Conan's the man!

Started by ono, October 16, 2003, 11:38:17 PM

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cine

Quote from: Pas Rapport
Quote from: CinephileIf they knew the Ontario people would boo that kind of stuff, they wouldn't have done it.
I don't think you got it ... people in Ontario didn't boo the show. They booed Quebec. It's not a question of growing up.
No, I mean if Conan's writing team figured they would boo the Triumph segment, they wouldn't have done it. My point is that they loved it and that's why Conan and his team chose to go and shoot it. It was entertaining the majority and to the ones that couldn't take the joke even though Quebec is punchline to most Canadian jokes, it was sourly received. It's too bad because it's not Conan's fault and I think some people are putting too much blame on him. He's a comedian. And it made people laugh. Generally, a comedian watches out for the vast majority and not the minority who could be offended. That's the way comedy is and always will be.
Quote from: Pas RapportYou see, MY governement paid almost a million dollars to get Conan to boost Toronto's image...
That's MY government too, if you forgot.

pete

there's a backlash ever since the whole "PC" movement failed and got ridiculously out of hand, that anyone getting offended by anything is seen as overtly sensitive and childish and whatever.  I think there's a real myth in a country like America that there are groups of people out there who just imagined the whole marginalized shit up, just guarding by their TVs and waiting to be offended by some comedy bits.  If you're from America and an American comic has made a joke on behalf of another, and you laughed, yay, more power to you.  But when the other people got offended and protest, don't you find it a little tasteless to tell them to "grow up" or call them other names?  I mean the whole PC-movement was started by previledged American ("white") liberals anyways.  And because the rest of the world saw through that bullshit and recognized it was just a pretend effort to respect people who are different, doesn't mean their now-adult kids can go around telling other groups of folks to grow for failing to laugh at the same things they do.  you don't find it a bit condescending to tell the canadians to grow up because they don't think it's funny that you laughed at them with triumph?
I mean even rob smigel himself is pretty apologetic when his bits didn't work the way he planned (for example, his lil' speech before the pilot episode of "saturday tv funhouse" was shown on the "Other Network" dvd).
Back to the original point, yeah Triumph was going for the majority ("the market"), the American audience, but if his target protests, you should at least respect it, instead of saying shit like "lighten up buddy it was only a joke, and I laughed!"
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

SHAFTR

My "grow up" comment isn't really directed at canadians, although in this context I guess it is.  I think PC is detrimental the the cause of equality.  "They are equal, but you can't mention this _______."

When you tell me I have to respect their views, I do.  But, I don't respect their stance.  Throw any generalizable joke at me, you won't see me complaining.  The only people in this entire argument who has the right to be angry are those who Triumph directly insulted, obviously they were fine with it since they signed away their rights for the clip.
"Talking shit about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that i'll probably regret soon"

MacGuffin

O Canada: O'Brien is sorry

Conan O'Brien is so sorry for offending Quebec. Well, sort of. The talk show host apologized to Canadian citizens on his Tuesday night show for skewering the province in a skit last week -- but not without a sense of humor. Responding to criticism from Canadian politicians outraged by a Toronto-based segment featuring O'Brien sidekick puppet Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, O'Brien brought out a translator after his monologue who gave a highly creative interpretation to the host's subsequent mea culpa. "People of Quebec, I'm sorry," said O'Brien, whose comment was followed by a French translation and English subtitles that read, "People of Quebec, I'm an albino jackass." While O'Brien went on to apologize for his insensitivity and praise Quebec, the shaky translation took further liberties, including the disclosure that O'Brien "wet the bed like a little girl" and has "never known the touch of a woman." On Friday, Canadian officials blasted a "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" segment in which Triumph made light of the French-Canadian separatist movement and taunted attendees of Quebec City's Winter Carnival (HR 2/17). The NBC show's weeklong trip to Toronto was subsidized by the Canadian government in an effort to boost tourism.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

SoNowThen

I apologize on behalf of all Canadians with a sense of humor. We thought Conan was funny.


Oh, and to those who think it's stupid to say "grow up", yeah, people shouldn't say that. What they should say is "get a fucking life!!", or "chill out -- guess what, you're not the only person somebody ever made fun of".

"Alexa McDonough, a legislator for the left-leaning New Democrats, described the program as "racist filth" and "utterly vile" and demanded the government seek the return of the C$1 million subsidy.

"There may be those who would say, 'Isn't this interfering with freedom of expression?' It's not interfering to say we will not publicly fund this kind of vile, vicious hatemongering," McDonough told reporters.
"


hehehe, ahhh, that's our lefties. Gotta hate 'em -- oh, I mean, uh... love 'em. Yeah. Fight that evil, Alexa. You're so courageous. Really.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

Pas

Isn't there a difference between "making fun of" and insulting someone ?

SoNowThen

I guess there's a thin line, but I mean, Triumph rags on everyone pretty hard, no? Every "special interest group" gets made fun of by some comedian.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

godardian

I guess if anyone actually watches the Triumph bits, they deserve what they get. What a waste to publicize so much nothing, though. There are certainly more pressing problems than this.

I forsook Conan a long time ago, don't think he's funny these days much at all, though I'll always cherish what he did with The Simpsons. Compared to Jon Stewart- my king of late night- he's only ever so slightly less sophomoric and irrelevant than the Leno/Letterman diad of dullness. I only watch anything but The Daily Show if there's a guest I like, and even then I just TiVo it and skip everything but what I want to see.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

Stefen

Conan should host the oscars.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

ono

If not Billy, then him, yes, that'd be a dream.  He did a great job with the Emmys.  Man, that would be a dream.  Of course, we'd have to deal with the drunken frat boys whooing him and shouting "I love you!" but it's a small price to pay.

cine

As I mentioned previously in another thread, I prefer Crystal hosting the Oscars. It would be interesting to see how Conan would handle it nonetheless.

Ravi

Did anyone see the sketch, "Hey, Let's Give The Passion of the Christ More Free Publicity"?

ono


cine

The audience didn't seem to like that alternate ending. I, on the other hand, laughed my ass off.

Pubrick

they didn't seem to like a lot about that show.
under the paving stones.