Every day during fall, while we were in high school, my best friend and I would drive home from school, then sit down with my laptop to watch last night's episode of The Daily Show before field hockey practice. We would drink diet coke, eat chips and salsa, and when it was over we would repeat all the best lines on the way back to school. I'm still not really sure how we managed to consume copious amounts of chips 45 minutes before our two hour long field hockey practices, but what I am sure of, is the impact that watching the The Daily Show had on me. Before watching The Daily Show, I was just that really annoying kid that had a lot of opinions, but didn't really know what she was talking about. Once I hit high school, and my Daily Show watching commenced, I became more interested in the news and politics. It inspired me to actually think about my position on a variety of issues, and was my introduction to the political sphere that I hope to one day work in. I was still that annoying opinionated kid, but at least now I had facts to back myself up.
People who criticize The Daily Show and Jon Stewart for using comedy as a way to deflect blame for criticizing politicians are missing the point. It's not just about whether or not The Daily Show is a news program or a comedy program, it's the impact that it has had on so many people in my generation. I have laughed, yelled, and cried with Jon Stewart. I watched as he cut his hand during his show, went at it in a debate with Bill O'Reilly, and of course, insulted Arby's on a regular basis. Young adults watch Jon Stewart primarily because he is funny, not because they want to know all of the headlines for the day. Jon Stewart's talent is in weaving comedy into a program that is simultaneously educational and hilarious. He does this by combining that comedy with a piercing awareness of society and politics that allows him to laugh through the news with us without sidestepping the gravity of what he is discussing. Harry Cheadle's article in Vice said it well, "For a lot of people, Stewart said what they thought, only he made it sound funnier and smarter and easier to agree with than they ever could." By saying things we already kind of thought, Jon Stewart provided the stepping stone for a generation to direct their anger at the appropriate targets, explaining injustice sometimes with fanfare and sarcasm, and other times with grave seriousness. Ultimately, the primary purpose of the show isn't to educate, it's to entertain. Through that entertainment, young adults can be inspired to delve deeper than The Daily Show, to become passionate about issues they weren't familiar with before.
The Daily Show has been there through my generation's formative years, and it has taught us to question authority and what the modern media is shoving down our throats. So what if The Daily Show is where some young adults get their news? If they didn't watch The Daily Show, chances are they wouldn't be getting any news at all. For those of us that would pay attention anyway, The Daily Show is a reprieve from the 24-hour news cycle that is constantly bombarding us with information. For half an hour, we can watch that cycle and everyone who feeds into it, celebrities, politicians, journalists, and more, held accountable through parody, jokes, and sometimes all around silliness.
Jon Stewart has never pretended to be something that he is not. He isn't a news anchor. He isn't a journalist. He is first and foremost, a comedian. He isn't jst a comedian though, and that's where his genius shines through. Stewart is a talented satirist that is passionate about holding people in government, in the media, and in society accountable and through the 16 years of The Daily Show, he has inspired countless others to follow in his footsteps. He is an incredible human being, and someone that will be dearly missed in his role at the helm of The Daily Show. Jon Stewart has been a constant while I weathered high school, went to college, and now as I try to decide what I want to do with my life. He has inspired me to question the way we think about politics in this country and to challenge boundaries in the often convoluted society we live in.
Thank you, Jon Stewart, for providing me and so many others with 16 years of laughs, wit, and wisdom. For finding finding amusement in times of tribulation and outrage in times of complacency, and for showing us that sometimes fake news, can have a real impact.
"I'm not going to censor myself to comfort your ignorance." -- Jon Stewart
