As a fan of both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, I have a rather embarrassing confession to make: Even after watching the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, I still don't get the point. Saturday's show had a few funny moments, and a few heartfelt ones too, but it had many more moments of mediocrity—and in the end, I didn't feel like I got anything out of the three hours I put into it.
I'm sure that a large part of my detachment has to do with the fact that I was quite literally detached from the event. It wasn't meant to be watched live; it was meant to be experienced standing up on the Washington Mall with 215,000 other people. But Stewart and Colbert knew weeks ago that the rally would be broadcast live on TV, so they had to know that most of the show's audience would be on the small screen and not in the crowd. While watching the Roots and John Legend and Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow perform was probably very exciting for the rally attendees, it was pretty boring for the rest of us at home. I'm not saying that concerts aren't fun—I'm just saying that most people prefer not to watch them on TV during a rally hosted by two very popular comedians and satirists.
What people prefer to watch—and I hope I can make this assumption—are those two comedians and satirists. Yet Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert didn't appear at the rally until well into the second hour! When they finally came on stage, they fought their way through semi-witty banter and used names like Ozzy Osbourne and Sam Waterston as attention-grabbing gimmicks. It was only when Stewart and Colbert switched out of their rally-casual outfits (Colbert in star pants, Stewart in khakis) and into their more-recognizable pundit suits (Colbert in a red tie, Stewart in a blue one) that the comedy of the event really came together. Their "debate," which began at the two-and-a-half hour mark, was probably the best part of the whole rally because it was exactly what we, the fans, had been waiting for. We wanted Stewart and Colbert to air their vague political grievances and crack snarky one-liners and show everyone how awesome they are on a national stage.
But wait. They do all of that stuff four nights a week anyway. This rally didn't tell us fans anything we didn't already know. It seemed like it was aimed at the (generally conservative) government and media folks who "keep fear alive" and refuse to "restore sanity" in the public discourse. Yet Stewart and Colbert (and the very awesome Father Guido Sarducci) were basically preaching to their (generally liberal) choir of fans for the hour-ish they were on stage—Colbert said during the rally that many major news outlets did not attend so they wouldn't be perceived as biased.
So what was the point of this rally? Did Stewart and Colbert convince us to do anything different? Vote? Not vote? Were they trying to push an agenda? Are they the right people to push an agenda? I still don't know. What do you think?
Follow TV.com writer Stefanie Lee on Twitter: @StefAtTVDotCom
I think you've been smoking something. From the parts of the rally I've seen (I was working so I couldn't watch the actual broadcast) it was amazingly amazing and that's some 215,000 lucky bastards. I love Jon and Stephen and I can only hope they do it again so I can take a week off and go myself.
I am Canadian but I love both shows and would have dies to go to the rally it looked amazing from any clips I could catch stupid copyright laws!
This election proves what we already knew: if the economy is bad, voters don't give a dam who's wrong/right, they vote against the party in power.
It was pretty obvious to me all along, but even if you didn't know, Stewart told us the point of the rally at the end. When he said "Now is a time to be sincere..." or something like that. His entire speech after that was the points he was trying to make during the rally.
Total centrist BS. Fox news spreads lies, blatantly, constantly, shamelessly. MSNBC, on the other hand, makes an honest effort to be truthful. Do some of the hosts get carried away sometimes. Of course. But John Stewart has gotten carried away many times himself, so was being very hypocritical. That said, he and Colbert are two of my favorite comedians.
I thought the rally was not about the right vs. left or whatever, but Stewart and Colbert talking about the hypocrisy of cable news and idiots on the far left and on the far right (Fox News and MSNBC) who look for ways to promote their opinions via "Fear Tactics" and how these scare tactics promoted through the media have basically created a cultural divide amongst of Americans through politics, religion, values, etc and how we can no longer get along civilly without having hatred and animosity toward one another. I think the rally was more American then Glen Beck's "Fearing-Mongering" Tea Party and maybe the message is lost through morons like Keith Olbermann (Who criticized Stewart for not pushing a "More Liberal Agenda" and Bill O'Reilly, and some egoistical contrarian hipster bloggers and writers but I think it was an effective rally and shows exactly why Jon Stewart is the most trusted newsman in America.moreless
You were right to assume that you had to be there. I went with friends, we left absurdly early and stood in the cold, our backs hurt, it was so crowded, the people in front of us smoked, it had all the makings of a terrible experience but in the end it was SO worth it.What we took from it was what Jon Stewart said the slogan for the rally was- 'take it down a notch America' and that's what I felt it accomplished. As a society Americans have created this uptight, paranoid atmosphere and the comedians were there to say 'it's ok, you're going to be alright'. Stewart's closing speech stuck in my mind, especially when he said "If we amplify everything, we hear nothing." I appreciated the rally, I'm glad that we are still able to do something like this so that we aren't taking ourselves so seriously all the time. I agree with TreeWalsh- you had to be there!moreless
I was there (brought my 14-year old son). We didn't see any of the actual show because it was too crowded. The point was for us to demonstrate that we want our country to have more civilized "civil discourse". Name calling, hyperbolic, fear-mongering is not going to solve any problems. I believe that Stewart and Colbert were not advocating an overt action (like voting in a certain way) or push an agenda. They were subtly (through humor) demonstrating the importance of the process--the way we communicate with each other, the way we address each other, the way we get our information and dessiminate information carefully and respectfully. My son and I went to show our support for rational, evidence-based discussion AND to have fun of course! The signs were funny and poignant, the people were polite, the vibe was AWESOME. As they say: you shoulda been there!moreless