Colbert Study: Conservatives Don't Know He's Joking

Last week, Stephen Colbert revisited a segment he had done on Florida Representative Bill Posey, who sponsored a bill that "would require future presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificate," in order to put insane rumors of President Barack Obama's birthplace to bed.

Colbert thought a similar measure should be taken to end the whisperings that Posey was a human-alligator hybrid. Posey, in response to Colbert, said, "I expected there would be some civil debate about it, but it wasn't civil...There is no reason to say that I'm the illegitimate grandson of an alligator." And one wondered, "Does Posey not realize that Colbert is not speaking in earnest? His reaction seems uniquely stupid!"

Stupid, yes. But apparently it's not unique at all, according to a study from The Ohio State University, which proves, with math and stuff, that lots of conservatives seem to not understand the intrinsic, underlying joke of The Colbert Report:

This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.

I think a lot of conservatives are going to pissed when they realize that Stephen Colbert's performance at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner was not, in fact, an awkward and ineffective attempt to praise President George W. Bush, but actually a bitter and satiric criticism of his incompetence!

PREVIOUSLY, on the HUFFINGTON POST:
Florida Congressman Continues To Stonewall On His Half-Alligator Genetic Heritage (VIDEO)
Anti-Gay Group Sends Letter To Colbert Thanking Him For Mocking Them

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Comments

[entopticon]

And people wonder why every great comedian in history has been a liberal...

[OceanSize]

Every great comedian has been a liberal because every great comedian has spent some time in the unemployment line.

Not a judgement, just the facts. :-)

[Dutchtrs]

Well, I must admit, Libs certainly do make ME laugh.... ;^)

[thoughtsoutloud]

The movie "Network" needs to be rereleased into the theaters with huge studio backing just as if it was the Ironman sequel. There is a whole generation of sad nitwits, some due to prejudices and low IQ, and others due to age and having been spoon fed video games since infancy. These poor folks could really use the insight in that film.
When I saw the movie as a kid it was absurdist. 40 years later it is reality, a very scary reality.

[ladyoftheisland]

We're getting a little too close to Network for comfort - it NEEDS to be rerun.

[Roses]

"I'm mad as he** and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

[HateHater123]

"Network" is not the only prescient bit of film and literature out there, and it would be a wonder if the generations victimized by the full-bore "dumbing-down" of American Society would suddenly turn off their gadgets and PAY ATTENTION. Personally, I never found "Network" absurdist. The writing has been on the wall for a long, long time. If the current climate of crisis is what has been needed for an "Averageman Wake Up Call", then so be it.

[iceman1980]

Colbert always drops the goods on http://thenoz.wordpress.com/

[tiotom77]

"illigitimate grandsonson of an alligator" sounds like a serious response from posey Liberals take Posey too seriously

[Roses]

I think that was Colbert's joke and I don't know any "liberals" that take that seriously. It's funny when others do though.
Colbert made a joke about others taking it seriously.

[HateHater123]

Hahaha! Even when it is clearly EXPLAINED to them, they don't get it!

[TheLar]

Conservatives don't realize Colbert is joking... hm... and the network Colbert's show is on is called Comedy Central. Hm... this says a LOT.

[Kauffner]

There is certainly a smug, humorless attitude toward jokes on display here. Crude insults about conservatives are treated as legitimate humor. But make a joke about liberal and it gets censored.

[scorebaby]

Not so. Liberals poke fun at themselves all the time. We find ourselves very amusing indeed, but we need to make fun of stupid self-righteous conservatives as well, because it keeps us from overheating like Glen Beck.

[tiotom77]

Please, an example of liberals making fun of liberals

[namedujour]

Those same people think that http://www.landoverbaptist.org/, the Landover Baptist Church, is a legitimate religious organization. The satire is so thick and deep you slip and fall on it, then drown in it if you aren't careful. But read the "Reader Mail" they receive. The religious right swallows it. It's just close enough to what they REALLY believe to make them think it's real.

That entire segment of the population should have been taken out by the laws of Darwin...p­erhaps that's why they don't like Darwin, eh? He's an imminent threat to them.

[RayArmyVetRetiredAF]

Another good one is http://www.bettybowers.com/ :o)

[Carmando]

If you watch "The Word" you will notice that often Colbert offers a ridiculous conservative view point while the text on the side humorously illustrates the stupidity of said conservative talking-point. You will also notice that when Colbert is spewing republican talking points on "The Word" he will generally finish the segment by twisting his words in such a way that the final idea is a criticism of the conservative message or an affirmation of the opposing liberal idea, at this point the audience erupts into cheers. I think the ideology behind the show is pretty clear.

[Buddy McCue]

You explained that well; better than I could have done.

[Maargen]

Although you did explain that I well, I don't see why you bothered. Anyone who needed an explanation to understand the point behind Colbert's show won't understand what you're talking about.

Despite the fact that the Colber Report is my favorite show one TV (TDS being in second place) I think too many people take these two shows too seriously. There reason they're on Comedy Central (and the reason I appreciate them so much) is because they don't sacrifice the joke in favor of accuracy or truth. They're great comedians and stick to what they're good at.

A study of "The Colbert Report"? Seriously?? It's a comedy show, folks.

[bob23]

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/jon_stewart_stephen_colbert_americas_anchors/page/2

[Roses]

Great article.

[bob23]

he talked about this sort of misunderstanding in an interview -

Stephen, do people come up to you in the supermarket and address you as though you are your character?

COLBERT: People generally don't. I come from a fairly conservative place, Charleston, South Carolina, and people have come up to me there and said, "Well, now I like what you do." They had a little trouble with our liberal, lefty bent over at The Daily Show. But now they're [in Southern accent] "Good f---ing A, man, good for you!" And I'm like, "Well, I'm not sure. . . .''

[MichaelMcKLA]

A sense of humor is sadly lacking amongst conservatives, so this is not surprising.

[ThirdSection]

I wonder how many conservatives voted to name the ISS node after Colbert.

[liecatcher]

Conservatives are not like real people.

Once an individual is labeled a truth teller he or she is on their enemies list.

The only time they laugh is on the way to the bank with their ill gotten gains.

[JuliaRain]

"Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen."

Mort Sahl

[LennySA]

That's a great quote. What do humans feel?

[apoliticalchick]

Exactly as Colbert had planned. Ha, it's just too easy!

http://democralypsenow.blogspot.com/

[ThirdSection]

Thanks a lot! Now I have to clean all the beer out of my keyboard!!!!!

[MichaelMcKLA]

Tosses a towel and a can of compressed air to ThirdSection.

[OnTheCusp]

Brilliant!