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Dear, 2012,
Last night, the Washington Post delivered some bad news:
White House Correspondents Association has picked this week’s most unpopular stand-up comic Jay Leno be the keynote speaker at this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner.
In fairness, the association asked Leno weeks ago — when he was just the host of a primetime show that was failing five nights a week.
Obviously, we live in a sad and cruel world that is spinning wildly out of control. Everyone knows that. And it’s not like the White House Correspondents’ dinner is actually a thing that matters. It is a light and flippant event intended to ease the constant tension between the media and the political subjects that the media, as if somehow we are all in agreement that that tension needs to be eased? (We are not all in agreement.) Especially over the past decade or so, this annual night of lobster and “jokes” has seemed like a cynical distraction from a world that is on fire. We are enmeshed in two wars amidst the rubble of a collapsed economy (and a collapsed Haiti), so let us not pretend (although so many will pretend) like the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is a thing that matters. These guys know what I’m talking about:
But all of that being said, JAY LENO?! Ugh. The article makes the point that perhaps the White House Correspondents Association wouldn’t have chosen him if they had known he would become such a “controversial” figure right before their dinner, but I am not sure that is important. It’s not like Jay Leno just became the worst. He has been King of the Worsts for YEARS. Did you hear what he said last night on his garbage show? This is what he said:
“I have chosen to stay on the Titanic. I don’t believe the iceberg is that big, the biggest ship, this ship will never sink and Kev…when it does, Kev as it’s sinking you will play us…you’ll be here for us so. Apparently we’ll be back on ‘The Tonight Show’ March first after the Olympics, so that’s pretty much where we are.”
Jay, you fucking idiot, you’re not staying on the Titanic. YOU ARE THE ICEBERG.
It is bad enough that he is a ratfink (A RATFINK! In prison Jay Leno would be a snitch) with little-to-no moral check on your wildly outsized airplane hangar full of cars ambition. But to be so disingenuously “humble” about it, while at the same time being publicly UNGRATEFUL, which is really an impressive combination of NIGHTMARE ATTITUDES. Yuck.
The worst part is you just know, YOU JUST KNOW, that he is going to make a joke like “don’t worry Mr. President, I’m not going to take your job away from you. Yet!”
Jay Leno is a crap.
The point is, 2012, we are ready. Please come get us.
Sincerely,
America
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How can anyone who saw Colbert EAT BUSH’s LUNCH a few years ago think Leno would be good for this gig? Leno being a total tool aside.. he’s just not funny.
In their eyes, Leno is perfect for this gig because he’s the total opposite of Colbert… he won’t make waves.
I was about to say, this is actually kind of a stroke of genius on the White House’s part. Leno’s not going to try to be confrontational or touch on any sensitive areas like Stewart or Colbert might. Personally, I would have loved to have seen Jon Stewart this year; he’s the only person who could speak truth to power to the Obama administration without coming off like some Glenn Beck-ized crazy person or a total racist douche like Jeff Dunham.
Personally I think whoever booked Leno is guilty of not vetting him for hosting the gig the same way Bush?s goons didn?t vet Colbert. No one paid attention to content. Something along the lines of ?Oh, I?ve heard of him and he?s popular. He?s got the job.?
The only difference here is that while Colbert is clearly a satirist whose entire schtick is subversively making fun of republicans, Leno is just a popular bore.
here’s the thing about the WHCD, at its best it can be Colbert from 2006, and at its worst it something that you hear literally nothing about. for Pete’s sake RAY CHARLES hosted the thing in 2003. Conan did it in ’95. this year will just be one big pile of meh.
“I have chosen to stay on the Titanic. I don’t believe the iceberg is that big, the biggest ship, this ship will never sink and Kev…when it does, Kev as it’s sinking you will play us…you’ll be here for us so. Apparently we’ll be back on ‘The Tonight Show’ March first after the Olympics, so that’s pretty much where we are.”
Not to be Captain Obviousgum but the WH needs to build a little good will with the fat sad bastards that Jay appeals to. Obviously this decision was made before last week and it in no way has any bearing on my opinion of the WH or Obamarama. Its actually perfect if you think about it. There is no way Jay could make anyone look bad at this thing.
Except himself.
and the USA?
If Leno is hosting, you know there will be at least one person laughing.
So, 2009: Wanda Sykes :: 2010: Jay Leno. As far as analogies go, I’d say BUCKLE UP GUMMERS! 2010 is gonna be a bumpy ride! OF HILARITY!
Please explain to me how repeatedly using that photo to get a cheap laugh is not a form of exploitation.
Oy. I brought up this point before, and I don’t want to keep harping on about it, but it is a little problematic.
I mean, first of all, this is a pop culture blog about mini-rappers and grape ladies. And it’s good of Gabe to not pretend that we live in a world made up exclusively of funny things like ladies falling and surprised kitties. In fact, we live in a world where billions of people are poor and suffering. So, good for Gabe that he brings some gravity to a silly [albeit funny xoxox luv u gabe] situation. I respect that and it’s part of why I love Videogum so much.
But there’s the other thing that you brought up: we’re still using this picture of Indian orphans a) to raise awareness and b) to get a laugh. Because this blog is about laughs. But maybe we shouldn’t use pictures of orphans then. The only realistic situations I can see are if we pretend we live in a gummy bear world and make no mention of terrible things, or we enjoy funny things and also mention that terrible things exist. How do we do that without using these pictures exploitatively? I don’t know! I’m fifteen I don’t know ethics I DON’T EVEN KNOW MYSELF.
I just think using the photo as some kind of segue to discuss how much you hate Jay Leno is not only in bad taste but completely unnecessary. How stupid does Gabe think we are that he feels he has to preface a post about the White House Correspondents dinner by explaining how unimportant it is in the grand scheme of things. FUCKING NOBODY THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT. We’re reading this blog because it’s a blog about unimportant things. If Gabe feels weird or guilty about having to write about trivial stuff all day when there’s a world of horrible shit going on, why is that our problem? I read the newspaper, mourn the suffering in the world, offer some help (too little, admittedly) — probably most of us do — and I don’t think it’s wrong to also want to take in a little entertainment and follow the (IMO fascinating) late-night situation without being viscerally reminded of said suffering.
Thank you! Certain measures are totally cool, like how they had Red Cross affiliates at the Conan rallies to collect donations. But leave Haiti out of my damn entertainment! I know what’s goin’ on, I read the news, I’m followin’ that shit. It’s really, really depressing, and I feel like I should deal with that depression while I’m reading about Haiti, not while I’m reading about Jay fuckin’ Leno. I am not a dumb dumb! And I agree, drop the damn picture, because those kids do not know what you are talking about. In all actuality, those kids are likely dead because they couldn’t get enough money to buy proper food, while you receive a paycheck to blog about kittens. No animosity there, but if you wanna be serious, LET’S GET SERIOUS MUTHA FUCKA’S. Otherwise, leave my 20 seconds of humor alone.
I get your point and I do agree with you to a degree: I don’t really want my laffs interrupted by Indian orphans either. I am aware that life is terrible [it really is! Wow!] However, [see reply to Huckabeast below] I think it’s better that Gabe make sure of that than to ignore it altogether and go on with gummi bear posts, yknow?
Like, monsters are great. We really are.People here are smart and funny and GET that Videogum does not accurately represent what life is like. Let’s all pat ourselves on the back *pats everyone on the back*
But I don’t think everyone is as aware of the real terrible things going on in the world as they should be. It may be different for me, since I live in an old abandoned shoe on the side of the NJ Turnpike and my only friends are stupid teenagers, but I know a LOT of people that live in their own little happy jelly bean bubbles and don’t really know or care about terrible things! And I know they would happily enjoy visiting Videogum and getting lulz out of Bangs without a care in the world, and maybe shocking them with a picture into actually thinking about the real goddamn world, with all its accompanying horribleness and tragedies, is a good thing.
[I only broke this into two separate comments because I don't know html and I didn't want it to be a huge block of text. Because I am Dr. Genius McInternet, apparently.]
Continued. So, what about the monsters, who are the people that mostly read this site and probably already know that bad things exist? I think we tend to get caught up in these things, in LOLcats, and Leno v. O’Brien, and juggalos, and I do think it’s a good thing that before I start screaming “OMG Leno is the worst, fuck him and his chin.” I can think, well, this isn’t the worst thing ever. AIDS is worse than Leno. Malaria is worse than Leno. The Janjaweed is worse than Leno. So let’s just relax.
Perspective: I has it.
Hey, I accidentally replied to this at the bottom.
Relax, technoRobinRubbermaid
You know about Gummi Bears, and in the end, isn’t that the only thing that matters? (A: Yes)
Napolean you are seriously one of my favorite people on this blog. Don’t ever change. I personally can’t stand that picture and now my eyes go blurry and glaze over when it shows up in a post. I seriously see it and manically hit the “back” button a thousand times and usually don’t even read the rest of the post.
Thanks for the compliment, njoy! I “njoy” your comments too [URGHABURGHGGHGHHH]
But Napoleon, as Scott Baio reminds us, laughter is the best medicine. This picture forces some perspective. In a way, I laugh at myself when I see it (there are different kinds of laughing). And like all pictures, it tells a thousand words, whereas saying “In the grand scheme, a White House dinner doesn’t matter” is only 10 words, which sucks in comparison. I favor the occasional inclusion of this picture as a reminder that while the world can be a horrible place, we must jump into life, and sometimes that means laughing, sometimes it means reaching out to a total stranger, always it means remembering who we are and how lucky we are.
Also, of course, those kids are not really our fault. They should have stayed in school.
Look, there’s “Family Guy Laughing,” which is non sequiters, and gotcha gags and awful. And then there’s “Borat Laughing” (these are terms I learned in Laugh College), which is us laughing at awful things but with the thin needle of nervousness because we know it’s only funny because it’s waking us up to bigger things. Am I right?
I think the orphan picture and the captions are funny, but it also snaps my focus. Leno V. Conan, Jersey Shore, Dunham: these are horrible, horrible things, both for their sheer horribleness but also for their unimportance. Orphan pictures remind me of that, and I think it’s good.
All to say, if this is a vote (this is not a vote), I vote we keep the orphan pictures. For our sake. For their sake. For humanity.
Team Orphans, but only if they stay in school, as dictated by the Jai Ho trust that Gabe set up.
Dammit, I shoulda finished reading the thread before I posted what you and huckabeast just said.
If you need an orphan picture to remind you that Jay Leno isn’t important, there’s something wrong.
I think I fall in your line of thought more. I think it’s better that Gabe remind us explicitly that there are worse things in the world than Jay Leno than to simply ignore that fact at all.
I want Aziz to do this so bad.
Did i say Aziz? I meant RAAAAAAANNNDY.
You know Leno is praying that Clinton will be there so he can try out his new Monica Lewinsky material.
Aw man, you know it! Once he’s finished ragging on Boris Yeltsin’s drunk ass that is. That dude is so drunk!!
Has anyone ever seen The Best, Norm Macdonald do this?
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5kpXhq5nHM
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRYE85AgiYo
So Bush gets Stephen Colbert and Obama gets…Jay Leno? What is going on? I thought we had a “hip” and “happening” president.
i am hoping that Jay shows up and they say, “oh, sorry, we TOOK YOUR JOB and gave it to Conan. so. you can go home.”
I thought Obama was Team Conan! (pouts)
Okay. If Gabe for some reason wants to reach out to the part of his readership that’s willfully ignorant and doesn’t know or give a shit about the real suffering in the world, that’s fine. But when those people see the photo and the caption, given their obliviousness/callousness about the world, they’re not going to say “wow, that’s really terrible, I had no idea.” They’re more likely to go, “haha, look at those fucking poors.”
I agree that humor can be used effectively to call attention to or comment on suffering. But the reverse is much less true. When your main point is that Jay Leno is an asshole (which btw is a perfectly legitimate point to make), the photo depicting suffering becomes nothing but a prop, and to me there’s something offensive about that (and I’m not that easily offended).
Fuck! That was supposed to be a reply to Napoleon Complex.
I can’t say I disagree with you, Robin.
Ugh, the fact that Barack Obama will have to pretend to laugh at Leno’s jokes will easiliy be the hardest part of his presidency so far*
(*sarcasm, since there’s lots of seriousgum in this post)
“don’t worry Mr. President, I’m not going to take your job away from you. Yet!”
ZING! You could be one of his writers!