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Jon Stewart gives no f**ks anymore, goes all in on Fox, institutional conservatism

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He is spot on about Republicans ideology. This whole Tea Party crusade against Obama is treated like Good Vs. Evil. The evil guys want to raise your taxes, make America look bad, and pave the way for Sharia Law. America will destroyed if they win! But if conservatives win, we'll become God's blessed nation again, and we'll create jobs by cutting taxes, and we'll be the role model of the world we should be!
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
He is spot on about Republicans ideology. This whole Tea Party crusade against Obama is treated like Good Vs. Evil. The evil guys want to raise your taxes, make America look bad, and pave the way for Sharia Law. America will destroyed if they win! But if conservatives win, we'll become God's blessed nation again, and we'll create jobs by cutting taxes, and we'll be the role model of the world we should be!

I'm currently 250 pages deep into Whats the Matter with Kansas, an interesting examination of the radicalization of the right from a Kansas native (and high-school conservative turned college liberal). He makes no attempt to be "neutral" but its still a fascinating look at the events that occurred in the 70s through the 90s that have brought us to where we are today, especially how absolutely crucial the abortion blow-up in Kansas in the early 90s was
 
The difference is that TDS and 'liberal' media in general doesn't shy away from ripping on a Dem when they do or say something stupid.

By and large, the only way in which conservative media ever casts a critical eye to their party is through a third party liberal guest, who they've usually packed the panel against 4 or 5-to-1. Their panel's most salient rebuttals to this guest's points are to say "OH C'MON" and laugh derisively in unison.

Yeah, one of my favorite Daily Show bits was the one mocking liberals fighting against Cape Wind.
http://www.capewind.org/video/daily-show-jason-jones-180-nantucket
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
That's a rather specific humor POV.

True. I knew a guy who didn't understand humor as most people know it, at all. But people being tortured and mutilated (real, not fake) made him laugh his ass off.
Any guesses as to his political affiliation?
 

gdt

Member
Liberals more often than not are disappointed in Dems not being progressive enough.

I know I am.
 
True. I knew a guy who didn't understand humor as other people know it, at all. But people being tortured and mutilated made him laugh his ass off.
Any guesses as to his political affiliation?

Man child?

But I'm sure his political affiliation is directly correlated to his tastes in humor. /sarcasm
 
It's a lot harder to make fun of minorities and the poor without seeming like a dick than it is wealthy, privileged people. It's why attempts at conservative humor usually come off as mean spirited bullying.

Exactly. Comedy generally comes from an 'Inflict the comforted and comfort the inflicted' perspective. You punch upward at leaders and rich people. But the conservative viewpoint seems to worship 'the job creator' (one word away from 'the creator') and the powerful. So instead they mock the poor . . . which just comes off as mean-spirited. So their humor often comes off like the joke that Dug the dog in Up said.

Dug: Hey, I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, "I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead." Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9gHZPDh12g
 

Melon Husk

Member
They need to have a conservative comedian - also I can agree with Megan Kelly he got nasty as he went on.

Eh I like Fox News - I watch the Kelly File I think she's pretty spot on.

They can't because at its heart an ideological progressive vs. conservative issue. Conservatives by their ideology cannot introduce new ideas. The list of ideas (USA/UK) conservatives try to preserve does not matter. Not to mention you can't make fun of social issue that would appeal to broad public when your ideology supports individualism and each-to-their-own mentality.

The two sides don't fight with same weapons. Comedy is firing shots with cannons at the conservative castle, almost like to check that the castle stays up. If it crumbles, it wasn't worth keeping up anyway. That's how I feel at least.

Damn, beaten by speculawyer. Like he said, comedians fire shots at democrats too. Conservatives just provide a bigger target. Sure, you can ridicule anyone from the castle too, but it doesn't quite pack the same punch. Ridicule those who have nothing, and see how that goes.

TL;DR Comedy is necessary. It provides an important function. Conservatists will just have to deal with it. If they can't deal with it, they deserve to perish.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Man child?

I thought so.
Most people didn't see him that way. He was thrillseeking, hypermasculine, a hardcore alcoholic, and batshit crazy. He was a crab fisherman, a lumberjack, a carpenter, a plumber. One time he walked up to a bear and shot it in the face at point blank just to see what would happen.
 

jmood88

Member
They need to have a conservative comedian - also I can agree with Megan Kelly he got nasty as he went on.

Eh I like Fox News - I watch the Kelly File I think she's pretty spot on.
A fan of Fox who complains about someone being nasty makes no sense to me. Do you even pay attention to the things they say?
 
It's not a false equivalency. The post I responded to said that it's hard to have a political satire show when you're so convinced your side is right all the time, when that's demonstrably untrue given how convinced liberals are of being correct. Shows like TDS and Last Week thrive on having the correct perspective, and chastising and/or making fun of the wrong one.

Because those "perspectives" are almost always either massively hypocritical or they're "perspectives" on actual facts and they ways they twist logic to distort said facts.
 

massoluk

Banned
It's not a false equivalency. The post I responded to said that it's hard to have a political satire show when you're so convinced your side is right all the time, when that's demonstrably untrue given how convinced liberals are of being correct. Shows like TDS and Last Week thrive on having the correct perspective, and chastising and/or making fun of the wrong one.

No, that's not my post meant, Shig pretty much explained what I wanted to say. If you don't laughed at both sides' incompetency, you're ended up regurgitating the same jokes.
 

Shig

Strap on your hooker ...
It's not a false equivalency. The post I responded to said that it's hard to have a political satire show when you're so convinced your side is right all the time, when that's demonstrably untrue given how convinced liberals are of being correct. Shows like TDS and Last Week thrive on having the correct perspective, and chastising and/or making fun of the wrong one.
Everyone's going to believe they're right to a degree. That's healthy. But matured liberals seem to be a lot more flexible on their rightness having shades of gray, they're more willing to laugh at themselves and reexamine issues when something of merit challenges them. Matured conservatives go the other way, the longer they simmer in their party's dogma, the more they plant their feet into the ground when someone slights their Home Team, the more they view their rightness as an unimpeachable absolute. That's not healthy.
 
It's not a false equivalency. The post I responded to said that it's hard to have a political satire show when you're so convinced your side is right all the time, when that's demonstrably untrue given how convinced liberals are of being correct. Shows like TDS and Last Week thrive on having the correct perspective, and chastising and/or making fun of the wrong one.

I agree with this.
 
"liberal" satire shows are built and written on the fundamental belief that they're correct. That's why they're so sarcastic and pointed.

That is a fundamental misunderstanding. They're coming from a perspective of their values, which are the majority of America's values. It's not about being right. It's about being sincere, and shining a light on the absurdity from the right and make it as funny as possible, which they have been doing for over a decade.
 

Servbot24

Banned
Conservatives don't understand how humor works. They don't even understand irony or satire.

Irony and satire are usually just words to dress up sarcasm as something more than the lowest form of wit. Not a fan of Stewart for this reason. But that's just his personality, he is usually correct in the points he makes.
 

zychi

Banned
I don't understand why the Tea Party/Fox News isn't considered a non-violent terrorist organization in the US.

Blatantly lying and making up facts. Using a television station to push a made up agenda.

The best moment on Fox News ever, was Rove sitting there not giving up that Romney had clearly lost. Trying to calculate a way to skew the numbers on live television, while being dissed by people who backed him for so long.
 

Trey

Member
Because those "perspectives" are almost always either massively hypocritical or they're "perspectives" on actual facts and they ways they twist logic to distort said facts.

I don't disagree with this. But this is far different than saying that conservative humor doesn't work because they're convinced they're correct.

No, that's not my post meant, Shig pretty much explained what I wanted to say.

Okay.

Everyone's going to believe they're right to a degree. That's healthy. But matured liberals seem to be a lot more flexible on their rightness having shades of gray, they're more willing to laugh at themselves and reexamine issues when something of merit challenges them. Matured conservatives go the other way, the longer they simmer in their party's dogma, the more they plant their feet into the ground when someone slights their Home Team, the more they view their rightness as an unimpeachable absolute. That's not healthy.

I'm not at all inclined to believe this. We see often how staunch liberals can be. The major difference is they have the zeitgeist and contemporary scientific reasoning backing them more often than not. This difference, however, doesn't lampshade the fact that liberals can root for their side just as hard and irrationally as conservatives do theirs. This is the fundamental truth that binds the two conflicting ideologies, and too often people are willing to overlook this fact in order to "win."

I agree that conservative ideology leads to more harmful outcomes when executed, but that's ancillary to the point when discussing the meta surrounding these partisan topics, specifically humor. Further, I agree with another reason brought up in this thread, being that liberal humor subverts the establishment, or "punches up," while conservative humor tends to debase the poor. But in this very clip segment, Stewart takes a shot at the Fox News "demo"; that being confused and old - probably poor - people. No one side has a monopoly on anything.

That is a fundamental misunderstanding. They're coming from a perspective of their values, which are the majority of America's values. It's not about being right. It's about being sincere, and shining a light on the absurdity from the right and make it as funny as possible, which they have been doing for over a decade.

A lot of it is about being correct, or the other side being wrong, and plenty partisan topics covered by TDS or Last Week are not validated by the majority of Americans.
 
Don't know about all the time, but I know the Daily Show manipulated the hell out of a Denver Story a while ago that Jason Jones did. Certainly made me look at their segments a little more skeptically.
The thing is, that's a problem with all journalism; left, right, entertainment, crowdsourced, etc... Look at the reporting on virtually anything you know well, and you'll see all kinds of mistakes, omissions of relevant information, phrasings meant to make the story fit a narrative, and outright distortions.

Don't view The Daily Show a little more skeptically, view all journalism a lot more skeptically. They're fine for raising awareness of a story, but for understanding, you need to hit primary sources.
 

unsightly

Member
nothing will ever change until the conservative demographic dies of old age after being swindled out of their retirement by gold scams and the next generation becomes the 'oldest and therefore wisest'

ad infinatum. no amount of public debate will change anyone's viewpoint, ever.

people are dumb, world keeps spinning, news @ 11
 
nothing will ever change until the conservative demographic dies of old age after being swindled out of their retirement by gold scams and the next generation becomes the 'oldest and therefore wisest'
You'd like to think so but there is a lot of white rage building up in our younger generations and it's already manifesting itself in various neocon movements.
 

Carnby

Member
What would he make fun of?

Those evil feminists?
Those homosexuals?
Dirty poor people?
Young people?
Wrong-doing minorities?

It can't be done without looking hateful and elitist...which sums up modern conservatism

They could start with Sheila Jackson. That a season's worth of material right there.
 
"What's a fox characteristic?
Slick shit, sins in, misinformation
Pimp the station, over-stimulation
Reception, deception"

Nas - Sly Fox. That's fox news alright.
 

140.85

Cognitive Dissonance, Distilled
John Stewart said:
What matters to the right is discrediting anything that they believe harms their side.

Yes, only the right does this, John. It would be interesting to see him defend himself against criticism that doesn't come from a dumb FOX opinion show. But it's an easy target and it allows him to avoid thoughtful criticism that may make him uncomfortable.

edit: and another gem from straight from Stewart's bubble here:
...are so fucking relentless in their drive for ideological purity...

How could a guy of such Stewart's apparent rep be so blissfully unaware and hypocritical?
 

bionic77

Member
I'm sure it feels nasty to her. But the problems tend to be with the things she says. If she doesn't want to get mocked then don't say stupid & divisive shit.

fox2.jpg
Are you saying you don't believe in Santa?
 

AndyD

aka andydumi
I'm not at all inclined to believe this. We see often how staunch liberals can be. The major difference is they have the zeitgeist and contemporary scientific reasoning backing them more often than not. This difference, however, doesn't lampshade the fact that liberals can root for their side just as hard and irrationally as conservatives do theirs. This is the fundamental truth that binds the two conflicting ideologies, and too often people are willing to overlook this fact in order to "win."

I think there is a significant distinction between people who are right, and believe they are right, based on scientific proof or other facts, and people who think are right because of the ideology.

The main point is that it appears conservatives tend to ignore the facts in favor of the ideology in far greater numbers than liberals. Or if its on a spectrum, more conservatives are at the ideology extreme of the spectrum, than the more moderate middle which is fact based. And liberals tend to be more spread across those two categories.

Hence the famous saying that "truth has a liberal bias".
 
Conservatives can take a joke, liberals on the other hand get "triggered" or cry SJW foul. It's easy to make a joke about a group if they really don't give a shit.
 

PopeReal

Member
Conservatives can take a joke, liberals on the other hand get "triggered" or cry SJW foul. It's easy to make a joke about a group if they really don't give a shit.

Lol what. But I guess it is true that most of them don't give a shit about their fellow human beings. That got mine attitude.
 
A lot of it is about being correct, or the other side being wrong, and plenty partisan topics covered by TDS or Last Week are not validated by the majority of Americans.

I'm not sure what you think is insightful about pointing out that they believe their perspective is correct. Your take reads like flaky hand waving, to me.

Conservatives can take a joke, liberals on the other hand get "triggered" or cry SJW foul. It's easy to make a joke about a group if they really don't give a shit.

Really? I don't get that at all. I suppose if that's true, that goes to show how being the butt of the joke from the most successful and long running political comedy show for over a decade does have an affect.
 

Enron

Banned
Fox was the same news network that had that lady calling Lady Gaga's music Jigaboo music right? I can't help but feel someone put her up to that... You don't go around using the word Jigaboo without knowing what it means.... I mean its so obscure even as a racial slur.

Wasn't that just a local affiliate?

It always shocks me that people can't tell a difference between an affiliate and NBC/CBS/FOX news proper.

I don't understand why the Tea Party/Fox News isn't considered a non-violent terrorist organization in the US.


really?
 

Laekon

Member
You'd like to think so but there is a lot of white rage building up in our younger generations and it's already manifesting itself in various neocon movements.

I think this is very true. The worst thing about Fox News and similar political entities is them trying to direct the rage at minorities, gays, etc. instead of the established wealth. Look at Ted Cruz being the Tea Party darling while his wife is a Wall Street executive. Wall Street rewards companies for hiring illegal immigrants while the Tea Party gets people to blame the immigrants. Sure some in the Tea Party talk against Wall Street but they either do nothing or are not part of the power of the movement.

"Is the only job you can find paying minimum wage? Well don't think about your total salary, look at how much is taken by the government. If the illegal immigrants weren't living large off of government benefits you'd be better off. Your boss is a saint for providing you with work in these tough times."
 
I don't see what was all that different about this rant compared to others, honestly. Seems the same as he's been for the last decade.
 
Conan O'Brien was the guest? Will have to check out the full episode when I get home. It's always nice to watch two late night legends converse.
 

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
It's not a false equivalency. The post I responded to said that it's hard to have a political satire show when you're so convinced your side is right all the time, when that's demonstrably untrue given how convinced liberals are of being correct. Shows like TDS and Last Week thrive on having the correct perspective, and chastising and/or making fun of the wrong one.

While some TDS segments are like that, I'd say a good 50% examine evidenced hypocrisy or the making of claims which are demonstrably false.

It doesn't take an opposing ideaology in order to call someone out and make light of that. And as others have said, Stewart has done the same across both conservatives and liberals.
 
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