• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Yedwab 1
Embodiment And Alienation In
The Colbert Report 
Stephen Colbert sits at the desk of his show,
The Colbert Report 
. His suit is well-tailoredand formal, his glasses thin and professional; he is staring at the camera with his piercinglyintelligent eyes. But one ear is larger than the other, the lines on his face are too deeply serious to be actually serious, and his desk is a perverse mockery of the classic news desk. It is emblazonedwith the word “Colbert” over and over again, in neon lights and LEDs and classic gold trim—itis even in the shape of a gigantic “C.”Colbert himself embodies a perverse mockery of a right-wing pundit. His righteous furyinfuses almost every word, and he gestures as though only an idiot could disagree—even thoughhis claims come out as wildly controversial. At this moment, he is discussing the format of hisshow, in his original segment entitled “Truthiness”: “Anyone can
read 
the news
to
you; I promiseto
 feel 
the news
at 
you.” He lets the statement hang in the air a moment as the audience laughs,and as his eyes radiate with the seriousness of his promise. If you had the sound on mute, youmight have thought that Stephen Colbert was honestly appealing to something beautiful in your heart. As much as you want to laugh at him, there is something compelling about him. He is afull human being embodying a stereotypical viewpoint—feeling the news, rather than reading it.The format of this segment (which Colbert described to Charlie Rose as “the thesis of thewhole show”) and many later segments is taken from
The O'Reilly Factor 
. On
The Colbert  Report 
, the segments are called “The Wørd,” and on
The O'Reilly Factor 
, they're called “TheMemo,” but the format is unmistakable: on the left side the host discusses his opinion, while onthe right side a slide-show of bullet-points analyzes the argument. The difference, however, is inthe content: on O'Reilly's show, the text backs up O'Reilly with facts and summaries of hisarguments. On Colbert's, the text responds with counterpoints, often wittily undercutting Colbert
 
Yedwab 2the character's arguments, and tying in other issues.If content is closely related to form, the format of “The Wørd” might reveal somethingabout the way satire operates on the show. The left side is one half of the satire: the host, StephenColbert the character. He embodies his conservative character, and argues on behalf of hischaracter's positions. But as Stephen Colbert pushes farther and farther into the character, he pushes his character's logic farther than is actually comfortable. By taking the character to thelogical extreme, he highlights flaws in the character's arguments, and the bad that might resultfrom it.In one famous segment of “The Wørd,” he focused on Rosa Parks. Speaking of severaldeaths the day before, the segment began, “the greatest loss [yesterday] was of Civil Rightsleader Rosa Parks, which brings us to tonight's Wørd: Overrated.” The audience responded aswould be reasonably expected from a post-segregationalist audience: as though it had been hit inthe gut. “Now don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong—hear me out!” he interrupted. His point,he hastened to explain, was not that Rosa Parks' fight against segregation of the bus system wasoverrated, but rather that, as he explains it, “America is a nation of laws.” In more reasonabletones, he continues, that despite her noble cause, the choice of civil disobedience is a wrong onefor America—after all, a nation where anyone can choose what laws to obey becomes ananarchy. But just as his argument returns to being a reasonable discussion of the role of law inour society, he reaches his conclusion: “So, tonight, let me be the first—the Rosa Parks, if youwill—of saying to those malcontents out there, the best way to change the system is to wait 'til itchanges.”The target of the satire was not, after all, Rosa Parks. By embodying the opinion which
 
Yedwab 3Colbert the artist might assume a Law and Order extremist might hold toward Rosa Parks, he isexamining not one historical instance of civil disobedience but rather the idea of civildisobedience itself. When he refers to “those malcontents,” he is addressing his audience, mostof which is discontented with the current government. But his audience is not engaged in civildisobedience: rather, the most they are doing is sitting and watching TV. They are waiting for thesystem to change, and they are the real target of his satire.One common criticism of 
The Colbert Report 
is that it is overly cynical, embittering their audience and removing them from the political process. But here, as well as many other pointsduring each show, the satire swings around and catches the audience. Some points of his segmentare extremely absurd, such as his contention that Rosa Parks should have started her own buscompany, and “let the free market do what it does best: enfranchise the disenfranchised.” Other  points of the segment seem perfectly reasonable, such as his theoretical position on Law andOrder, with which many in this country agree. But there is one single thread of logic betweenthem, and the audience is forced to ask itself: Where do his valid points begin and where do theyend? Was there something different in the 1960s, and if so, what is it and why is it different?Colbert's logic raises questions and disturbs the audience because it is rooted in their  beliefs but it bears disturbing fruit. Because the character is a theoretical debate embodied, and because they are watching the character willingly, they have a harder time dismissing it and pretending that there is that difference. He embodies all of the logical fallacies within ourselvesand within politics—he embodies all of the complexities of the issue, rather than reducing it andflattening it to a two-dimensional stereotype.Alain de Botton addresses the issue in his book 
 How Proust Can Change Your Life
,saying, “The problem with clichés is not that they contain false ideas, but rather they are
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...