Late-Night Hosts Sent Different Messages to Paris And Terrorists
On Monday night, Jimmy Fallon opened The Tonight Show with a monologue about the weekend’s Democratic debate, emphasizing jokes about how old Bernie Sanders is; later, seated at his desk, he offered “a hi and hello to all our friends in Paris.” In remarks that lasted a couple of minutes, he said that the terrorist attacks in Paris “backfired… we are closer than ever… I can feel it.”
By contrast, The Late Show began without Stephen Colbert: His house band, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, played the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” and the usual opening credits were changed to display scenes of France. Then Colbert, at his desk, said that “we stand with the people of France as a friend and an ally. We offer the hope that there is a way through this unspeakable tragedy.” Colbert allowed himself to slip into comedy, lauding some of the things France has given America, including “how to put potatoes into boiling oil” and “my favorite way of kissing.” Colbert followed this up with an interview with Col. Jack Jacobs about possible tactics and policy toward global terrorism. In all, Colbert spent about 15 minutes exploring the subject in these various ways.
There’s no “right” way to address a horrific event in the context of a late-night TV show, of course. The Daily Show, because it is built to address the news, has an obligation to do so. Host Trevor Noah chose to focus on the emotion underlying the news when he urged his audience to “overcome inhumanity with humanity” and he commended the French population for offering its fellow citizens sanctuary (via Twitter messages using the hashtag #PorteOuverte—“open door”), blood donations, and free rides. Noah noted wryly that the country is “ruining our cultural stereotypes, because the French are supposed to be cold and unwelcoming.”
But with the more entertainment-oriented late-night shows, if you’re not going to explore the subject with some serious thoughtfulness, it’s still better to do something that seems like more than just an obligatory gesture. Conan O’Brien certainly recognized this, making a sincere, eloquent statement in place of jokes at the top of his show, and then adding with winning self-deprecation, “But of course, we are here to do comedy. We are in fact a comedy show, as of August.”
Larry Wilmore, on The Nightly Show, called France “our oldest ally. You understand us more than anybody… You have always had our back, and if somebody [expletive] with you, they [expletive] with us.” He said he’d been planning a trip to Paris with his daughter “in eight months, and… that trip is still happening.”
At a time when many political figures have begun suggesting America should become at once more aggressive and more isolationist — trying to deny entry to Syrian refugees, in some cases — it was striking how many of the late-night hosts were preaching (with a combination of seriousness and humor) defiance but also acceptance, acknowledging the complexity of the situation in a way that some elected officials do not.
Not that I want Stephen Colbert doing any governing in this country. All that dancing and those tight electric-blue suits he’s favoring these days—it’s just not statesman-like, you know?
