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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - returns Feb 12th 2017

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G

Geist-

Member
Great episode. I hear "Don't take what he says seriously" from conservative friends and family all the time, it drives me insane.
 
B

Belfast

Member
Vigilant Walrus said:
Not many hours left. It's been a long time, but it feels like even longer.






The Show has made some under the belt jokes about a lot of subjects. I get the sense that by having a go at himself, Oliver gets a lot more bandwith to make insensitive jokes about others. He is brutal on himself. I like it. If you look at his personality in interviews he does have a lot of self doubt and he is modest and hard on himself. I think it's who he is, and I think that if they tried to make him some tough morale crusader he'd be a lot more preachey and annoying to a lot people.

What this show offers is that people who might disagree completely with liberal policies will want to see it, just to have Oliver make fun of himself. And it's not just himself but also his british heritage and the way he looks.

Lastly, what he does is not something I see others doing. It's one of the things that sets Last Week Tonight apart. People who are self depricating harbor a lot of good will. It's easier to get away with cruel jokes if you're also roasting yourself.
Click to expand...

But that's kind of what most good humor is, isn't it? I've always felt what allows certain comedians to talk about certain things is that they are also able to turn that lens inwards.

"The world sure is fucked up in all of these ways, but hey, I'm fucked up, too."

It's about finding commonality in the bizarreness of the world and, ultimately, equalizing yourself with your audience by becoming relatable.

It's what allows Jim Jeffries to talk about ugly people because he knows he's not that attractive, himself. And there are other offensive comedians who have a certain schtick, but by and large those are stage personas that should be obvious to just about anybody.

And this is what, for lack of a better term, "conservative" humor doesn't get. This is why they're bad at it. Humor has to be punching up, not punching down. You take the piss out of those who think highly of themselves because you need to bring them down to your level (once again, equalizing). You don't start sending around chain e-mails or sharing Facebook memes about how much black people look and act like monkeys, because that only serves to push those groups down further. That's when it moves from humor to mean. That's bullying.

But if you can laugh at yourself and put all of your faults out there, as Oliver and many other celebrated comedians have done, it does give you incredible license to say almost anything you want. That says: I recognize how strange this world is, we're all kind of fucked up, but at least we get to be fucked up together.
 
M

Massive Duck. C.M.

Banned
This shit is kinda depressing. So many gullible, stupid people supporting Trump AND so many people unwilling to stop him from becoming president.

Thank God for my passport and visa
 
Vigilant Walrus

Vigilant Walrus

Member
Joeku said:
Case in point: Last Cuck Tonight with Johnny Trigger-Warning

Pre-empting the shitty jokes made against them undercuts that shit somewhat.
Click to expand...

Belfast said:
But that's kind of what most good humor is, isn't it? I've always felt what allows certain comedians to talk about certain things is that they are also able to turn that lens inwards.

"The world sure is fucked up in all of these ways, but hey, I'm fucked up, too."

It's about finding commonality in the bizarreness of the world and, ultimately, equalizing yourself with your audience by becoming relatable.

It's what allows Jim Jeffries to talk about ugly people because he knows he's not that attractive, himself. And there are other offensive comedians who have a certain schtick, but by and large those are stage personas that should be obvious to just about anybody.

And this is what, for lack of a better term, "conservative" humor doesn't get. This is why they're bad at it. Humor has to be punching up, not punching down. You take the piss out of those who think highly of themselves because you need to bring them down to your level (once again, equalizing). You don't start sending around chain e-mails or sharing Facebook memes about how much black people look and act like monkeys, because that only serves to push those groups down further. That's when it moves from humor to mean. That's bullying.

But if you can laugh at yourself and put all of your faults out there, as Oliver and many other celebrated comedians have done, it does give you incredible license to say almost anything you want. That says: I recognize how strange this world is, we're all kind of fucked up, but at least we get to be fucked up together.
Click to expand...


I agree with both of you completely.:D


I loved this episode. Consumer has the small pre-main story bits up on his YT :)
 
L

LurkerPrime

Member
Trump's handshake... "thing" is insane. I had no idea; I wouldn't believe it without the video footage. And equally insane is that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was ready for it.

But, yeah. An incredible episode of Last Week Tonight. I'm really glad to have John Oliver back on TV. I dunno if it was just the subject or what, but I found it a lot funnier than usual.
 
F

FlammableD

Banned
that slayed me
uF0KZ7Q.gif
 
T

Tom Nook Sawyer

Member
newtypepilot said:
another great episode

LOL that putin song at the end

and the shitting on the car WTF?!
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Speaking of which, did I misunderstand or did John's interjection into the song about "don't shit on my car" not make any sense since the song said he'd be the one shitting on Putin's car?

Loved the episode and song tho
 
E

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Seeing how Russians see Putin is scary because you can see the same cultish devotion some people have for Trump.
 
R

rec0ded1

Member
Einchy said:
Seeing how Russians see Putin is scary because you can see the same cultish devotion some people have for Trump.
Click to expand...

I hope they were just focusing on Putiners. I was under the impression that most Russians where just like "welp" since they couldn't do much to stand up to him so that segment was suprising. Is there any russianGAF to confirm?
 
K

Keasar

Member
Last Week Tonight: Putin

He is fucking scary, and my country has never had any good relationships with Russia. I can't imagine how the Finnish must feel right now with him right next door.
 
C

Chuck Norris

Banned
I get it's necessary right now and kind of hard to get away from Trump but I really miss some of the lesser known topics he was covering before the election ramp up

The Putin piece felt a little rushed together all things considered.
 
B

BatDan

Bane? Get them on board, I'll call it in.
*sees the dislikes* I see the Putin supporters found the video already.

"Current Year Sharia Man" I get "current year" but what the hell does "Sharia Man" mean?

UrbanRats said:
Dissing Human Centipede? Pre-order cancelled.

I do wish he would stop saying "...and this is real" and "it's true!", though.
Click to expand...

Some things are just so outlandish they're hard to believe. Hence his insistence that something is real.
 
L

Lkr

Member
BatDan said:
*sees the dislikes* I see the Putin supporters found the video already.

"Current Year Sharia Man" I get "current year" but what the hell does "Sharia Man" mean?



Some things are just so outlandish they're hard to believe. Hence his insistence that something is real.
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Its last cuck tonight with johnny trigger warnings it doesn't need to make sense!
 
D

Diprosalic

Banned
UrbanRats said:
Dissing Human Centipede? Pre-order cancelled.

I do wish he would stop saying "...and this is real" and "it's true!", though.
Click to expand...

Well its a comedy show and he says a lot of things that are obviously not true so it might be needed if he says something outlandish that is in fact true.
 
G

GCX

Member
Keasar said:
I can't imagine how the Finnish must feel right now with him right next door.
Click to expand...
I guess we're kinda used to it but it's not that bad, at least currently.

There was a long period when the Russian press tried to demonize Finland with all kinds made-up news about us kidnapping Russian children, etc. All those stories disappeared a while ago and there's even some positive reporting about Finland. That means Finland isn't the prime target for that kind of propaganda anymore and that it has shifted somewhere else.
 
M

Mivey

Member
Keasar said:
He is fucking scary, and my country has never had any good relationships with Russia. I can't imagine how the Finnish must feel right now with him right next door.
Click to expand...
I mean, Putin has been there a while now. You can't be terrified all the time, at some point you just get desensitized. "Oh, a maniac dictator that could destroy our country on a whim. Is it already Tuesday?"
 
N

Nordicus

Member
Mivey said:
I mean, Putin has been there a while now. You can't be terrified all the time, at some point you just get desensitized. "Oh, a maniac dictator that could destroy our country on a whim. Is it already Tuesday?"
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Putin visits Finnish president while talks even hinting at Nato are going on.

Putin (paraphrased): "This place is just as nice as I remember. This is what I so like about Finland, nothing ever changes here"

*entire country sighs in annoyance*

At some point you grow used to the "would be a shame if something happened to it" mafia talk.
 
Vigilant Walrus

Vigilant Walrus

Member
That woman who was convinced that putin really found rare jugs from swimming...


It just makes me sad. It just tells you how far manipulation has gone in Russia.
 
M

mnz

Unconfirmed Member
Pretty weak episode. Bunch of old stuff about Russia, Trump and whataboutism. The song was great, though.
 
L

Lord Frieza

Member
Nothing really new here about Putin, but I guess it's worth dragging some of this stuff up again considering all that's going on. Makes you wonder just want the breaking point is for these dictators, though. Not necessarily to their followers, since brainwashing is a powerful thing, but to the people within the government who aren't all kool-aid drinkers and realize that, 'Holy shit, this dude is insane and there's really just no way to keep this shit up without everything following apart at some point.' I know, lining the pockets and surrounding yourself with people who align with your general beliefs and worldview does wonders upon wonders, but still, I have to contemplate if Putin and other dictators aren't looking over their back all the time, because you that somewhere at the top, there is someone who knows the real deal.
 
H

Hazmat

Member
Chuck Norris said:
I get it's necessary right now and kind of hard to get away from Trump but I really miss some of the lesser known topics he was covering before the election ramp up

The Putin piece felt a little rushed together all things considered.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's only been two episodes but I hope the more interesting topics (seed faith, for-profit schools, etc) come back. This Putin segment was especially dull.
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
I hope Oliver devotes an episode to the corrupting influence of the oil industry at some point this season. Given the people that Trump has in his administration it's needed.
 
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