Satire/Humor and The Colbert Report

[smartestnumber5]

I was just reading a paper about people's cognitive processes when it comes to ambiguous statements. The paper mentioned various studies of audience reactions to shows that are intended to be satires like All in the Family and The Colbert Report and how people interpret whether the characters/producers mean what is being said. (Apparently according to the studies, people tend to interpret what is being said to support the views they hold and making fun of people who think otherwise.)

I'm kind of at the study results, because I always thought it was totally obvious what is going on in The Colbert Report (and other shows like it); I don't see how anyone could interpret things differently.

What do you think?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I saw that. I thought is was quite cool.

 

[MarkFL]

My teenage cousin is a very hardcore conservative and he thinks the Colbert Report is a serious program. I always thought it was just an O'Reilly satire... I guess that's a liberal bias?

 

[shortbun]

It's satire and he's mocking the 'right.'

 

[Macca1111]

It is satire, and his interview with Larry King was proof positive of that, but there are still conservatives who go on his show who don't seem to have gotten that message. I thought most people got it by now at least, but you still see a few of his guests not in on the joke.

 

[bicker]

This did indeed happen with All in the Family. For the first few years, there were many folks who relished and reveled that Archie's brand of intolerance was getting airplay on "that liberal media" (television). The writers evidently were flummoxed, and so made their intent of ridicule more apparent. Some members of my own family actually interpreted it as betrayal (not clarification).