The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on Saturday at the mall was filled with a unique combination of special guests whom I never thought would have appeared on the same stage simultaneously. The Roots, Jeff Tweedy, Yuseuf Islam, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Bennet, John Legend, the Myth Busters, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were a few who joined with Colbert and Stewart to put on an outstanding rally. Stewart began the Rally by saying "I know there are boundaries for a comedian/pundit/talker guy, and I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow how I have violated them. This was a reaction to the criticism that came before the rally. People were skeptical that it would be too serious, too political, or not serious or political enough. In my opinion, the rally was exactly the type of feeling Stewart and Colbert have always delivered on their shows.
I thought Colbert and Stewart did an excellent job of media criticism and satire. The “fear montages” Colbert played during a mock-debate with Stewart, showing the reaction of the cable news networks in blowing stories out of proportion. With the criticism of the media I admired how Stewart kept to his word and promised a show that was not politically partisan. The only time I thought that was at all politically partisan was when Stewart and Colbert awarded medals for Reasonableness and Fear (making light of Glen Beck’s “medal of honor” awards at his rally in August).
The recent fame of the JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater even recorded a video where he stood up for reasonableness by stating that he could have handled his frustration toward the passenger better than he did (instead of his choice of grabbing a beer, pulling the emergency slide, and the leaving the plane)
The musical debate collaboration between Stewart and Colbert with Yusef’s (Car Stevens’) performance of “Peace Train” paired with Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” and the compromise of The O’Jays’ “Love Train” was so bizarre and odd-that it was a huge success. The crowd broke out into dance and cheered every time one of the artists played. The mashup was a great example of how the most unlikely group of different people can come together and create something together.
However, with the entertainment, guest appearances, and comedy satires the high point of the rally came at the end when Stewart took the stage to answer the question “What exactly is all this?” Stewart went on to describe the rally as a tool for proving that Americans who think differently can behave as if “we live in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies”. He went on to say that “everyday people work together to get things done every damn day. The only place we don't is here"—indicating Washington—"or on cable TV." He summed up his point with my favorite analogy-- the mundane but sweet example of traffic merging into a tunnel: people are in a hurry, they're running late, yet regardless of what's on the bumper sticker of the car ahead of them, they take turns merging. Sometimes a jerk will cut in line, "but that individual is rare, and he is scorned and not hired as an analyst.”
In the end, did a Comedy Central entertainer need to set up his soapbox on the Mall to make this point? I ask the question in return-who else was going to? One of the closing remarks made by Stewart was that "sanity has always been in the eye of the beholder. But to see you here today, and the kind of people you are, has restored mine."
As Tony Bennett closed with singing “America the Beautiful” the guests came back on stage one last time and the crowd around me began to burst out in cheers of “USA! USA!”. My last reaction to the rally at the close was of complete respect, admiration, and pride of what was achieved. I feel, and I know the several thousands of people that were there and at home thought that that there is truly no one more American than we everyday AMERICANS.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/30/AR2010103001573_2.html?sid=ST2010102500055
No comments:
Post a Comment