Hello fellow bloggers! Today I'm going to be posting about one of the episodes of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart that I have watched. The episode I chose to watch was the special edition episode called "A Look Back at Racism" which was aired on August 26, 2014.
In the episode Stewart recaps racial incidences that have happened around the time of airing. Events such as the Ferguson shooting and the protests to follow it are a big topic of discussion. Although I am not very familiar with the Ferguson case Stewart explains the incident for a short amount of time at the beginning of the episode, and then goes on to state the opinion he is reporting to the world, which is basically making fun of everyone who talks about the case of Ferguson and tells them they have no idea what they’re talking about.
I really liked watching this episode and believe what Stewart is saying is so relevant to the topic he has chosen. Most people who report on the Ferguson incident only choose to report on it through the eyes of the police man and those who supported the police man’s actions, portraying him as a hero and talking about how they don’t understand why the black community is so angry about the policeman’s actions. Stewart takes this information and just completely makes fun of it, which I think is both hilarious and informative. He emphasizes the information given to the public and explains, in a sarcastic matter, why their opinions sound so ridiculous.
When the episode first starts he explains the general information of the case, like I’ve said before, and then shows a few clips of politicians and random people from the public of how they feel on the issue. One of the many video clips is of political commentator Bill O’Reilly telling the public that he came home from vacation and was furious about the way the case was being reported. Stewart takes this clip and makes fun of it, saying, “That is outrage. The shooting of Michael Brown, and any lack of transparency from the police department responsible for said incident is outrageous…. In how it has been reported. And I guess that’s not the only reason to be angry.” I think this comment hit me the hardest because he is so right. Many people who choose to discuss the Ferguson case only talk about what had happened instead of what actions the police officer could have done otherwise that could have saved an eighteen year old’s life. He then makes a side comments saying, “Why all the interest in holding police officers to a higher standard than gangs?” With a very sarcastic tone.
Stewart then goes on to talk about the ways African American people always end up with the “short end of the stick” in many social situations, even today. I think that is why I like this episode so much, because of how brutally honest Stewart is about there still being racial situations happening in our country even today. He supports this with extremely sarcastic comments like “you can’t get a fucking cab even though you’re a neurosurgeon, cause you’re black.” I think the way he portrays the truth about racism today is the only way to talk about it and show to the public how insane it is that these things are still an issue today.
