To be disappointed, you have to have expectations.
I have high expectations for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, because I think it works hard to make humor out of relevant issues.
To make humor out of distractions -- a candidate's hair, for instance -- is a waste of time, and threatens to normalize things we need to pay attention to.
To talk about relevant issues, but to not be funny...that is also a flawed strategy. It comes off heavy-handed and becomes ineffective because nobody wants to watch it.
Oliver has balanced that line better than just about anybody I can think of.
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That's why his bashing of Jill Stein's album from 20 years ago was so weird.
He was making a case about the legitimacy -- or lack thereof -- of the 3rd party candidates in the 2016 election.
Maybe Jill Stein isn't fit to serve. I still don't know. Because Oliver could have talked about relevant reasons, but he chose not to. He took a cheap shot at the fact that she used to be in a band.
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The craziest part is that the songs he chose to mock were about CLIMATE CHANGE.
I have high expectations for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, because I think it works hard to make humor out of relevant issues.
To make humor out of distractions -- a candidate's hair, for instance -- is a waste of time, and threatens to normalize things we need to pay attention to.
To talk about relevant issues, but to not be funny...that is also a flawed strategy. It comes off heavy-handed and becomes ineffective because nobody wants to watch it.
Oliver has balanced that line better than just about anybody I can think of.
_____
That's why his bashing of Jill Stein's album from 20 years ago was so weird.
He was making a case about the legitimacy -- or lack thereof -- of the 3rd party candidates in the 2016 election.
Maybe Jill Stein isn't fit to serve. I still don't know. Because Oliver could have talked about relevant reasons, but he chose not to. He took a cheap shot at the fact that she used to be in a band.
_____
_____
The craziest part is that the songs he chose to mock were about CLIMATE CHANGE.
Yes. Climate Change!!! The thing that Oliver regularly mocks politicians for not acknowledging as a serious political issue.
Here was a Presidential candidate not only talking about climate change, but talking about it TWENTY YEARS AGO!!!!
Singing about corporate greed, and long-term environmental damage. And all Oliver could hear were the notes being sung out of key?
It was weird. Weirdly anti-Oliver. It was like a Freaky Friday sequel, where he switched bodies with Jimmy Fallon.
Like I said -- normally, I'm a huge Oliver fan. I still am. I was just disappointed on a couple different levels.
I just watched a 3rd debate last night, and in 5 hours total, climate change didn't get mentioned ONCE.
If one of them had started singing about it, they'd have won my vote.
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