By David Brooks on October 23, 2024.
John Stewart
Programs dedicated to mocking power in the United States have become one of the best defenses against the abuses and deceits of political and economic leaders; this cast stands out for its handling of satire combined with investigative journalism. One of its greatest exponents is Jon Stewart, host of the fictional news program The Daily Show.
Perhaps laughter is leftist, a key ingredient of resistance and rebellion. In The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco, a monk sought to keep a very dangerous secret: that laughter is subversive, encourages doubt and can be a weapon against liars and the absurd. It is also worth remembering that when Dario Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1997, the Swedish academy noted that he was like the jesters of the Middle Ages, who used their talent to mock the authorities while supporting the dignity of the oppressed. Fo commented in an interview with The Guardian that “the background of everything I write is tragedy. Laughter is simply a means to make the audience confront the problem.” They are essential artists in times like these.
American buffoons who make fun of power without necessarily being out of court (some are very successful and, unlike a Fo, are not radicals but rather intelligent liberals) have become one of the best defenses against the abuses of power and the deceptions of the political and economic establishment in recent years; and also the most trusted journalists by the young and by conscious adults.
It is not something new per se -they come from a long history of social and political comedy in this country-, but this current cast stands out for a particular way of approaching conjunctures that continues to be through satire, but also with journalism.
In fact, perhaps the most famous is Jon Stewart, who occupied an extraordinary place in the U.S. national political debate as anchor on the fictional news program The Daily Show on a cable channel dedicated to comedy, and who came to be declared the most trusted name in news (he has repeated that he is a fictional journalist and getting that recognition is a criticism in itself of these times). Moreover, he was the leading source of news for young people in the early part of this century – that is, more trusted than journalists in real newscasts. Stewart, who left the daily newscast in 2015 to hand it over to his successor, South Africa’s Trevor Noah, until recently, returned to the Show once a week during this election year. Other comedians headline it on other days of the week.
One of its correspondents was England’s John Oliver, who now heads a weekly show on HBO that is among the best examples of investigative journalism on national television today. His show Last Week Tonight has won 30 Emmy Awards-the Oscar of television-since 2014, and his investigative reporting has led to real change, the so-called John Oliver effect. It’s not just reporting with anger and humor against distortion, injustice and lies being broadcast. But he emphasized in an interview with the New York Times that “the most important thing for me is to do this in the service of writing really funny and weird jokes…it’s not necessarily to make the world a better place…I’m not sure comedy can do that.” He added that the use of comedy in times of tragedy can be very meaningful. How could you not tell jokes about a situation that is absolutely absurd?”
He shares that with other contemporary colleagues, most notably his old boss Stewart, as another former Daily Show correspondent , who now hosts the national late-night talk and interview program The Late Show. Another master satire comedian and noted interviewer, Colbert has been a fierce critic of the fascist Trump and the right wing for years.
These are necessary voices not only to understand this moment in America, but to laugh in solidarity with others as they face such a dark time as this, where a country is contemplating a political project that would designate, among others, buffoons as enemies of the people.