John Oliver's Last Week Tonight brutally deconstructs Columbus Day, wants to replace it with Frank Sinatra Day
Most Americans don't celebrate Columbus Day anymore — few get the day off, and many people don't even remember it's a federal holiday until the mail doesn't come. John Oliver's Last Week Tonight marked the holiday with a brutal takedown.
The narrator starts out relatively gently, quipping that Columbus Day celebrates its namesake landing in the Bahamas in 1492, "starting a long tradition of obnoxious white people visiting Caribbean islands and acting like they own the place." Then things get more pointed: Columbus is "famous for his discoveries — specifically, the discovery that you can 'discover' a continent with millions of people already living on it, that had already been visited by Vikings around 500 years earlier." And then comes the animated bloodshed.
"So America's least-favorite holiday commemorates a murderous egomaniac whose most famous discovery was a case of getting lost and refusing to ask directions," the narrator intones. "Columbus Day — how is this still a thing?"
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.
To be fair, Last Week Tonight does note the Italian-American nature of the holiday. And as one-sided as this version of Columbus Day is, let's at least consider the show's recommendation to replace it with Frank Sinatra Day. Like Sinatra, this segment features some mildly NSFW language. Unlike Sinatra, it also has some cartoonishly graphic violence. --Peter Weber
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
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
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'His story should be here'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Not cross buns': the row over recipe revamps
Talking Point New versions of the Easter favourite have sparked controversy but sales are soaring
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
The England kit: a furore over the flag
Why everyone's talking about Nike's redesign of the St George's Cross on the collar of the English national team's shirt has caused controversy
By The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published