Conservatives Don't Get Stephen Colbert

jason_els

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My mother and stepfather love watching The Colbert Report. They're not so big on The Daily Show. Now I know why!

Looks like I'm not the only one surprised by Stephen Colbert's popularity with conservatives. Ohio State University just published a study that shows your political opinions influence whether you think Stephen Colbert is performing satire or just being merely amusing. Surprisingly, conservatives believe that Colbert really believes what he's saying, while liberals tend to think that Colbert is a character of parody.


This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion. -SAGE Journals
 

faceking

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I get him. I just think Stewart is much funnier.

Nah, I prefer Colbert. Stewart is like the kid at the high school dance standing against the wall making fun of everyone dancing, yet never really dances himself. Amusing to be a critic of everyone else, yet make little salient takes of your own. Very creative at times, but often petty and armchair.
 

dude252007

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I am a semi-conservative and I get Colbert. I get the Daily Show. I prefer Colbert because it is funny. The Daily Show is too serious and if I wanted to watch the news, I would watch a news channel. The Daily Show also attacks other groups and people who are not lock in step with the left wing agenda. We know Colbert is liberal but he does not directly attack in ways that do not create a laugh ( the whole point of the show) and he does not tell his personal ideas or thoughts on issues. If I wanted to know what famous people thought I would become their friend and get to know them but then they would not be famous because famous people usually stay with the "in" crowd, that is the crowd that can advance their fame not regular Joe. Last, I like Colbert because while he may be poking a little fun of conservatives in the end he ask the underlying question conservatives want to be answered. Can we get tired of this left wing vs. right wing? It has replaced racism. We now won't date or be friends with someone who voted for the other party which is what people used to do based on color.
 

B_VinylBoy

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The Colbert Report is brilliant. When I see him do his thing, it reminds me (somewhat) of the type of humor that Andy Kaufman would do. He really puts himself into the role of a pseudo-Conservative pundit so well that we have to remind ourselves that he's only really joking.
 

B_Nick4444

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actually don't care for either of them, but if a gun were to be pointed against my head with the demand I choose, it would be Stewart

but really, each is too tedious to watch
 

Stretch

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actually don't care for either of them, but if a gun were to be pointed against my head with the demand I choose, it would be Stewart

but really, each is too tedious to watch

Just curious...I'm assuming that a gun was not literally pointed at your head. So you voluntarily took the time and effort to post that you don't care about the topic you're posting a reply to, as a preface to stating your preference...okay. Probably a good thing you don't try to espouse any tedious political opinions.
 
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B_Nick4444

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well

the point was not the shows themselves, but rather the assertion of a political ideological leaning correlating with the preference for one or the other show

such a correlation, if tenable, can be interesting to contemplate