Taking Stephen Colbert seriously
Why conservatives think Comedy Central’s faux right-wing blowhard secretly agrees with them
“Do conservatives not understand that Stephen Colbert is joking?” said Steve Johnson in the Chicago Tribune. A new study out of Ohio State University found that political leanings had a predictable effect on whether undergrads took the “faux-foaming right-winger” at face value or got his “deadpan satire.” The study’s authors say it isn’t that conservatives don’t get the joke—they think the joke’s on the liberals whom Colbert openly pillories. (watch Stephen Colbert's anti-gay-marriage ad)
“Talk about a vast right-wing conspiracy!” said Mande Wilkes in FITSNews. If I have this straight, Republicans think Colbert is using his right-wing “shtick” to “infiltrate and undermine the leftist media” through a type of “dog-whistling”—only conservatives hear the true humor. Did we need more proof that the GOP is “way out of touch”?
What the study really shows, said Lee Drutman in Miller-McCune Magazine, is that Colbert is “so pitch-perfectly ambiguous” that people see in him a reflection of themselves, like a “fun-house mirror to the deepest recesses of your political soul.” So conservatives see a conservative? That just means Colbert is a talented satirist.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published