, this was brilliant. I'm really starting to fall for Colbert.
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:I was about to post this myself. I don't like his show as much as I like Jon Stewart's -- too much nonsense and not enough substance -- but until the video, this was brilliant. I'm really starting to fall for Colbert.
I think it's just a different flavor of show. Jon Stewart is very obviously on top of current events and always has insightful, well-thought-out commentary, yet often lets the mistakes and stupidity he sees speak for itself.
Colbert seems, to me, less concerned with truth and more willing to appeal to the generalized, emotional attitudes of the crowd to achieve a laugh.
I think the two have equal merit, but appeal to broadly different senses of humor.
quote: His roast stuff was good. The video at the end was awful.
Yeah, the video had potential that never came to fruition.
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quote:What are you thinking, reporting on NSA wiretapping, or secret prisons in eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very good reason: they're super depressing! And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished. Over the last five years you people were so good! Over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effects of global warming; we Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try and find out.
posted
"Mr Nagin, welcome to Washington D.C., the chocolate city, with a marshmallow center."
That was hilarious, but even so, I cringed a couple of times. It was just too brutal. Still, I love Stephen Colbert. He's amazing.
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:I'm a simple man with a simple mind. I hold a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists! My gut tells me I live there! I FEEL that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has fifty states!
quote:I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least! And by these standards, we have set up a FABULOUS government in Iraq!
quote:I stand by this man [Bush]. I stand by this man because he stands FOR things! Not only for things, he stands ON things! Things like aircraft carriers! And rubble! And recently flooded city squares! And that sends a strong message! That no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound... with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world!
Now there may be an energy crisis. Well, this president has a very forward-thinking energy policy. Why do you think he's down on the ranch cutting the brush all the time? He's trying to creat an alternative energy source! By 2008, we WILL have a mesquite-powered car!
quote:Colbert seems, to me, less concerned with truth and more willing to appeal to the generalized, emotional attitudes of the crowd to achieve a laugh.
That's the meta-joke of his whole act.
He lampoons a news-media that appeals to the generalized, emotional attitudes of the crowd.
I thought the most interesting part of the video is when he tells the President something like "I would have made the perfect Press Secretary. I despise these people."
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Beautiful! And I disagree about the press secretary video... I was laughing so hard, I couldn't breathe. Kudos to Helen Thomas for playing along.
Between Colbert and Stewart, we finally have a real televised press again. Too bad they're on cable.
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
I watched the whole dinner, waiting for Colbert. He pulled a Jon Stewart on Crossfire but BIGGER.
My favorite was the very end when he was walking back to his seat and spoke maybe two words to the President, no smiles exchanged, uncomfortableness palpable. His unobsequiousness was exceedingly refreshing.
Posts: 1156 | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
I thought much of the video was amusing, but that it went on for way too long.
I like Stephen. He's funny, and he doesn't pull any punches, which I think is certainly evident tonight. The only difference being he didn't have a fanatical crowd in front of him laughing at his every word, but it doesn't matter that he wasn't necessarily a hit with every joke, the content was still stinging enough, and rarely heard enough to the point where the content was more important than how funny anyone found it.
It's sad that we have to look for the best criticism's of our government at Comedy Central. That's what the media has come to. Though, as you saw from the press conference that was spoofed, the White House Press Corps is finally starting to get their backbone back. Now if only the rest of the nation's media can find theirs.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Remember that segment when Colbert was on The Daily show, and he did a whole bit on how "The President has huge Balls?" Well I think he's proof that it takes one to know one.
Ps. I love that they got the announcer to Pronounce "Colbert Report" The way that Colbert does it with the silent T in "Report"
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:He's got tough boxes?!?! Tough large boxes, even?
I believe Eros meant "cojones". You're referring to the "rhythm boxes" from Peru? Please let's not turn this into another semantics/spelling war with Eros... I'm fairly sure he can't help himself!
Posts: 37 | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
We looked forward to this all weekend, and sure enough, it was hilarious. I thought Colbert was ON, just as funny as ever, and the lack of response from the audience was pretty telling. There's a couple of times when they cut away to guests of the press corps laughing, and they almost look guilty about it! My goodness! Have you ever seen the audience at a roast not laugh, not because the jokes were falling flat, but because they were offended?
Has the world gone maaaad? Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
I saw part of a segment on Colbert on 60 Minutes last night. It was interesting that he said he doesn't let his children watch him on TV. When asked why, he said it's because he trucks in insincerity, and says things he doesn't believe, and since little children are incapable of understanding irony, he doesn't want them to distrust him. He gave the example of wanting to avoid tucking one of them into bed with an, "I love you," and having the child give him back a knowing look and say, "Oh, yeah, I get it . . ."
I found the roast a little hard to watch. But I liked what I saw of him on that interview.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Just as if to prove Colbert's point, the Mainstream media barely picked up on the story:
quote:After paragraphs explaining Bush's comedy act, ABC offers this about Colbert: The featured entertainer was Stephen Colbert, whose Comedy Central show "The Colbert Report" often lampoons the Washington establishment.
"I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq," Colbert said in a typical zinger.
He also paid mock tribute to Bush as a man who "believes Wednesday what he believed Monday, despite what happened Tuesday."
Yet it's the Who's Who of power and celebrity in the audience invited by media organizations to their dinner tables that draws much of the attention.
Was that really what drew your attention? I sure didn't watch a CSPAN broadcast just to see some celebrities dressed up.
quote:from RAWSTORY: The New York Times' article Monday on the White House correspondent's dinner failed to include any mention of Stephen Colbert, the deadpan host of Comedy Central's Colbert report, RAW STORY has found.
In fact, the paper didn't mention the comic's appearance at the dinner at all.
I'm going to have to see if I can track down that 60 Minutes interview. It sounds interesting.
Posts: 1592 | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
I love it when he messed up a joke. Like he did that might and he turned to say "Mr. President it's always important to set up your jokes correctly." And kept going.
He messed up on The Word last week, it was hysterical, he goofed then said "oh my fu*$" to which the audience busted up, and it took him a full 45 seconds to get back on track he was so caught by it. Then he dissed himself and kept going.
I think the biggest crack up was when he made the William H. Macy/Felicity Huffman joke. Something about Welicity F Muffman or something or other to which he couldn't stop laughing at everytime he said it.
Sometimes the best sketches on SNL are when they can't stop cracking up.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
The subtlety of that joke mess-up though, it was so sweeeeet.
When he starts screwing up the joke just the way Bush would do, then turns right to him and says that, It was awsome. I can't believe Bush would shake his hand after that, but talk about Cojones!
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I thought most of the presidential roasting was flat. Some of the material was good (I laughed more reading quotes on this thread than during the video), but I thought his delivery lacked. I've never liked Colbert as much as Stewart, though. Maybe I'm just not a fan of irony. In contrast to Zeuguma's observation, I thought the audience was remarkably forgiving. It took them a full five minutes to lose interest in what was pretty thin material (IMO).
I thought the funniest section was near the end of "Part 2" when he moved on to other political figures (eg retired generals, Ray Nagin, Wilson/Plame). And I thought the first two minutes of the audition video were funny, too.
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:I thought most of the presidential roasting was flat. Some of the material was good (I laughed more reading quotes on this thread than during the video)
I agree, although I'm not sure whether his goal was entertainment, controversy or indictment - or, if all three, in what order.
quote:but I thought his delivery lacked.
I thought his delivery was normal, but it looks very different when it's not punctuated by applause or laughter from a very, very biased studio audience. I suspect you're right, and Colbert's style of humor just doesn't appeal to you.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I thought it was pretty funny and ballsy, but mostly from a performer standpoint. Delivering such a trenchant performance, even at a roast, takes skill and guts.
I read a little bit about it and I'm concerned with people praising him for courage on a wider scale, such as the "daring to tell truth to power". There's something very offputting about that to me.
Basically, yeah, the President and his supporters may not have liked it, but it's not like Stephen Colbert put himself at any risk because of it. There'll be no black bag squads sent after him, no fanatics (except maybe Ann Coulter) calling for his death, and he won't have the NSA tapping into all his phone calls and reading his mail (probably, even if there's really currently no way to be sure). As far as his show goes, it's likely that, if there's an effect, it'll be an increase in viewership. So, I don't know, while I'm certainly not putting him down, I don't think that this was an instance of courage in the face of peril.
Rather, calling it courage seems to me to be letting everyone else off the hook. The light provided by a normal flashlight is barely perceptible in a well-lit home, but is bright enough to blind when you're out in the woods at night. Likewise, a act of middling fortitude can seem like a thing of epic heroism when it's set in a sea of cowardice.
I support speaking truth to power. I'm glad that Stephen Colbert did it. However, I have a big problem with portraying this as some that takes exceptional qualities. If we're going to make this out as something exceptional, it should be in the sense that he did what many others have not just the freedom, but the obligation to do, but are too weak to even attempt.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:If we're going to make this out as something exceptional, it should be in the sense that he did what many others have not just the freedom, but the obligation to do, but are too weak to even attempt.
...sounds like courage to me?
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What I wanted to say in the first place, but I was afraid Dagonee would fly to Seattle for the express purpose of punching me in the face. Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I disagree. In this instance, I think for something to be courageous, it must involve an element of risk. No risk -> no courage needed. However, cowardice can prevent action even when there isn't risk.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:Man, I can think of lots of good reasons to fly to Seattle. That wouldn't even make my top 5.
I'm told punching my face is an acquired taste. Kind of like escargot - which may be why so many of the people who punch me in the face are French.
quote:I disagree. In this instance, I think for something to be courageous, it must involve an element of risk. No risk -> no courage needed. However, cowardice can prevent action even when there isn't risk.
Fair enough - by your definition, Colbert wasn't courageous.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Most of it was funny...but the video would have been a lot funnier if it had only been 2 min long (or a bit shorter than that, amybe). Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I'm not sure I'm getting my point across here. The problem I have is not that I think that Colbert is being praised unjustifiably, but rather that the focus and context is all in the wrong place.
Setting Colbert up as courageous makes it seem like what he did was exceptional and above and beyond what we should expect from the rank and file members of the media. This just isn't true. If his behavior is exceptional, it because the general media is full of spineless cowards and are thus not doing what they should, not that he himself exceeded reasonable standards of bravery.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:I'm not sure I'm getting my point across here. The problem I have is not that I think that Colbert is being praised unjustifiably, but rather that the focus and context is all in the wrong place.
Yeah, that wasn't clear to me. Now that it is, this makes more sense...
quote:Setting Colbert up as courageous makes it seem like what he did was exceptional and above and beyond what we should expect from the rank and file members of the media. This just isn't true. If his behavior is exceptional, it because the general media is full of spineless cowards and are thus not doing what they should, not that he himself exceeded reasonable standards of bravery.
I wholeheartedly agree - I think most people are willing to attribute the word "courageous" to what Colbert did because what defines courage is so heavily based on what other people happen to be doing at the time. What he did may not be beyond what we SHOULD expect from the media...but it is beyond what we (and by we, I mean I) expect.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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