Aren’t you supposed to be funny?

I remember watching ‘The most shocking moments of TV’ (or something like that) in VH1. That’s when I first saw this video in which Jon Stewart rips the hosts of the show. Apart from the whole conversation itself, there’s an interesting part in it. One of the hosts, Tucker Carlson, not being able to handle Stewart’s rather “serious allegations”, says, “I thought you were going to be funny.” It’s a cheeky escapist strategy that completely backfired, at least for Carlson1. But very often it does work however cheeky it is. Though Stewart is very funny, he is quite political. He has strong opinions and way smarter than many mainstream media pundits. But because he’s funny; because he parodies others, he is taken less seriously in mainstream media/politics (or so they pretend).

Obviously, I’m not in anyway comparing myself with JS or what he does; like Cartman would say, “he is thyaan and I’m hyaan, may be a little down hyaan2. The flash video was a very effective retort and it worked just as I had thought. But it’s also a rather easy way to get back at people (provided you have the resources to pull it off). My ‘weapons of choice’, sarcasm and mockery, can easily be turned against me. No, I’m not talking about someone else doing a flash video or some kind of parody on what I did (or going to do in future) – that would actually be great.
I’m talking about a sarcastic and snobbish reply, something like – “I don’t want to mess with you man. You’re so talented that you’ll make a crappy animation and do voice-overs to make fun of me. Jeez I’m so scared”. If someone says that amidst a “serious” discussion, for whatever reason, he/she would practically shut me up. There’s no way ahead. I can not only not-continue the discussion, I cannot make “crappy animation” either.

Given that this blog is now known (at least for the first time visitors) for the notorious video in the previous post, I wanted to do my part to avoid being identified with that and just that -- hence this useless post. Yes, this post is to say, “hey I know you would say this”, in future. I know; the lengths that I go to (to save my ego).

sariyana elavu da sami!
____________________________

1 Here’s the part of the exchange.

CARLSON: Wait. I thought you were going to be funny. Come on. Be funny.
STEWART: No. No. I'm not going to be your monkey.
2 It's one of the best episodes of Southpark. Watch the video at around 1.35 for the dialogue that I've quoted.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

you take mocking others and not getting mocked by them seriously, don't you?

Anonymous said...

you know what? you're actually cute.
*flutters eyelashes*

Suresh ET said...

@Anon1 - yeah I guess. When you piss others quite constantly you might as well over do a few things to save your behind.

@Anon2 - . . :(says wtf? feels akward. Has a weird smile. hopes it's a girl) hahaha

Priya said...

Ayoh Suresh, romba vazhiyathe. Nee cute-nnu yaar sonna? Nee cute illa. Nee ********! Hahaha...lol!

Priya said...

Just kidding, ok?:)

The Individualist said...

Er looks like an awkward time to be walking in to comment.
*looks around embarrassed and walks away fast wondering what that 'starry' word means. :p

Priya said...

That 'starry' word is something positive. nothing bad at all. I starred it so that Suresh would not think wrongly of me. Hope he doesn't when he knows what it is. Maybe i'm offering too much of a suspense. You can guess first. Then later i'll say.

Dubakoor said...

Naan enga iruken..?Neengellam yaaru...?

ithu comments section thaana..?

I just read that this show was one of the resons when they decided to call off this show. Freedom of Speech!

Inga avan avan pera solrathukke bayapadraanunga...

Suresh ET said...

@ Priya - enna panradhu, ellam times of India.
the star word - no idea, naughty? I thought "asshole" for a moment, because it fits me well, I guess :p.

@ Sudhir - dei un blog'la unakku varra comments'ku compare panna this is nothing. so you feeling akward here is sooooo not-believable.

@ Venkatesh - I know, I complain about it all the time. But then the security situation in India is pretty bad. Plus, you have very few TV channels to skip. You cannot burn bridges and get away with it.

The Individualist said...

lol Padichitiya? *sheepish smile*
On a more serious note, you aren't the 'story-reading' kind, are you?

Suresh ET said...

No, not really. I like reading stuff that is more conceptually analysed and analytical. I'm more a 'content' person than 'form'. It's not like I consciously pefer one over the other, but when I read if I cannot extract a flow that pulls me into the topic, I pull out.
That's one of the reasons why I was never able to read your short-stories completely. I just skim through it. That's also why I never felt like leaving a comment (onnum theriyama enna solradhu?). I like reading comments in general. To see how people react to a product (blog-posts, movies, books etc.).

Priya said...

"naughty" and "asshole" have only 7 words in them. There are eight stars there. Although these two words fit your perfectly, come on guess again:)

The Individualist said...

I see.
The one problem with writing 'three paragraph stories' is the constraints that you have and the limitations that restrict your ability to be analytical or descriptive or both. But yes. Should probably attempt to do a better job at it.

Post a Comment

 
©2009 english-tamil