Stephen Colbert and Philosophy - Aaron Allen Schiller [90]
You may be wondering what is the connection between sharing a form of life and having a Humorous Attitude. Attitudes require a certain surrounding; they don’t just happen on their own. There isn’t a mental ‘cause’ to these attitudes but a context that is provided by one’s abilities, and is based on what led to the event as well as what happened after, and the social community in which these personal attitudes arise.153 The background, then, is the form of life, and the H.A. is the individual predisposition one has to finding something funny. That so many Americans enjoy the humor of Stephen Colbert is a testament to his genius in being able to produce an aspect-change of American life that connects to people’s H.A.
Avowal, not an Owl
Finally, for our robust philosophy of humor, we need an avowal. An avowal in philosophy is often claimed as an endorsement to what we see. The best example of an avowal for humor is laughter, or a smile. Another avowal can be simply a declaration, “That’s really funny,” though in some primitive cultures nothing short of spontaneous combustion will do.
But I claim that there are what we might call negative avowals, too. Saying, “That’s NOT funny” or divesting yourself of overripe produce are avowals of disapproval over a joke that has fallen flat. One’s H.A. is what allows a person to think something is funny and the avowal is what confirms it. Likewise, the H.A. may prevent a person from finding something funny, and their avowal of disapproval, along with their rotting groceries, confirm it.
An odd fact about human psychology is that the more people who express their H.A. through avowals, the funnier the object of their humor becomes. Watching The Colbert Report, one will often notice how Stephen Colbert plays on the avowal of the audience, encouraging their clapping and hollering, which in turn, prepares them (and the television viewers) for laughing. Even when a joke bombs, Stephen Colbert is able to turn the audience’s disapproving avowal into another aspect-change, thereby creating a new opportunity for humor, as well as impressing the ladies. This, in fact, is exactly what happened when he gave his address at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Attending the Dinner were the elite of the conservative right as well as then President George W. Bush. Stephen Colbert, in character as a right-wing pundit, addressed the President:
Tonight it’s my privilege to celebrate this President. We’re not so different, he and I. We get it. We’re not brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We’re not members of the Factinista. We go straight from the gut, right sir? That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. (I Am America, p. 221)
Throughout his speech, Stephen Colbert used traditional Republican values to criticize the administration:
I believe the government that governs the best is the government that governs the least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq. (p. 222)
And included an attack on the President:
Now I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a thirty-two percent approval rating. But guys like us, we don’t pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in “reality.” And reality has a well-known liberal bias… . So don’t pay attention to the approval ratings that say sixty-eight percent of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that sixty-eight percent approve of the job he’s not doing? Think about it. I haven’t. (p. 223)
Notice the change of aspect from “sixty-eight