Jon Stewart Is Still A god
August 26th, 2008
I am a huge fan of Jon Stewart. Huge, huge fan. He repeatedly uses humor to show how absurd each of us, myself included, can be, and how we can all be guilty of taking our own petty theories and looking for data points to confirm those theories and hence our biases and view of the world. Yet we ignore, over and over and over, the data points that refute how we see the world, how we wish the world to be, and/or that we cannot explain. Humans often do this because we can be lazy as a species and/or do not want to move from our developed country wired way of thinking and comfort zone.
Here are several pieces of advice I give people before they travel to China and/or India for a business trip like ours:
1. Watch and observe. Don’t preach to our hosts about our culture and way of doing things until and before you have taken ample time to learn about their history, culture, demographics, politics, businesses, industries, economy, etc.
2. Things in the world happen for a reason. This includes things that happen in China and India. Look for and study what that reason is. This is your charge and my expectation for you as educated graduate students.
3. China is what it is. India is what it is. Accept that. Get over it. Resist the American tendency to “wonderfulize” or “awfulize” what you see there until you have studied it fully and thoroughly. Depending on the complexity of the issue, this may mean you have to return two, three or more times before you understand what you are seeing. High level learning and personal growth are hard, hard work that require ownership, persistence and endurance.
Exhibit A and B for how we can learn more about a country, and ourselves, and some of the above lessons/advice, through satire and humor:
A. Click HERE (watch each of the brief listed clips) for this special show/feature by John Stewart on the Olympics. In this segment he also, in my view, takes the Chinese to task for some of their own inconsistencies. This is perfectly fair and appropriate, in my view. Absurdity goes both ways. (I have read Phillip Pan’s book, Out of Mao’s Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China, by the way — an excellent book and read.)
B. Click HERE for my earlier post and this prior short segment by Jon Stewart on partisan politics, hackery and hypocrisy, by both political parties in the US. I.e., neither side or party seems that interested, really, in helping us learn more about China (the problem appears to be less acute for India given its democracy status) and how to more effectively interact with the Chinese.
Yes, Jon Stewart remains a god.
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, Beijing, China
34 Comments Add your own
1. Andrea Muntzel | December 11th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I think the thing I love best about Jon Stewart is that in order to truly appreciate the hilarity and cleverness of the show, you have to be relatively well-informed about current events and history. In order to get to the ‘meat’ of the show—the true social commentary—you have to be extremely informed. It’s interesting to see a show that uses sarcastic and somewhat-lewd humor combined with genuine social commentary to appeal to such a diverse audience.
I think open mindedness will be one of the most important things in China and India, especially since confirmation bias is what human beings naturally fall into when things are difficult to process cognitively. It’s a way for our brains to simplify the hundred million things that it is faced with on a daily basis. Awareness that this is our psychological nature is the first step to getting past that initial tendency to confirm our preconceptions, and to subsequently move past them.
Jon Stewart is hilarious; I liked the part about the chotsky industry.
2. David McKinnon | December 12th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Interesting comment from Philip Pan regarding the purpose of the opening ceremonies of China. The Chinese government wasn’t only trying to show the rest of the country that a one-party system can work, but the government used that opportunity to try and gain more trust and support from their own people.
I think the Chinese government realizes that as its people grow in wealth and education that it will be that much harder to keep the single party. Usually a free market leads to competing parties. If the Chinese government wants to stay as it is they must prove itself to its evolving society.
3. Ashley Breneman | December 12th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Jon does a good job keeping us honest when we look for evidence to support our preconceptions. By definition there’s nothing wrong with looking for data to support our ideas– that’s actually part of the scientific method. Things go wrong when we don’t do what Jon Stewart is doing when he analyzes our “data” with a sense of relativity. The truth is, the air is bad there and it probably isn’t good for the athletes at least to some extent. Is it so bad that the Olympics should be moved elsewhere? No, not even close. And if there are attached agenda’s to make Beijing look bad then that is also unacceptable. The bottom line is everyone will have built-in views and initial reactions that are difficult or impossible to control, but our response and how we deal with the initial reactions affect our experience.
4. Oscar Merlin | December 13th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Good point by Philip Pan that we have assumed that free markets will lead to more freedoms in a country. And excellent question by Jon on why we have two totally different approaches with Cuba and China. Makes me wonder of all of the other ‘American’ view points that we as US citizens try to impose on the rest of the world.
This whole analysis makes me feel that we think we are superior to the rest of the world and that the way we see things should be the only way in which everyone else should see the rest of the world.
Would we think differently if the US had a population as big as China? Would we have less freedoms than the Chinese people do? Think about it. Here at home drive by any agricultural fields, and take a second to stop and ask if people HERE enjoy the many freedoms that you have. Ask enough people and you’ll that there will be two or three people who are not able to enjoy the things that the rest of us take for granted.
Anyways, I hope my tone doesn’t sound negative, but I think that sometimes I feel that we look so far out and try to fix those problems before we solve our own. Even with the ’small’ population that we have when compared to China.
5. Raquel Rusing | December 15th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I appreciate that Jon Stewart never hesitates to expose America for our hypocrisies.
“What if your government got together and decided you weren’t cute?” Ha.
We are too quick to judge other countries for what Americans do themselves. We criticize China for our own embarrassments: lip-synching at an event (cough! Ashlee Simpson on SNL, Britney Spears in Vegas) and for making young girls self-conscious (Mary-Kate Olsen who suffered from Anorexia to maintain a thin image in Hollywood, Jean-Benet Ramsey, a 5-year-old, dolled up like a 20-year-old for beauty pageants).
The opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics were supposed to show the world that China can compete at our level. And China succeeded… they manufactured a production that rivaled Hollywood and they learned to do that from the best, didn’t they? They used Hollywood techniques to achieve that image. A performer isn’t good looking enough? Replace them. Find someone more attractive. We do it every day. We support superficiality and embrace the superfluous need for perfection. There were over 11 million plastic surgeries performed in the US in 2006… of which 400,000 were breast implants! Oh yes, EVERYONE needs bigger breasts to be happier in life.
But what is still interesting is that we watch Jon’s show… we laugh at his jokes… we recognize the irony and yet we sit by, idol to our moral convictions, and allow Hollywood to suck us back into their world. How many children does Brangelina have now?! I can’t enjoy my cereal without knowing!! Janet Jackson is pregnant?! How could I have gotten through my day without that information! It’s sad how quickly we then forget that behind Jon’s humor was a warning to reject the hypocrisy.
I’ve always thought Jon Stewart was a god. As a personal side note, I found this to be just too funny:
“If you can judge someone’s age by their chin then Jay Leno must be 127!!” [on the forensic analysis/facial scanning of the scandal regarding the Chinese gymnastics team being younger than 16]
6. Morgan O'Hara | December 17th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I remember when Jon Stewart hosted the Oscars, and most of the celebrities wore poker faces when he made fun of them. But trust me, he was funny. Those few that laughed, those are the only cool ones, I bet.
Jon Stewart is unabashedly liberal, but he’s also self-deprecating. I can understand why some don’t like The Daily Show, but it forces us to notice the absurdities of our government. While I don’t really watch TV, my old man swears by The Daily Show. He says it’s the best news on TV. Though often exaggerated, it forces us to think. Stewart catches stuff which is neglected by the mainstream media.
FYI, in Italy, il belpaese, Prime Minister Berlusconi fired journalists who made fun of him, and shut down shows that did the same. And that’s in Europe. Which is why, I think, we should be thankful we’ve got shows like Stewart’s.
7. Michael Mossman | December 17th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Phillip Pan brought up a good point that the Chinese have been successfully growing and developing over the past thirty years and the government is still in place and seems strong. The Chinese people have had no reason to try and overthrow their government because there have been millions of people pulled out of poverty and the standard of living in China has been improving; why change a good thing. It is going to be interesting to see in the coming years how China handles the global slumping economy as millions of Chinese workers loose their jobs. Are the people of China going to stand up? I have no idea right now; the situation is extremely complex.
Jon Stewart is a great guy and I truly commend him for going on Crossfire to give his two cents on how the major news media is screwing up. Stewart’s point was proved even more when the hosts would not give him an uninterrupted minute to speak and not even take his thoughts and views into consideration. I believe one of the biggest problems in American politics and media is many simply do not consider the other sides input or thoughts. Many politicians simply say it’s my way or no way; this attitude gets everyone nowhere. Keep up the good work Jon!
8. Josh Hickman | December 23rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
The segment with Rob Riggle made me realize the freedoms that we have in the United States in terms of free press and surveillance. Seeing so many police officers and military guards at almost every corner was surprising, but does China have some success in doing this? I know parts around our country are starting to have more security cameras around, whether it me office buildings or large intersections, but should the United States take on a bigger effort to me more of a big brother?
Copying China and getting more public security systems might make criminals think twice before committing a crime in fear of getting caught by one of these systems. Maybe this could be a solution to our so called ‘terrorist problem’ but it would require for us to give up a little privacy. Knowing you may be watched could feel a little uncomfortable, but would America be willing to get used to it in order to feel a little safer at night in a big city? There are even places that use security cameras that do not even record or hook up to anything, but they are only there to instill the fear that “hey pal, don’t steal stuff from my store because you are on camera” even though that it is nothing but a shiny metal and plastic paperweight. Just a thought…
9. Chris Carr | December 23rd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
It’s my understanding that the city of London is, or is in the top echelon, of the most surveillanced cities in the world. Makes Beijing look like a corner store 7-11.
10. Jason Larocco | December 27th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
You can always count on Jon Stewart and The Daily Show to provide a good reality check. Sometimes you can get so caught up in mainstream media reports that you forget to question the hypocrisy of some of it. The Daily Show of course is not a great information source, but it is very good at reminding us to question the information that we received and to put that information into a proper perspective within our lives. For example who cares that the Chinese girl was lip sinking? How does that really impact our lives? Was that alone really news worthy? It was slightly more interesting that the Chinese government was concerned enough about physical looks that they would force the situation. Obviously Americans are not the only ones that put a lot of weight in physical appearance.
11. Jenna Healy | December 30th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I love Jon Stewart, and any comedian willing to face controversial topics head on. They help us justify what many of us think but are unwilling or afraid to admit. Americans point fingers at other people, all too easily. We have set standards for the rest of the world to follow, but when they do (i.e. lip syncing at the Olympic games in Beijing’s opening ceremony) we criticize.
Rob Riggle’s skit was hilarious. Even with a “pocket translator,” he was unable to communicate with the native Chinese. His spin on their cameras, their army, their Authoritarian state and information was quite comical, but as Andrea expressed, to fully understand Jon Stewart’s spin on comedy, you have to be well informed. Rob Riggle’s skit was a perfect example. You must know what policies exist in China currently to appreciate the satire.
Phillip Pan’s explanation of China wishing to prove itself upon the world via the Olympics was interesting, and logical. Also, his view of the decreasing amount of leverage the American people have over the Chinese was spot on. Jon Stewart is great at getting quality information out of interviewees yet creating a comical atmosphere. A person lacking basic knowledge of China may not get all the jokes, however. I read somewhere that if you laugh while learning, you remember more…
And you have to enjoy Bela Karolyl’s enthusiasm for gymnastics ☺ I was watching that day and laughed again the second time around.
12. Nick Chamness | January 4th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
The chin reference to Jay Leno was classic! You have to love the John Stewart approach to news. Unlike major news anchors, John is not afraid of just laying it out there for everyone to see and here Nobody can get mad at him because his is on Comedy Central for crying out loud!
Although much of what he does and says has more emphasis on entertainment than hard facts, there is still much to be learned. He forces the viewer to really take a step back and look at the ridiculousness of everyday life. His producers are pretty damn good and scanning the news for very classic moments. I mean who really puts that face lady on their prime time news program as a credible source for determining the gymnasts’ age?
13. Mark Polydoris | January 5th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I remember seeing this episode on Comedy Central when it first came out, and after reading The Post-American World, I think Riggle and Stewart do a good job of summarizing the main points of the Zakaria’s book in pretty hilarious ways.
I think Riggle says it best: “After seeing a man who could run on air, a wall of human peeps, and the Chinese death star, I realized one thing: we are f$#%*! China is definitely going to take over the world.” Genius.
As much as Philip Pan says that the Olympics were China’s way of proving its power to its own people, I think the Olympics were probably many Americans’ first real ‘encounter’ with the new-and-improved China. And while China may not become our “future overlords” just yet, the Olympics demonstrated that it is time to take China much more seriously, and it is time to view China as a place more complex than just the birthplace of laundry, kung-pao, and Kung-Fu.
The Olympics also draw a parallel to their rising economy with their increase in medals won at the games. Even though the US still won the most amount of medals, the increase in medals won for the Chinese from this year to the last summer games is pretty dramatic. This cool NY Times online ‘medal map’ shows it well: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/04/sports/olympics/20080804_MEDALCOUNT_MAP.html
14. Jimmy Spann | January 7th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
“If they really wanted to hurt us they just stop making our crap” – John Stewart. This sounds so simple and it would probably really hurt us, but it would hurt them as well. Many Chinese rely on our company outsourcing the production of its products to China. But it is a very good question to ask. What would happen if they decided to stop making our “crap” and decided to make only products for the Chinese. At some point, as their economy grows, there will be Chinese opening up their own companies with their own ideas and products and it will be interesting to see what they all decide to do. I do not predict that this would be anytime soon.
I do think that John Stewart is hilarious and enjoy watching his skits and laughing at his jokes. His jokes are even funnier when you actually know the whole news story before hand. Many of his jokes are funny on their own, but are even funnier when you have a little background on the topic.
I am glad that he is able to make jokes about many of the news stories. It gives a very unique perspective on the news.
I do like the link that Mark provided. It is interesting to see how the United States seems to have a large chunk of the medals on a consistent basis, while others seem to have good years and bad years.
15. Eric White | January 9th, 2009 at 1:49 am
I liked the clip where John Stewart was talking seriously to the Crossfire hosts (though he still had a few good one liners). Especially when the guy in the bow tie asked Stewart which candidate (George W. Bush or John Kerry) would provide better material for The Daily Show. I really appreciated Stewart’s responce. Though he openly supports Kerry, Stewart explained how his show and comedy is not based on making fun of a certain political party. I think Stewart assumes (as I do) that the vast majority of politicians have good intentions, meaning that each side is, in their view, acting in the best interest of the country. Stewart doesn’t mock the opposing party for believing something different, his comedy is based on how both parties present the ‘facts’ of their argument.
I admit I havent watched much of The Daily Show, but after watching the Crossfire clip, I really think it is important for someone to be pointing out inconsistencies in government, and kudos to Stewart for making it entertaining!
16. eric White | January 9th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I just noticed my last comment was for another post..
At any rate.. I didnt like these olympic clips of the Daily show as much as the Crossfire clip, however there was one point I thought very true. When Stewart was making fun of foreigners (to China) trying to find something wrong with the Olympic Games. It is almost like other countries were expecting or atleast hoping something would go terribly wrong so they could prove on the world’s stage that Communism is bad. Seems petty but it may well be atleast partially true.
17. Amy Cook | January 14th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I no longer get Comedy Central and forgot how much I love these guys…
Both John Stewart and Stephen Colbert had great comedic coverage of the Olympics this summer. Their ability to make fun of the news organizations that were shadowing the games in controversy and scandal was refreshing. I particularly appreciated the piece where he pointed out “what 16-year-olds are supposed to look like” and then showed a shot from one of our ridiculous over-sexualized prime-time television shows.
I’ve been watching The Daily Show since high school, and before that I watched The John Stewart Show on MTV, (a less sophisticated talk-show program). I always saw John Stewart more as a comedian than a political commentator. It wasn’t until I saw him interviewed on a few other shows, (like the “Hardball” clip) and saw him really get serious with people that I began to see how passionate he really is about our country and righting the flaws within our system.
I don’t believe you necessarily have to be well-informed to enjoy or understand the program, (Ditto for the Colbert Report). Some consider John Stewart too liberal and might argue that it would be a bad idea for uninformed young people to watch the program because they wouldn’t be developing a balanced opinion. However, our real news agencies aren’t balanced either and John Stewart is as quick to laugh at liberals who are out of line as he is republicans. Even my conservative, veteran father loves The Daily Show. I guess he just has a good sense of humor.
18. Justin Miller | January 17th, 2009 at 10:53 am
I have been a big fan of the daily show and the colbert report for a really long time. I can’t stand the regular news and how they try to build up their pointless stories. I think you have to understand that those shows aren’t real news organizations, and while they do cover real stories, you have to take what they say with a grain of salt. John Stewart is obviously liberal, but he makes fun of everyone, and every party. One of my favorite shows last year was when he made a joke about Obama and the audience was silent. He then said, “You know, it’s ok to laugh at him.”
I also really enjoyed that episode about China. I like that he makes fun of some of the ridiculous things about their country and the ridiculous things about our country at the same time. Many times Americans can get so full of pride at the way our country is that we forget that we aren’t perfect either. Like with the American six flags ad, and the fact that so many people were outraged at the Spanish basketball team. I’m really glad John Stewart exists, the news just wouldn’t be the same without him.
19. James McMillan | January 18th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
The Daily show is definitely one of my favorite programs. While it is a comedy show I do feel that I walk away more informed after watching it. I don’t think anyone could say it is a good news source but if you are somewhat informed about the topics ahead of time it does force you to think about things from a different point of view. A great example of this was the China Olympics clip where he pointed out how the media was so quick to expose any sort of controversy going on in with the Olympics in China. He’s basically reminding viewer to take the news you hear on TV with a grain of salt. Just because they are reporting on a particular topic does not mean that it’s new worthy. At the end of the day, news programs really just want you to watch their program so they can sell adds. That means they are going to try and find the topics that will get the most attention and if that means they have to sensationalize a meaningless topic like the lip sinking incident in place of more relevant news topics then that’s what they will do. Unfortunately, I feel that it is a news programs’ ratings that dictates what gets reported and what does not.
20. Patrick Johansing | January 21st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
The clip about the singer and the stand-in was perfect. It showed how ridiculous both China and America can be. Our media tried to make a mountain of every mole hill they could find. The Chinese government thought that little girl was too ugly to sing in public. It’s impressive how many absurdities he found.
21. Jamie Hastings | February 8th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Jon Stewart is funny. He has the ability to call every American out for their misconceptions about China, its people, and the government. I too was interested that China is most interested in impressing its own people over the rest of the world. I guess It makes a lot of sense. If you want to look good for the rest of the world have a country full of content citizens.
22. Cece Reyes | February 13th, 2009 at 11:06 am
The freedom that Jon Stewart has in reporting the news is refreshing. His ability to bring out the comedic element in real news stories is entertaining and gives an alternative perspective. Many times traditional media does have a tendency to dramatize little things such as the lip-sync when it is nothing that we as a culture have not done ourselves. His show is one of the few news-based shows where I find myself laughing at loud at the irony in new stories.
I do think that some of his “man on the street” sequences, while funny, might be detrimental for Americans who are not able to decipher between comedy and reality. The show is going for the laugh, not the real insider view of the Chinese people.
23. Victoria Rodriguez | February 13th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I tend to watch the Colbert Report, but equally like Jon Stewart. On the Colbert Report, I especially laugh when Colbert interviews people who take themselves so seriously - as though their mission in life will be set into motion on the Colbert Report show.
24. Andre Ourthiague | February 14th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
The interview with Philip Pan screams Zakaria. The over-reaching theme of Post-American World is that the rise-of-the-rest is not coincide an American demise. Philip Pan echoed these sentiments. China’s growth is not an devious plan aimed at world domination, rather out of necessity for maintaining one-party control.
The dialogue between Jon and Philip highlighted a fatal flaw that many Americans (myself included) have in there heads; It is very easy to fall into the assumption that the world revolves around the United States. But, as Philip Pan put it, “They’re primarily concerned with staying in power. It’s a system addicted to economic growth.” China is operating with its own interests first and foremost. Understanding China begins with the realization that they are interested in their own motives, not America’s.
25. David Caldwell | February 20th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I really do enjoy watching the Daily Show - it’s pretty much the only show our whole family can watch together when we go home, but I think it’s sad that it’s the primary news source for many Americans; it’s pretty much the farthest you can get away from objective journalism.
That being said, the producers of this show have recognized a great business opportunity, and seem to have found something that makes its viewers return again and again; Jon Stewart definitely has the country’s ear.
26. Xiaofei Song | February 21st, 2009 at 8:39 pm
When I am watching this video, I feel like watching a clown jumping on the screen. I don’t think it is funny to watch any show like this. If all the Americans watched this and believed him, the only thing I will say is I feel sorry for them. All these clips are based on Jon’s own interpretation. He stands in a foreigner’s view to see China. If he really understand Chinese culture, I don’t think he will come up the show like this. As a Chinese native, there is nothing really impress me. I don’t have too much to common on these videos. I feel they are jokes.
27. Alex vanDalen | February 21st, 2009 at 8:43 pm
In the begging Jon Stewart truly was a breath of fresh air. His satire was a new take on American’s obessive consumption of mass media “journalism” … or is it propaganda?.
Regardless, as the years have worn on the high spirited humor seems to have been replaced, especialy in the later Bush years and today, by a sense of self-riteousness that is never very funny from anyone, lest of all a comedian.
Often, for a variety of reasons, people become similar to the very things that they dislike and try to fight against. Jon Stewart has had a good run, but sadly he has become another talking head propagating the same issues found elsewhere in mainstream media.
The fact is that my generation looks to the likes of Stewart and Colbert AS the news and the powers that be realize this. Legitimate news programs invite him for debate and politicians and advertizers court his influence. No longer an independant voice, he has become just another of the many pre -packaged and pre-approved media feeds that diseminate the same tainted information (in an even simpler format) to an already lombotomized population.
He does make me laugh though… and for what its worth comedy is at least a noble pursuit… america needs more laughter.
28. Mark Wegemer | March 4th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Jon Stewart always warms the hearts of Americans with comical finger pointing to the ridiculousness that is the journalism media. It’s hilarious to think that he compares a lot like Saturday Night Live used to do with the American current events. Although his crude comments on cultures and people can be disheartening, he points out basic fallacies from reports on different societies.
I’m not going to take what Jon Stewart likes to make funny as truthful, but rather formulate my own opinions with somewhat unbiased reports from nytimes and sometimes cnn. However, he does throw a twist and that is what appeals to Americans.
29. Jessica Harris | March 5th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I have to say that I agree with Andrea. This is the first thing that I noticed about the clip. Even though it is hilarious, Jon Stewart is extremely well educated on the topics that he discusses.
I also love how Jon makes fun of American’s by showing all the contradictions that we have in our country. It always seems as though we just want to point fingers at the things that other countries do that are wrong when we have a whole host of our own issues. I loved how he brought up the point about the forensic artist proving that the members of the Chinese gymnast team were younger than sixteen because their chins were too small. I guess we are so competitive that we will come up with any excuse to explain why we lost.
Lastly, I have to agree with the points that Michael made about the comment Phillip Pan made about the huge amount of people that have been lifted out of poverty in the past thirty years. I could not have said it better myself. No, one wants to change a good thing, but it is also too that all good things come to an end. I am curious as well to see how things will eventually play out for the Chinese government as well as the people.
30. Andrew Welborn | March 5th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
This was a great episode that helps to keep us grounded as we try to find faults in others. I remember during the Olympics I was somewhat upset that they would do take away a proud moment for a little girl. It took commentators like Jon to show me how absurd the U.S. is as well. As Americans we often point our fingers and forbid or strike down others often for what we ourselves do. It takes an open mind to really truly see the world, only then may we have a chance of “preaching” about a better way of doing things.
I guess we will find out when we get there if the police presence is still as looming as it was in the clip. I know everyone says it is just for the Olympics, but I have a feeling even at a diminished level it will be much more prevalent than we are used to.
31. Matthew Neal | March 9th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
I love watching John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. They definitely have a knack for pointing out our own faults in a humorous way. The thing I really appreciate about the two shows is that they don’t try and masquerade around as “news” like some of the “real” news stations like MSNBC and FOX news. At least when I watch Comedy Central with these two I know I will enjoy they content and don’t have to take it too seriously.
FOX and MSNBC have simply become a “my side is better than yours” new stations that seem to never report real news anymore. I think this is the main reason that John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have become so popular over the past couple years. They see the political system for what it is; a system full of holes, exaggeration, hypocrites, and idiosyncrasies. I definitely enjoyed this special on the Olympics and how he manages to point out serious issues comically while still being insightful and getting people to talk and think about issues that matter. Colbert and Stewart are definitely talented actors and comedians, who manage to share important information to their viewers while still giving them something to think about. I believe there was a survey recently put out and it turned out that viewers of the Colbert Report and the Daily Show were more politically in tune on certain issues than viewers of news organizations such as FOX, and BBC. Pretty sad statistic…. Some of one of the poles can be found here http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/16/daily-show-fox-knowledge/
32. Ashley Breneman | March 14th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Professor Carr…I am sad to say I have never seen an episode of Jon Stewart before today and I have no idea why! He is absolutely hilarious! I thought the first segment on crossfire was ridiculous. The fact that both the hosts were accusing him of not asking the politicians enough relevant questions and being too soft just didn’t make sense to me. Did they realize that Jon Stewart is a comedian and the point of watching his shows is to laugh not to watch a debate like you would on a news channel. It seemed more as a cheap shot because neither of the men knew how to respond to the fact that they were being criticized in front of millions of people. I guess they don’t like being on the other side!
The videos about China were another story. I loved how he confronted all the stereotypes and then turned them around to make Americans seems just as ridiculous. I feel like his view on the whole topic was to almost make fun of the way we handled the situation and we were pretty much “sore losers”! I could not stop laughing after he made the comment responding to the woman who can tell a person’s age by their chin and then referenced Jay Leno. I need to start watching this guy more often!!!
33. Logan J Travis | March 15th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Xiaofei, I hope you don’t mind me borrowing a quote from your response: “All these clips are based on Jon’s own interpretation. He stands in a foreigner’s view to see China. If he really understand Chinese culture, I don’t think he will come up the show like this.”
I’ll admit to bursting out in laughter watching these clips (as I usually do with Jon Stewart). However, Xiaofei’s view makes me wonder about our primary news sources in this country. I’ve made a concerted effort to read the Wall Street Journal at Professor Carr’s recommendation. It has helped me gain a greater understanding of issues facing this country over the last half-year. Yet, its limitation as a print media is in opinion formation. A newspaper has no personality and so I can more freely form my own views.
TV newscasts add faces, voices, and a relationship to their information. In the case of Jon Stewart, he can implant a strong opinion with one-liners and his more lengthy skits conjure real belief. How hypocritical do we look as Americans speaking on free-press when our media imposes as much (if not more) restriction on free-thought as an authoritarian government?
34. Matt Eves | March 20th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I hope I remember to watch these videos again before going on the trip in June. He points out all to well the ridiculous hypocrisy and stereotypes that somehow make it into our society and pollute it destructively. The lip sync clip is awesome.
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