EDITORS' CORNER
Key Takeaways
- Professor Perin Gürel argues late-night comedians like Stephen Colbert and John Oliver are significant voices against Trump, as they provide a platform for criticism amidst fears of reprisal from the administration.
- Despite Gürel’s claims, the article contends Trump merely shows irritation rather than take retribution, suggesting a lack of real threat to their freedom of expression.
- Critics of Colbert’s show question its comedic merit and bias, noting it largely reflects a left-leaning perspective and lacks diverse political representation, especially compared to past hosts like Johnny Carson and Jay Leno.
OPINION
Oh, this is just what we needed: a professor of gender studies to lecture us about how important late-night comedians like Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, et. al. are, especially in the era of Trump.
Meet Perin Gürel, who teaches in Notre Dame’s Dept. of American Studies and researches “the United States in the world and the world in the United States through transnational feminist lenses,” according to her faculty page.
In a Tuesday article in The Conversation, Gürel claims that currently, “fear of reprisals” has made “many people cautious about expressing their opinions” about President Trump.
But the one group that “has refused to back down” is television’s late-night funny men.
Yes, seriously.
“Jon Stewart and the rest of ‘The Daily Show’ team, for example, have been scathing in their coverage of the Epstein case,” Gürel writes. “John Oliver continues to amass colorful analogies for describing the president and his actions. [And] after the ‘Late Show’ was canceled, ostensibly due to financial reasons, host Stephen Colbert was defiant: ‘They made one mistake – they left me alive!’”
As is usual with The Conversation, at some point the author includes a sentence indicating what an “expert” he/she is, and in this case Gürel’s says “I’m a scholar who examines the intersections between culture and politics and I teach a class on ‘Humor and Power.’”
(She also teaches the courses “Transnational America,” “Gender and Popular Culture,” “Islam and Feminism,” and “American Conspiracies.”)
Gürel (pictured) claims the “timeless” folktale “The Bird Indifferent to Pain” can “help us understand why comedy fans enjoy the annoying persistence of the jester, and explain why this trope has endured across cultures for centuries.”
Sure, whatever. For towards the end of showing what (allegedly) great anti-Trump connections to the past she makes, Gürel admits there’s really nothing to worry about:
Authorities do perceive some danger in comedians’ output. In countries with fewer free speech protections, comedians may face more serious repercussions than a stern tweet.
In the case of Colbert, President Donald Trump’s gleeful response to the show’s cancellation, and his suggestion that others will be “next up,” shows just how seriously some political figures take comedic critique. At the very least, they are irritated.
That’s right – at most, Trump is “irritated” at leftist “comics” and might put out a mean tweet. If he really was the authoritarian so many say he is, he’d have locked up Colbert, Stewart, at. al. upon assuming office, would he not?
Ultimately, Gürel’s screed is another example of The Conversation’s laughable claim of being a “fact-based and editorially independent forum, free of commercial or political bias.”
The professor is no different than her far-left peers in attempting to scare readers into believing Trump is again showing fascist tendencies … especially given progressive politicians were threatening to use their power when it came to the Colbert situation.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James was asked to investigate “potential wrongdoing” by CBS parent company Paramount. Senator Elizabeth Warren said the cancellation “looked like bribery” and that the country “deserved to know if [the] show was cancelled for political reasons.”
Senator Adam Schiff expressed similar sentiments.
MSNBC’s Jacques Berlinerblau was even more overt than Gürel when news of Colbert’s cancellation broke. After insinuating Colbert may have been canned for making a joke about CBS’s settlement with the president over edits to last year’s “60 Minutes” Kamala Harris interview, Berlinerblau said Colbert “was quicker than most comedians to recognize the unique threats to liberal democracy presented by Trump.”
“It could also be argued that Trump and the MAGA movement recognized the unique threats to their legitimacy and cultural hegemony presented by comedic critics who broadcast to massive audiences,” he added.
Berlinerblau even claimed “most comedians are insanely brave (and, from the point of view of their physical safety, quite stupid) and can’t be cowed into censoring themselves.”
Yes, it’s really “brave” when you’re a voice in a vast “comedic” wilderness that echoes the same politics. Colbert echoes Stewart, who echoes Oliver, who echoes Jimmy Kimmel, who echoes Jimmy Fallon. And on and on.
Reality shows that Colbert was costing CBS $40 million per year, all the while raking in $15-20 million for himself annually. Some have pointed out he garnered the best ratings of the “Big Three” (Kimmel, Fallon), but so what?
The one – only – big name right-of-center comedic voice, Fox News Channel’s Greg Gutfeld, has better ratings than all of them … yet he remains on cable. (Admittedly this is not a totally fair comparison; Gutfeld currently airs at 10pm while Colbert, et. al. air at 11:30.)
Not to mention, calling Colbert’s show “comedy” is a real stretch. I’ve never seen the appeal of the guy, even back when he was part of Stewart’s show. Same with Kimmel; the once semi-funny co-host of “The Man Show” has transformed into a mewling baby who sheds actual tears when in a tantrum about Donald Trump.
The only marginally humorous host among the Big Three is Fallon, whose Saturday Night Live-inspired bits still elicit chuckles. And he was the only one brave enough to have Greg Gutfeld on as a guest.
When did you ever see a conservative on Colbert or Kimmel? That’s what I thought.
Late night king Johnny Carson was funny not only due to his comedic talent, but because he poked fun at both sides of the political aisle. Ditto his successor Jay Leno. Ditto David Letterman when he followed Carson’s show in the 1980s.
How does a “comedy” show, like Colbert’s (allegedly), bring on someone like Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren a total of 16 times??
Good riddance.
