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Julian Wheating
WRTG3020
7/26/11
The Report
Many of us have seen, read, or at least heard of a man by the name of Stephen
Colbert. He is the star of his own satirical show on Comedy Central that reviews the
political happenings of today’s complex political system. His show ‘The Colbert
Report’ beats both Leno and Letterman in the night talk show category for the ages
of 18 to 34 ( ). He is the political-comedian and brainchild of the star of ‘The Daily
Show’, Jon Stewart.
Colbert has transformed the world of politics from one dominated by old,
traditional beliefs and brought it into the eye of the younger generation in a way
that is funny, exciting, and understandable. Colbert does this completely through
various types of humor techniques. He uses the Burkean satirical frame to create an
ethos for himself. He points to hidden meanings by being excessively exaggerated.
The effectiveness of his show and expressed values has been tremendously
successful. He has raised millions of dollars for various charities as well as
captivated and educated his audience. Katherine Reutter commented in the Chicago
Tribune, “That one man can have so much influence over an audience is fascinating.”
( Chicago tribune) What makes Stephen Colbert so successful? How does his humor
connect with his audience? Why has his humor become such an effective method of
persuasion? What, if any, is the real impact of his comedy on the policies and views
of the politicians in the United States and how has it changed the way they
campaign?
The focus of Colbert’s motives and methods are exemplified through the
rhetorical speech he gave at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006. This
speech directly and indirectly slanders many important issues going on in the US
and around the world. Colbert insults Bush to his face and does it to the pleasure of
the people in the crowd. The only other time this type of continued abuse happens
is when celebrities agree to go on Comedy Central’s ‘Roast’ in which the goal of the
show is to brutally embarrass the person. Colbert targets Bush’s approval rating at
the dinner, which is terribly low at the time, by saying, “pay no attention to the
people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it's 2/3 empty. There's
still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is
usually backwash.” ( ) He continues to sarcastically mock the validity of the
approval polls saying, “they reflect what people are thinking in ‘reality’.” ( ) Colbert
starts by taking Bush’s side but quickly uses a familiar phrase to turn against him.
Colbert enforces the reality of the bad approval rating by putting it into a
recognizable anecdote (glass half full/empty). Colbert then uses exaggeration and
satirical sarcasm to bring the validity of these polls into question. As listeners we
know that Colbert is mocking his own questions of reality because he uses his
fingers to put quotations around the word ‘reality’. Colbert uses these types of
obviously wrong suggestions to emphasize the horrible approval-rating Bush had.
Not only does Colbert poke fun at Bush’s approval rating but he also attacks
Bush’s foreign policy in Iraq. In a bold and sarcastic tone, Colbert says, “I believe the
government that governs best is the government that governs least.” Colbert speeds
up and trails off saying, “And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous
government in Iraq. ”(transcript ) It is important to note that the way Colbert
delivers this punch line comes quickly and clearly, and by doing so hits the audience
harder than if delivered slowly like the first part of the joke. He starts off with a
serious line relating to government and quickly applies it to our own war in Iraq.
This line is genius and is clearly received well by the audience given their laughter.
With each punch line he savors the moment afterward, giving a little time before he
speaks again so as to let his words soak in.
The soak in time for Colbert is an extremely important one. The key element
he uses to allow the audience to value every word while delivering his jokes, and
throughout his entire speech, is the power of silence. He never seems to stumble
over his words and instead considers his next words carefully, deciding what to say
and how to deliver it. His delivery makes his material impressionable and leaves
very little unnecessary wording and information for the listeners to get tripped up
on. This precision, combined with his reflexive responses, makes him a dangerous
force in any interview. This silence, though, is also important when it comes to
hiding behind his created ethos.
Stephen Colbert’s quick wit and fast responses are all part of the persona he
has created for himself. It is extremely important to note that he rarely breaks
character, which is so effective because the persona he created oozes his ideals. The
Chicago Tribune referred to him saying he “is a megaphone of influence, shouted by
a comedian with a keen ethical compass who plays a blowhard with no ethical
compass and hopes the audience gets the difference.” (Chicago tribe) Though he
makes a lot of wild exaggerations, his acceptance and understanding come as much
from his viewers as it does from himself. When he addressed the room full of top
politicians at the correspondent’s dinner, he never broke character. Toward the end
of his address, much of congress was not laughing but the points he was hitting on
were all in the same, meaningful.
Many people rarely realize that he is, in fact, acting. He creates his ethos to
be someone of slightly left values but works to share the political happenings in a
manner that is understandable. Everything he refers to has some reasoning behind
it. He picks the charities because they have some meaning to him but also some
value in the progression of American democracy. He uses his ethos to outline his
beliefs towards how America is working and what sorts of things America is doing
wrong. He never outright states the American politics have screwed up or they are
doing something well. He uses many of the Burkean frames to impose onto those he
interviews. Satire is his forte but he uses other forms as well. He portrays people in
the comic light and especially in the satirical light. He combines satire with irony to
bring out ideas and actions of others that are questionable. It is also a great way to
convey his ideals as Christopher Borrelli of the Chicago Tribune says, “Satire always
comes out of idealism, and to be a great satirist, you need to be an idealist.” ( ) This
perfectly explains Colbert’s methodology. Yes, most of his material is funny, but it
all comes from his beliefs and values.
But why does Colbert’s humor, or any humor for that matter, work so well to
convince people to believe in such concrete beliefs? In his article “The Science of
Why We Don’t Believe in Science”, Chris Mooney makes the case that being more
educated can lead to tougher shifts of belief. This may also be true in Colbert’s case.
The target audience Colbert is trying to reach is a younger demographic who are
generally not experts in the field of political understanding. This is especially true
seeing some of the other shows that surround The Colbert Report on Comedy Central
(some involving crude cartoons living together or fighting crime). Jody C
Baumgartner and Jonathan S. Morris believe that because the political importance is
surrounded with other less important shows, “the viewer is less likely to put up
cognitive ‘guards’ that sometimes go up when he/she recognizes that they are the
target of attempted persuasion.” ( ) It can be compared to watching a politically
driven show such at Fox news. When watching Fox, most people are already
suspicious of the factuality of the show so they are less inclined to believe it. Mooney
would even say viewers would ever actively disagree with the things stated on the
show because of internal beliefs. A show like The Colbert Report makes a giant
attempt to stay away from political sides and use the show simply as a means of
transmitting information in a different, more comprehensible way (though it doesn’t
always succeed at being neutral).
With the continued success of The Colbert Report comes a greater
involvement of the once unreachable demographic of the US population. Colbert
uses satire and humor to define critical issues in a way that gets a youthful
generation involved. Many issues resonate through the rhetorical methods of
Stephen Colbert. The creation of his ethos allows the viewers to develop their own
opinions and loyalties. Colbert’s style of humor is received at many levels of
education, which is a strong reason why it is so effective. As long as the causes
Stephen Colbert chooses to support are ones he believes in, his followers will
believe in them too.
Works Cited
Baumgartner, J. C., & Morris, J. S. (2008). One “Nation,” Under Stephen? The Effects of The Colbert Report
on American Youth. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 52(4), 622-643.
doi:10.1080/08838150802437487
Borrelli, Christopher. "The Colbert Bump." Chicago Tribune 21 July 2011: n. pag.The Colbert Bump.
Web. 21 July 2011.
youtube transcript…