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Weekend Open Thread: A (Colbert) Nation Mourns


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I couldn’t let the week elapse without saying something about the end of Stephen Colbert, the persona, who will shortly give way to Stephen Colbert, the person.

Nine years as, effectively, an avatar of yourself is an impressive act of nerdery, and there were many others along the way, like getting into lightsaber battles with George Lucas, interviewing Smaug, or hanging Captain America’s shield above his fireplace. Though his on-camera style was meant to resemble more humorless, anger-filled pundits, the sheer joy at getting to play around with the toys that he had came through, as did a profound penchant for wordplay. He really was a nerd made good, and it’ll be interesting to see how he does when he starts espousing his real passions as much as he did his fake ones.

It’s political, yes, but my favorite Colbert moment was when he was invited to be the speaker at the White House correspondent’s dinner by somebody who clearly did not know his persona was satire. That was comedy being dangerous at a time when everyone was playing it safe, and arguably the reverse of the later Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which paradoxically played passionately to the middle of the road. Anyway, even if you disagreed with him politically – and I know plenty who did while still finding him funny – it is my belief that deep down he was one of us in every other way.

In other news (thanks Gallen!) Larry Flynt is making a porn parody of The Interview. I trust its main character will be named Cum Jong Un.

Now talk amongst yourselves.