Media Question# 21 – Why Did Stephen Colbert Made An Ass of Himself?

Sept. 27, 2010 - PRLog -- If it were a comedy stand up routine, it bombed!  If it were an attempt to address a serious issue, it bombed!  If it were somehow supposed to be a lighthearted way to bring light to a serious issue; that of being migrant farm worker in the US who are poorly treated and terribly underpaid, it bombed!

This is a serious issue, no question or controversy there, but was this the best use of Congresses time?  Colbert, for those of you who don’t know, is the star of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” where he “plays” a conservative commentator.  I love the show and watch it often.  I have a family member who would attend the Church of Colbert, if there were such a thing.  He is very successful, very intelligent, and very talented.  But, if you watched his testimony, which was invited by Chair of the House Panel on farm jobs and illegal immigration, Zoe Lofgren, you were entertained, shocked, or offended.

Again, wearing my media training hat, I watched with confusion more than anything when I read earlier in the day that Colbert spent a day in a program that was set up for American’s who wanted to experience what it was like to live and work for a day as a migrant farm worker.  I’m sure it was rather enlightening, as it would be to walk in someone else’s shoes for a day.  I get why the program was set up and I’m sure you do as well, but to use Colbert in the way Lofgren did is shameful and more than offensive to me.

As you may have guessed by now, I take my politics very seriously.  As I have shared with you before, I was once a candidate for Congress and spent many of my years as a nationally syndicated radio host talking nothing but politics.  I have been around the political arena for many years, and I have been an advocate and activist for many causes, using my show as a platform for positive change.  So when I saw this I was curious to see how this would unfold..

Mr. Colbert gave a terribly unrehearsed testimonial.  If you watch his face in the video I posted, you can see his discomfort and embarrassment on his face, and it didn’t wear well.  Look at how red his cheeks get as he continues on with his testimony.  He blew an opportunity to use “his celebrity” as he put it, for something important.  He made an ass of himself because what he read wasn’t well written or well though out, in my opinion.  He just wasn’t prepared, and I as a media trainer, I expected more from him and of him.

Reaction to this show, because he appeared as “his character” as opposed to himself, and where the difference is I don’t know because I don’t personally know him, was mixed.  Some members of Congress, John Conyers for one, asked that he be removed before he started his testimony.  Others were insistent he be given his chance, which he was given.  Some criticized him for making light of the situation, while others thought he used this opportunity to say things only an outsider would say and that it was impactful.

I say bullsh%# to it all.

There were moments of seriousness in his testimony as you will see, but they are dropped into a statement that was so poorly delivered and executed and it was wasted time and energy.  Watch the faces of both the panel and the audience.  Where we needed a laugh track there was non available.  Where we needed a seasoned professional, there wasn’t one.  And where we needed a heartfelt and serious accounting of that day’s events, we got little substance.  

And, if you think about this, what would have happened if Stephen Colbert would have shown up and floored everyone by coming “out of character” and spoke from the heart about the day and why he would never do it again.  What would have happened if Stephen Colbert would have looked at the panel and said with a straight face, the following:

“I was prepared to come here today in character and describe to you the day I spent in the fields of this great land as a hard working farm worker.  I was prepared to use light-hearted and easily used phrases to bring this issue some seriousness but in a playful way, but what I discovered that day was that there is nothing at all playful about working your hands to the bone for very little pay under  unforgiving sun on a day so hot that my clothes were soaked through before the first hour had expired.  I witnessed people who do this daily as they suffer through the demands of the day without so much as a single complaint, happy to just have a job and proud of the work they do.  But, esteemed members of this Congressional panel, there are serious issues that are not being addressed by law.  Immigration has become such a polarizing issue and we never seem to get beyond talk. These are supposedly jobs that American’s don’t want to do, but they are essential jobs that are being done without the benefit of workplace protection, and in most cases without benefits or real living-wage pay.

We don’t count these valuable workers as part of the US work force.  They are denied opportunities and there is no career track.  Instead the only track these people know is how to get to the next town to pick the next season’s fruit and vegetables.  We are asking the wrong questions and providing the wrong answers.  We close off our borders to these people for fear they are taking away jobs, but no one wants these jobs, as the government keeps telling us.  And I am just scratching the surface.  

So, what did I learn?  I learned that the back breaking work that is done daily in this country by illegal workers is vital to the food you will have for lunch and dinner today.  I have learned that this is work that does require a skill set and a level of expertise and awareness.  And I learned that there is a real honest sense of pride and community on these farms where families work side by side and children only know one way of life, and that is not necessarily a good thing.  We need to change the way we talk about this issue and we need to change the way we legislate this issue.  I did this with one purpose and left having a different experience than I thought I would.  I am asking you to do something proactively to help the American farm and the American farmer to better use his land and to legally serve that land for what is the betterment of us all”.

Instead we got “I started my workday with preconceived notions of migrant labor, but after working with these men and women picking beans, packing corn for hours on end side by side in the unforgiving sun, I have to say -- and I do mean this sincerely -- please don't make me do this again," he said. "It is really, really hard work." "I don't even want to watch Green Acres again."

Sorry, that left me flat and annoyed and frankly anyone could have said that. And, sadly enough, that was the most serious thing he said.

My last post was about a local celebrity who used his celebrity to help many.  Stephen Colbert used his celebrity to make himself look like an ass.  What a waste of time and talent.  What should have been a defining moment for this cause turned into a sad reflection of a comedian who thought more of himself than he should have.  I for one am profoundly disappointed by Stephen Colbert.  At the very least, he could have practiced first and he didn’t even do that.

Shame on you Stephen Colbert!

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Tony has spent the better part of the past two decades in and around the media. As the host of his own nationally syndicated radio programs for 15 years, Tony has interviewed over 25,000 guests and appeared as a guest on over 800 radio and national television shows. He founded of his own public relations firm and he went on to author two books and became a “go to” authority on a myriad of issues from weight loss to self empowerment; from politics to pop culture. Tony’s list of media training clients number over 2000, many of them well known celebrities and authors. He often works under confidentially agreements and enjoys of the challenge of helping people discover their voice.
Tony is respected and well known for his honesty and willingness to do what it takes to get to a core message. He works tirelessly with his clients and advocates for his clients in finding the most passionate and profound tenets of their message and then giving them the tools to deliver that message.