| Stephen Colbert correcting Glenda Jackson on "Hung" vs. "Hanged". | |
| Posted by: portenopete 11:04 pm EDT 05/15/18 | |
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| I have been getting increasingly irritated by Stephen Colbert since he took over David Letterman's chair two years ago now. I generally enjoy the monologue but I find the opening bits and interstitial sketches pretty lame (that 50-ish ginger guy: does he need to be in every bit?). But it's Colbert's interviewing style that grates on me. Fine, he's intelligent and probing about political matters and is pretty fearless in speaking truth to power. That I like. But when it's just a celebrity plugging a book or a movie, he often seems openly contemptuous of them. His interview with Wyatt Cenac- who I admit might be a bit of a loose cannon, although I love him- was really uncomfortable, with these long silences where Colbert should have been filling the void. (Cenac can be tricky, but for him he was quite chatty and open that night.) And I'm sick of Colbert obsessively showing off his smarts and challenging guests to beat him at things like Lord of the Rings tests or reciting obscure Catholic prayers. And every time a guest from a big family comes on the show, he has to recite the litany of names of his many brothers and sisters. Last night's interview with Glenda Jackson, though, was just plain rude. I sensed he admired her greatly- especially her devotion to leftist politics- but correcting her on using "hung" instead of "hanged" was just plain f****ing rude. She is a dame of the British Empire, a two-time Oscar winner, a brilliant politician and she deserves a bit more grace than that. The only saving grace was her lighting quick retort that Americans couldn't spell "theatre". In a way, I wish she hadn't won that round, since the embarrassed silence that followed his scolding would have lingered in the air and he'd have been more clearly revealed as the self-regarding twit that I think he is. |
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